Walgreen Co. to apply brakes to expansion

Deerfield, Ill -- Walgreen Co., the nationwide drug store chain, said it would slow its pace of U.S. expansion while the economy remains slow.

"The best time to take advantage of the competition is when everybody is weak," the Deerfield, Ill.-based chain's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Rein said Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Walgreen will continue with 9 percent expansion of stores to close out its fiscal year, which ends Aug. 31, the report said. It expects to grow by 8 percent the following year, adding 495 new stores. Expansion will slow to 6 percent and 5 percent in following two years, the report said.

Walgreen currently has 6,297 drugstores, the Journal reported.

The new plan will cut $500 million in capital improvement spending through its 2011 fiscal year, the report said.

But the goal of reaching 7,000 outlets by 2010 remains intact, the company said.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.