Dive Brief:

• Walgreens said Wednesday that January sales at stores open at least a year grew 2.9% and that total sales grew to $6.39 billion. 

• The nation’s largest drugstore retailer attributed the gain to better pharmacy revenue, which rose 3.7% in stores open at least a year. The numbers beat expectations of closer to 1.7%.

• Walgreens also announced Wednesday that, unlike rival CVS, it will continue to sell tobacco products, although it also said it was always evaluating what products it sells.

Dive Insight:

Walgreens' healthy numbers were overshadowed by CVS' announcement that it would forego $2 billion in annual sales by discontinuing the sale of tobacco products. The CVS announcement reflects a move to bolster the retailer’s brand as a health-oriented enterprise. That move puts serious pressure on retailers to make the same move, but Walgreens explicitly announced Wednesday that it would continue with tobacco sales. Presumably Walgreens can now benefit from the new CVS policy and see gains in sales — unless the move boosts CVS, and hurts the others.