American Stores, the parent company of Alpha...

American Stores, the parent company of Alpha Beta supermarkets and Sav-On Drugs, reported second-quarter net income of $33 million, down about 21% from last year’s period. Sales rose slightly to $3.5 billion from $3.46 billion. For the six months, earnings fell about 5% to $65.3 million. In the first six months of last year, the company took a one-time charge of $3.5 million at the Jewel Food Stores division. Sales in the six months were basically flat at $6.9 billion. The company said the second-quarter earnings decline was a result of weak economic conditions in the Midwest, Southwest and Rocky Mountain regions and increased advertising and promotion costs at Alpha Beta. It added that it expects the problems to continue throughout the year.