Price goes up on 787, other Boeing planes

SEATTLE – Boeing Co. has lifted list prices on about 5.5 percent for all of its airplanes, including the 787 Dreamliner set to makes its debut next month, to keep up with the costs of labor and materials.

The price increase is “generally consistent with the inflation rate for manufactured goods,” according to Jim Condelles, a Boeing spokesman. He said rising labor costs were a bigger factor in the price increase than the cost of raw materials, though both played a part.

Condelles said the company generally raises list prices each year to keep up with costs.

As of last Thursday, a new 787 could cost anywhere from $146 million to $200 million, about 6 percent higher than 2006 list prices, which ranged from $138 million to $188 million, depending on the model. Prices for Boeing 737s, which have racked up more than 7,000 orders over more than 40 years on the market, jumped to $50 million to $85 million, from a range of $47 million to $80.5 million in 2006.

•Drugstore Walgreen Co. said Monday that an increase in prescription sales, especially among profitable generic medications, helped its third-quarter profit climb nearly 20 percent.

The nation’s biggest pharmacy chain by revenue reported a profit of $561.2 million, or 56 cents a share, in the quarter that ended May 31. During the same period last year, the Deerfield, Ill.-based company posted earnings of $469.2 million, or 46 cents per share.

Meanwhile, the company said Monday that it added 129 new stores during the quarter and was on pace to open nearly 500 stores during the 2007 fiscal year.

“During the past quarter, our main focus – and biggest opportunity – continued to be drugstore expansion,” said Rick Hans, the company’s director of finance. “This will drive our company’s growth well into the future.”

At the end of the quarter Walgreen operated 5,751 drugstores in 48 states and Puerto Rico.

•Walt Disney Co. is branching out into furniture, linens and even wine.

Starting in the fall, Burbank, Calif.-based Disney will unveil a line of home goods such as lighting products made by the Minka Group. Disney also plans to market a fashion bath and bedding collection with Dan River, and outdoor table tops and entertaining products with Zak Designs next year.

Next up: Disney is launching a wine label via Issaquah, Wash.-based Costco Wholesale Corp. that is based on its upcoming animated film “Ratatouille,” the tale of a rat who wants to become a French chef. The chardonnay, from the Burgundy region in France and bearing the Ratatouille name and likeness, will sell for $12.99.