CVS is rolling out a dozen new stores focused primarily on pharmacy services, reducing retail offerings as the company responds to a prolonged decline in retail sales, The Wall Street Journal reported March 8.
The new stores, averaging less than 5,000 square feet, or less than half the size of a normal CVS store, will open over the next year across the U.S.
Here are four more things to know:
- The new CVS locations will continue to stock health-related products such as over-the-counter cough and pain medications and first-aid care. However, the locations will not carry consumer goods such as greeting cards, groceries, nail polish and other items.
- CVS is closing 270 stores in 2025 following more than 800 net closures over the previous three years. The company is making closure decisions based on population shifts and consumer buying patterns, according to the report.
- Drugstore chains have struggled in recent years with competition from discount retailers and a surge in theft, leading to cost-cutting measures and store closures.All Winn-Dixie pharmacies closed in 2023 and Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy and shuttered 500 of its 2,000-plus locations the same year. Walgreens is also shutting down stores in a phased approach, announcing 200 closures in 2019 and in mid-2023 announcing another 150 stores to close.
- CVS is in the early stages of rolling out the smaller format stores, with the first few locations expected to open by the end of the year. The company is also continuing to open traditional pharmacies inside Target stores, the report said.