Consumers around the U.S. have become all-too-familiar with store closures recently. Over the last couple years years, compounding problems—from staffing struggles brought on by the pandemic to financial troubles exacerbated by rising inflation—have all contributed to a retail apocalypse. Companies large and small have been forced to pare down their brick-and-mortar locations, with even big names like Walmart making some cuts. And the situation is far from over. In fact, one popular chain recently confirmed a series of upcoming closures. Read on to find out which retailer is closing stores starting later this month.
READ THIS NEXT: This Popular Chain Is Closing 135 Stores, Starting Oct. 21.
Many companies have already announced store closures for later this year.
ShutterstockSeveral store closures set for August or later in the year have already been announced. In July, it was revealed that Kroger would be closing at least two of its locations this month: one in Little Rock, Arkansas, and another in Plano, Texas.
The Portland Press Herald also reported in July that the popular chain Olympia Sports is shuttering all of its retail stores before the end of year. A spokesperson for the company told the newspaper that all 35 of its remaining stores would close by the end of September.
Now, another popular chain is gearing up to start closing stores in August.
This retailer is closing multiple locations in August and September.
iStockYour local CVS could be one of the locations the company is closing over the next two months. According to several news reports, the popular drugstore chain is shuttering at least five stores throughout August and September. The first closure is set for Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, where the CVS on Market Street will shut down on Aug. 16, PennLive recently reported. A week later, another CVS in Pennsylvania will shutter: The company confirmed to The Standard-Journal that it will be closing the doors to its location in Watsontown on Aug. 23.
Following close behind, the CVS in the Friendship Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C., will be closed on Aug. 25, per PoPville, and a location in Rockville, Maryland, is set to shutter on Aug. 29, The MoCoShow reported. Next month, CVS already has plans to get rid of at least one store: a CVS in Warrenton, Virginia, which is closing on Sept. 27, according to the Rappahannock News.
CVS has called these closures a "difficult decision."
ShutterstockTara Burke, a spokeswoman for CVS, told both the Rappahannock News and The Standard-Journal that it was a "difficult decision" to close its stores in their respective locations. The company said the same thing in a statement to PennLive. Employees at the soon-to-be-shuttered stores are being offered comparable roles at other CVS locations, and prescriptions are being transferred to nearby CVS pharmacies to "ensure that patients continue to have uninterrupted access to pharmacy care," according to the spokeswoman.
"Maintaining access to pharmacy services is an important factor we consider when making store closure decisions,” Burke told the Rappahannock News. "Other factors include local market dynamics, population shifts, a community’s store density, and ensuring there are other geographic access points to meet the needs of the community, including COVID-19 testing and vaccinations."
This isn't the first time CVS has closed stores this year.
iStockThere have been multiple rounds of CVS closures throughout 2022 already. Back in June, the company closed stores in California, North Carolina, and Florida. Then in July, both a CVS in Texas and a CVS in Georgia were permanently shuttered. These recent closures and those set for August and September are part of a larger initiative CVS announced last year.
In Nov. 2021, the company revealed that it would be implementing a "new retail footprint strategy aligned to evolving consumer needs," which would require the closure of around 900 CVS stores over the course of the next three years. At the time, CVS confirmed that the closures would start in spring 2022 and that it would shutter about 300 stores each year.
"The company has been evaluating changes in population, consumer buying patterns and future health needs to ensure it has the right kinds of stores in the right locations for consumers and for the business," CVS said last year.
