This Popular Retail Chain Is Closing Stores, Starting July 14

At this point, it wouldn't be too surprising to find a "Going Out of Business" sign posted out front of your favorite store. Over the past three years, companies have struggled under the weight of mounting challenges that have proven to be too much for businesses to withstand with their existing retail footprint. Many retailers pared down their locations in 2020 and 2021 as a result of financial hardships from the COVID pandemic, and now, record-high inflation is exacerbating the situation. One popular retail chain is already planning to close locations this month. Read on to find out which company is shuttering stores in July.

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Several companies shuttered locations in June.

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Store closures have been constant this year. Just last month, multiple Sears Hometown stores across the U.S. were permanently shut down following their last-day-of-business on June 23. This included locations in Cambridge, Minnesota; Luling, Louisiana; Taos, New Mexico; Keokuk, Iowa; and Green Valley, Arizona. That same day, Banana Republic closed a store in Midland, Texas, and announced another North American location closure in Winnipeg, Canada.

Grocery stores were not immune either: On June 3, Sprouts shuttered three locations in the country—two in the San Francisco Bay Area and one in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

Now, another popular company is closing stores this month.

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Some communities are getting ready to lose the business of a different retailer in July. Based on local reports, CVS is gearing up to shutter at least two separate locations across the U.S. this month. The first closure will impact a location in El Paso, Texas, NBC-affiliate KTSM recently reported. According to the news outlet, the CVS on North Mesa Street in downtown El Paso is shutting down on July 14, nearly 10 years after the drugstore chain bought and restored the space in 2013. In a statement to KTSM, CVS said prescriptions filled here will be transferred to a nearby location on Montana Avenue in El Paso.

The second location on the chopping block is in Georgia, Fox- and ABC-affiliate WGXA reported. According to the news outlet, the CVS on Watson Boulevard in Warner Robins, Georgia, will be permanently closed on July 20. Prescriptions at this store will be moved to another location in Warner Robins on North Houston Road, and in a statement to WGXA, the company said that it will continue to "provide the community with outstanding service" at six remaining CVS locations in the town.

This is not the first time CVS has shuttered locations in 2022.

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In a similar statement provided to both KTSM and WGXA, CVS said that the decision to close the two stores in El Paso and Warner Robins was made after considering a number of important factors including "maintaining access to pharmacy services in underserved communities." This is the same response CVS provided when it closed other stores earlier this year. In May, the company permanently shuttered two locations in Charleston, South Carolina, and Westland, Michigan. And last month, the company also closed stores in Chicago, Illinois, and Port Lavaca, Texas.

"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," CVS said.

The drugstore chain has already announced plans for more closures next year.

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This won't be the last time CVS takes an axe to a number of its locations in the coming months. In Nov. 2021, the company announced that it would be implementing a "new retail footprint strategy aligned to evolving consumer needs." In its announcement, CVS noted that this initiative will involve closing around 300 stores each year for the next three years, starting in the spring of 2022.

"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, noting that it would be primarily focusing on digital growth and transforming stores into "health destinations." By the end of 2024, the total number of closures will account for roughly 9 percent of the nearly 10,000 CVS locations in the U.S., according to CNBC.