For many of us, the ease of being able to pick up prescriptions while also checking off our grocery list at stores like Target with a built-in CVS Pharmacy doesn’t go unnoticed. The partnership between Target and CVS has saved countless shoppers from having to make multiple errand stops, ever since CVS Health Corp.’s acquisition in 2015, per The Wall Street Journal. However, it’s a luxury that won’t be around for much longer—at least not for certain customers.
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Starting in February, CVS will slowly begin to shut down dozens of its pharmacies inside Target stores for good, Amy Thibault, a spokesperson for CVS Pharmacy, confirmed in an email to Best Life.
“The closures are part of our plan to realign our national retail footprint and reduce store and pharmacy density and are based on our evaluation of changes in population, consumer buying patterns and future health needs to ensure we have the right pharmacy format in the right locations for patients,” she continued.
The closures are expected to continue through April. CVS currently operates 1,800 pharmacies inside Target stores across the country. At this time, Thibault said CVS will not be sharing a list of the locations that are closing.
If your prescriptions are being filled at one of the impacted locations, Thibault assured that all medications will be transferred to another nearby CVS Pharmacy store “to ensure patients have uninterrupted access to pharmacy care.” As for the impacted employees, CVS Health will be offering them “comparable roles within the company.”
If you’ve been following the retail pharmacy chain in the news, this major reduction may not be all that surprising. In late 2021, CVS Health announced that it would be closing 300 stores per year through 2024 as part of the company’s “new retail footprint strategy.”
Florida, Missouri, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Iowa are just some of the places witnessing a reduction in CVS locations. Distribution centers are also being re-evaluated.
CVS isn’t the only retail pharmacy feeling the heat, of course. Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy in October of last year, and has been steadily closing locations since. And Walgreens is in the midst of its own closures, having announced in June 2023 that it would be closing 450 locations.
