CVS is closing more locations in 2025 after hundreds shut down over the last two years.
The pharmacy company has been in the middle of a multi-year initiative to reorganize its retail footprint.
Part of that plan included the shedding of about 900 locations to ensure “the right kinds of stores in the right locations for consumers and the business,” CVS noted in a statement to CNN.
The mass shutdowns have since been completed, leaving over 9,000 across the country, most of which are in California, with over 1,000.
Closures made way for newer and updated stores, something that CVS is now continuing to do in 2025 with 270 additional shutdowns recently announced, per what a spokesperson told Forbes.
CVS said that it plans to then “open a dozen or more smaller format CVS Pharmacy locations in select communities nationally over the next year.”
“The new pharmacies will be introduced in select neighborhoods to help bridge gaps in care and make it easier for patients to access medications, immunizations, and other pharmacist-provided health-care services.”
A reformatting of locations has been ongoing since the original 900 closures were announced in November 2021.
Some newer versions had sites specifically for primary care services inside, and others had traditional retail selections and a pharmacy section in a smaller format with an updated build.
A third model of store that will be introduced as part of the new CVS locations also focuses on its HealthHUB, which offers products and services to customers for everyday wellness.
The spokesperson emphasized that this “customized approach,” as opposed to the older, strictly traditional stores, can be “focused on the specific needs of the communities we serve” and “better support patients to ensure the right geographic coverage.”
CVS has yet to confirm exactly which stores are part of the 270 to shutter, but it noted that they would be those with low foot traffic or that already head other high-performing stores in the area.
Competitors like Walgreens have also been in the middle of a reorganization of its retail footprint as part of a $1 billion cost-cutting program.
TURNING IT AROUND
Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Tim Wentworth confirmed the plan in October, with about 1,200 locations to close.
Wentworth said in a June earnings call that about 25% of Walgreens stores were “not currently contributing to our long-term strategy.”
About 500 closures are planned for 2025, and 23 shut down earlier this year, and 54 others were recently spotted with “closing down” banners.
CVS closes 900 stores
CVS Health is finishing up its three-year plan to close 900 stores.
CEO Karen Lynch said it has shut down 851 so far, The Associated Press reported in August 2024.
The company announced the plan in November 2021, saying that the closures would lead to a retail presence that ensures it has the “right kinds of stores in the right locations for consumers and for the business,” per CNN.
The shutdowns amount to almost 10% of CVS’s footprint, in response to the shifting of “consumer buying patterns.”
The closures are part of a wider change in strategy of the company’s almost 10,000 locations.
Some stores have been removed to include more health services, such as primary care, and an “enhanced version” of CVS’s HealthHub layout.
“We remain focused on the competitive advantage provided by our presence in thousands of communities across the country, which complements our rapidly expanding digital presence,” Lynch said in 2021.
The shutdowns cost the company approximately $1 billion dollars in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to CNN.
The CEO said that the company would be stronger after the shutdowns.
“When you look at our stores, the stores that were not on the closure list, we see those stores as being materially stronger, still not where they need to be, but materially stronger than the stores that we’re closing,” he explained.
BANKRUPTCY WOES
Rite Aid is also in the middle of closing at least 68 locations after it filed for its second bankruptcy earlier in May.
Its first was in October 2023, and it cited around $8.6 billion in debt at the time.
While it was able to shed 800 stores and $2 billion in debt when it emerged in 2024, it seemingly wasn’t enough.
It’s also expected that many other Rite Aid locations will be sold off.
The details are still being finalized in the bankruptcy proceedings, and the company is reportedly in discussions with several potential buyers.
CVS also made waves recently after it confirmed that one million patients in 17 states would lose a specific coverage.
CEO David Joyner also pledged in February to cut “egregious price hikes” on prescriptions and blasted pharmaceutical manufacturers for a $21 million spike.
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