CVS Health, which paid nearly $2 billion to buy the pharmacy and clinic business of retail giant Target eight years ago, is shuttering “select CVS Pharmacy in Target locations in early 2024,” the drugstore giant said Thursday.
CVS has more than 9,000 total CVS Pharmacy locations, including nearly 1,800 of those inside Target stores but wouldn’t disclose exactly how many pharmacies inside the discount retailer would close. The closure of CVS pharmacies inside Targets was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
CVS has been more focused expanding deeper into the provision of medical care. The company in the last year alone has spent nearly $20 billion adding senior primary care centers via its $10.6 billion acquisition of Oak Street Health and $8 billion on a homecare company, Signify Health.
In closing the pharmacies inside certain Targets, CVS said executives are trying to reduce “store and pharmacy density.”
“The pharmacy closures will begin in February and be completed by the end of April, and impacted employees will be offered comparable roles within the company,” CVS said in a statement. “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.”
For CVS customers impacted by the closure of a pharmacy they use inside a Target, the company said: “prior to the closing of any impacted location, prescriptions will be transferred to a nearby CVS Pharmacy to ensure patients have uninterrupted access to pharmacy care.”
