CVS to close some pharmacies in Target stores

(NEXSTAR) – CVS Health revealed Thursday that it will be shuttering “select” pharmacies located inside Target stores.

The closures will happen early in 2024, starting in February and ending in April, Amy Thibault, lead director of communications for CVs, told Nexstar in a statement. Employees at those locations “will be offered comparable roles within the company.”

The exact number of locations involved is not yet clear, but The Wall Street Journal reported that the plan involves “dozens” of pharmacies.

CVS is not sharing a list of closing locations, and any prescriptions will be transferred to a nearby CVS Pharmacy beforehand “to ensure patients have uninterrupted access to pharmacy care.”

Thibault said the closures are part of a plan to “realign our national retail footprint and reduce store and pharmacy density.” She said that the decision came after CVS evaluated changes in population, buying patterns and future health needs as they try to match the right pharmacy format with the right patient locations.

CVS isn’t the only pharmacy business to close locations, with Rite Aid announcing in October of last year that more than 150 locations would close. In June, 2023 Walgreens announced it would close 150 stores in the U.S. and another 300 in the U.K.

In 2021, CVS itself announced that it would be closing 900 stores over three years, also citing “changes in population, consumer buying patterns and future health needs.”

CVS Health bought Target’s pharmacy and clinic businesses in 2015 for roughly $1.9 billion. The initial deal brought 1,672 pharmacies ac