CVS Pharmacy is already been part of America’s landscape. However, that will all be changing because of CVS’ announcement.
CVS Health Corp will close hundreds of drugstores over the next three years, as the retail giant adjusts to changing customer needs and converts to new store formats.
According to reports, CVS will shut down about 900 poor-performing stores in an effort to bolster its bottom line over the next three years. CVS will focus on the stores that are delivering as much value as possible to customers across the country, reports said.
The company announced in a news release that it will focus more of its efforts on digital growth and turning its stores into destinations that offer a range of healthcare services, from flu shots to diagnostic tests.
Store closures will begin in spring 2022. The company said it plans to close about 300 per year. In total, the closures will add up to roughly 9% of CVS’ nearly 10,000 U.S. stores. The company declined to share the specific locations of stores that will shutter.
CVS did not say how many employees will lose their jobs because of the closures but said it will help those who are impacted find a different opportunity or role at another location.
Karen Lynch, CEO of the retail pharmacy chain, said that stores would continue to play a vital role in the business operations of CVS.
“Our retail stores are fundamental to our strategy and who we are as a company,” Lynch said in a news release. “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.”
AWM has more of the story:
Industry experts like Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, are not surprised that CVS will be closing stores. He even went so far as to call the store closure a problem that CVS created itself because it has “neglected stores for far too long and has pushed some of them into the downward spiral of irrelevance.”
He added, “The retail side of CVS’s business is shabby. Too many stores are stuck in the past with bad lighting, depressing interiors, messy merchandising, and a weak assortment of products. They are not destinations or places where people go out of anything other than necessity.”
Because of the poor quality of some of its stores, CVS lost customers to Target and Sephora, among other retailers. If CVS hopes to get their customers back, Saunders said they had better quickly clean things up.
“Their future relies on proper investments being made in both retail and healthcare services,” he said. “And it is no good simply investing in health services if the environment in which they are presented is poor: consumers have a choice and will simply take their business elsewhere.”
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Source: AWM