CVS is making a comeback with a new store concept.
The company is repositioning itself as a health brand. Instead of being the store to quickly stop by for your favorite snacks and pick up some painkillers for your headache while you are there, the company wants to go back to its core business: health care.
And it’s doing that by opening new stores that will look very different from other CVS locations.
Drugstore companies are struggling
CVS has struggled to keep afloat in recent years. In the past four years, it closed over 1,000 locations after announcing its plans to downsize in 2021, according to the Wall Street Journal.
CVS Store Footprint Over the Years
- 1963: CVS opens its first store selling health and beauty products as the Consumer Value Store in Lowell, Massachusetts, according to the company’s website.
- 1972: CVS doubles its size after expanding and aquring 84 Clinton Drug and Discount stores.
- 1988: CVS ends the year with 750 stores.
- 1990s and 2000s: CVS continues to expand by acquiring several drug stores. It becomes the biggest U.S. pharmacy when it aquires Revco and adds 2,500 stores in 1997, according to The Washington Post.
- 2005: CVS ends the year with 5,474 stores, according to Statista.
- 2015: CVS acquires Target’s 1,672 pharmacies, bringing its store count to 9,681.
- 2020: CVS begins to shutter stores and ends the year with less stores for the first time in its history, according to USA Today.
- 2025: CVS ends the year with 8,979 stores, according to Statista.
National drugstore chains like CVS have struggled due to competition from discount retailers and theft.
That has led to widespread store closures and several changes at drugstore retailers. Wallgreens announced plans for more nationwide closures in, according to TheStreet.
Meanwhile, TheStreet reported that Rite Aid closed all of its locations after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2025.
Despite the competition, patients often prefer face-to-face pharmacy care, with 80% peferring in person care, according to a 2025 CVS Rx Health report. They also want more care from their local pharmacy. Around 70% of surveyed adults think pharmacists should provide health care when primary health care is not available.
That survey might be one reason why the drugstore is exploring a new chapter.
CVS opens new store concept
CVS wants to become less of a convenience store and more of an essential part of the community.
It plans to open a type of store that hasn’t been seen in some parts of the U.S. for decades – apothecary-style stores that will only fulfil shoppers’ prescription needs.
CVS announced it plans to open a total of 20 pharmacy-only locations across the U.S. in 2026.
“Our new, pharmacy-only locations allow our pharmacy teams to continue to build relationships with patients – their friends and neighbors – and provide on the ground pharmacy care in communities that need us,” Len Shankman, executive vice president and president of pharmacy and consumer wellness at CVS Health, said in a statement./
Its first location opened in Birmingham, Alabama, late last year and it just opened a second location in Chicago’s West End earlier this week.
Each location will have an average of 3,000 square feet, compared to CCC . It will also have a full-service pharmacy along with over-the-counter products.
“Pharmacists are among the most accessible and most trusted health care providers,” said Shankman. “We know how important it is for patients to be able to speak one-on-one with their pharmacist, have their questions answered and seek medication advice when needed.”
Additional locations are planned for Houston; Roxbury, Massachusetts; Detroit; and Brooklyn.
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CVS neighborhood expansion
CVS isn’t planning to stop just at pharmacy-only locations. For the first time in a while, it plans to open more stores than it will close, as part of its focus on small, dedicated neighborhood pharmacies.
This means thinking about what each community needs and opening a customized store based on the needs of the area.
CVS already has in-store pharmacies, as well as several locations inside Target and Schnucks grocery stores. It also features MinuteClinic retail medical clinics in some locations.
The company announced plans to also open an additional 40 new CVS locations, including traditional retail stores and pharmacies in Target, in addition to its pharmacy-only locations.
Most analysts seem to be broadly positive about the drug retailer, according to Marketbeat. CVS reported an increase of 8.2% in revenue during the fourth quarter, with $105.69 billion.
Related: 87-year-old retail grocery giant lays off 100s in store closings
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