CVS Begins Rolling Out Pharmacy-Only Locations

Returning to its roots, CVS Health (Woonsocket, R.I) has unveiled the first of nearly 20 pharmacy-only, apothecary-style locations it plans to open this year. Located at 2628 W. Pershing Road in Chicago’s West End, such sites “will help bridge gaps in care and make it easier for community members to access medications, immunizations and other health care services provided by pharmacists,” the company said in a news release.

Each site will feature a full-service pharmacy with a curated selection of over-the-counter products available for purchase. With footprints averaging around 3000 square feet, the company said its pharmacy-only sites provide access to two important medical services: prescription medications and a pharmacist.

“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,” said Len Shankman, EVP and President, Pharmacy and Consumer Wellness, CVS Health. “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.”

These smaller, dedicated neighborhood pharmacies join several other formats CVS already has in place across the country. They include CVS Pharmacy’s traditional full-service front store and pharmacy locations, store-in-store pharmacies, such as those inside Target and Schnucks grocery stores, CVS Pharmacy stores that feature a MinuteClinic retail medical clinic, and side-by-side CVS Pharmacy and Oak Street Health care centers, primarily located in neighborhoods with high Medicaid populations.

The company opened its first pharmacy-only location in Birmingham, Ala., late last year. In addition to the new site in Chicago, pharmacy-only locations are planned for later this year in such markets as Brooklyn, N.Y., Detroit, Houston and Roxbury, Mass. The company also plans to open more than 40 new CVS Pharmacy locations, including traditional stores and pharmacies in Target.

Overall, at the start of this year, CVS had roughly 9000 retail pharmacy locations – a format it has been downsizing, closing roughly 1100 such locations since 2022 – more than 1000 walk-in and primary care medical clinics and a pharmacy benefits manager with about 87 million plan members.