CVS is Closing 46 Stores Nationwide… Are Any Local Stores on the List?

Popular drug store chain CVS just announced plans to close nearly 50 “underperforming stores” nationwide.

The company says they’re closing 45 stores as they continue to “shift more of their retail presence toward health care services,” USA Today reports.

The website published a list of the stores that the company will be closing, and no stores in Pennsylvania or New Jersey are included on that published list.

In fact, the closest store that will be closing is actually in Wilmington, DE.

The company currently operates about 9,600 stores across the country, so this represents a very small percentage of their portfolio. The upcoming closings will affect stores in major cities like Chicago, San Francisco, and Minneapolis.

For what it's worth, the pharmacy giant is not struggling. In fact, published reports say that CVS is actually expected to post a record operating profit of more than $11.8 billion in 2019.

The company's CEO, Larry Merlo, told the media late last year that the retail stores will be undergoing a bit of a shift in the coming years.

"CVS Pharmacy evolving from not just a store that happens to have a pharmacy and products" into "more of a health care destination," Merlo told USA Today.

The stores will still have an array of products (health, beauty, personal care and more). They'll be adding services (including expanded MinuteClinics and a large partnership with SmileDirectClub in stores).