Major drug store chain to close 900 stores by end of 2024

CVS plans to close 900 stores by the end of 2024, which is 10 percent of all its stores. Shoppers have moved to online shopping and the company is making adjustments.

The pandemic taught shoppers about the wonders of online shopping, if they were not already shopping that way. Then when the pandemic eased up and more shoppers left their homes to go to brick and mortar stores, the epidemic of shoplifting in major cities began. Who wants to shop in all that chaos? Who feels safe in a store where lawlessness is allowed to flourish? As long as retailers let the thieves come in and take what they want with impunity, shoppers will have to keep an eye out for potential danger. No thanks.

So, CVS is making some drastic reforms. It’s being described as a total retail overhaul.

CVS claims that ‘local market dynamics, population shifts, and a community’s store density’ are some of the ffactors when deciding which stores to close. Many customers get their prescriptions filled online, receive personal care items through store curbside pickup, and do doctor visits through telehealth. Changes are needed to keep up with its customers.

A spokesman said: ‘Maintaining access to pharmacy services in the communities we serve is an important factor we consider when making store closure decisions.

‘Other factors include local market dynamics, population shifts, a community’s store density, and ensuring there are other geographic access points to meet the needs of the community.’

The CVS CEO made a brief statement when the announcement was released.

CEO Karen Lynch said: ‘Our retail stores are fundamental to our strategy and who we are as a company.

‘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.’

Store closings began in November 2021 in order to focus on online growth. Physical locations were expected to close from 2022 as remaining stores transitioned to “health-care destinations” that offer shots and testing.

Three hundred stores closed in 2022. Another 300 stores will close this year and then 300 more will close in 2024.

Times are changing. Pharmacies make money from the health care aspect in conjunction with insurance companies.

The company confirmed that it is pushing to turn more of its stores into healthcare destinations in an attempt to drum up more claims for its insurance business.

It is also working to expand the HealthHub business, despite investigators finding in June that the company failed to provide proper interpretation services for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing during their appointments with medical staff.

The Department of Justice and CVS came to a settlement agreement that requires the company to change its policies.

Stores continue to take a hit from losses created by shoplifting. Products, including personal care items, are locked away behind plexiglass and require the assistance of store clerks to buy toothpaste or deodorant. It’s crazy. It looks like the company is trying to keep the employees it has as the closing happen by giving them an option to continue working for CVS.

Stores catch shoplifters roughly 2 percent of the time, with the average shoplifter being arrested once out of every 100 incidents.

CVS declined to share the specific details of stores that would shutter, but in March closed locations in Des Moines, Iowa, Houston, Missouri, and Tallahassee.

The company acknowledged ‘many factors’ go into the decision to close a store, adding that current employees would have the option to continue working for CVS.

Rival pharmacies Rite Aid and Walgreens are also closing stores. Pandemic mandates destroyed our way of life. These kind of stories remind us how we used to live.