Upper West Side CVS To Permanently Close

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — It's closing time for the location of a major chain pharmacy location on Broadway.

The CVS at 2495 Broadway, near West 93rd Street, will close its doors for good on Feb. 21, according to a company spokesperson.

Customers will have their prescriptions transferred to the CVS at 540 Amsterdam Ave., about a seven minute walk away, said the company rep.

"Maintaining access to pharmacy services in the communities we serve is an important factor we consider when making store closure decisions," said CVS spokesperson Amy Thibault.

Cited factors for the closure include local market dynamics, population shifts, a community’s store density and other nearby pharmacy access, Thibault said, noting that there are over 60 CVS pharmacies in New York City.

Notably, CVS — unlike other major pharmacy chains like Rite Aid, which has also shuttered locations in Manhattan recently — does not cite theft as a cause when they have closed shops recently.

A store employee told Patch that while they weren't sure exactly why the store was shuttering, the worker said employees would be able to stay with the company.

In September, when a CVS on the Upper East Side closed, Thibault sent a nearly identical statement which also declined to mention theft.

While many brick-and-mortar chains have cited theft as reasons behind lower than normal earnings, many have begun to ease off on that explanation as more data shows that retail shrinkage — or all inventory loss — has actually not changed much at all in recent years.

According to NYPD data, there have been three reported petit larcenies — or thefts under $1,000 — reported at the Broadway location so far this year.

At a CVS location on West 70th and West End Avenue, there have been four reported petit larcenies — three of which happened just days apart, police said.

Patch reached out to get a more comprehensive shoplifting report on the Broadway location from the NYPD, but they have yet to respond.

The Broadway CVS appears to have lost the confidence of many longtime pharmacy customers, according to a slew of recent Google reviews, with many echoing how they used to love it, but it had now been plagued by long waits.

"Tiny store, never enough pharmacists. I routinely wait 40 minutes in line to pick up a prescription," wrote one Google reviewer named Christian in 2023. "They don’t seem to care that there are 15 people waiting in line, only ever one person on the register. AVOID."