Why Another Pharmacy Chain Is Closing Hundreds Of Stores Nationwide

UNITED STATES — CVS will shutter 271 of its pharmacy locations this year as part of a sweeping restructuring plan, the company confirmed to Patch.

The closures mark the latest in a wave of pharmacy shutdowns sweeping the nation amid shifting consumer habits and mounting industry pressures.

CVS spokesperson Amy Thibault says that the closures will allow the company to realign its retail footprint and improve its existing stores and pharmacies.

Stores selected to close were chosen based on "population shifts, consumer buying patterns, store and pharmacy density, pharmacy care access, and community health needs," according to a CVS statement provided by Thibault.

"We’re closing locations strategically to better meet consumers’ health, wellness and pharmacy care needs – as announced more than three years ago – not in reaction to industry pressures," the statement says.

Alternatively, another pharmacy giant, Rite Aid, is working to wind down all of its locations as it faces an ongoing financial crisis and bankruptcy proceedings.

While the announcement was made in October, CVS still has not released a list of the locations that will be closing.

The company has closed around 900 stores in recent years.

Despite these closures, CVS has said it intends to open dozens of new pharmacy locations, including those inside Target stores.

The U.S. is facing a growing fear over pharmacy deserts, but CVS says after its "realignment work," 85 percent of people across the nation will still live within 10 miles of a CVS Pharmacy.

"And, while we’re closing certain locations, we’re also opening stores and pharmacies in areas where there’s a need," the company said.

CVS is one of the nation's largest drugstore chains in the U.S., with more than 9,000 locations. The company also runs a huge pharmacy benefit management business that operates prescription drug coverage for employers, insurers and other big clients. It also covers nearly 27 million people through its Aetna insurance arm.

The health care giant found new leadership under new CEO David Joyner last year after a rough financial period.

The news comes as drugstore chains continue to shutter locations en masse. Chains like Walgreens and Rite Aid have also announced a slew of closings, sowing uncertainty among Americans about where they'll get their prescriptions.

Executives have cited a variety of reasons for closing stores, including reduced spending by inflation-weary customers, low reimbursement rates for pharmacy care and low dispensing fees for Medicaid enrollees.

What's more, nearly three out of 10 U.S. drugstores that were open during the previous decade had closed by 2021, according to a Health Affairs cited by the Associated Press.

The study found that more than 29 percent of the 89,000 U.S. pharmacies that operated between 2010 and 2020 had shuttered by 2021. That's more than 26,000 stores lost.

The closures also hit Black and Latino neighborhoods particularly hard. Independent pharmacies were also particularly at risk, which are more likely to operate in Black, Latino and low-income neighborhoods, the study indicated.

READ MORE: Troubled Rite Aid Chain To Close 34 More CA Stores