CVS Health plans to shut select pharmacies inside Goal stores early this yr, an organization spokesperson said Thursday, as retail pharmacy chains within the U.S. struggle to spice up profits.
The closures will begin in February and finish by the tip of April, the spokesperson said in a press release. She added that employees affected by the closures will likely be offered comparable roles inside CVS, and prescriptions will likely be transferred to a close-by CVS pharmacy before a location closes.
The spokesperson didn’t disclose what number of stores could be shuttered, but a report from The Wall Street Journal on Thursday said CVS would close “dozens” of locations.
CVS operates 9,000 pharmacy locations nationwide. The corporate has a pharmacy in about 1,800 of Goal’s 1,956 stores within the U.S., in keeping with a Goal spokesperson.
The Goal spokesperson declined to comment on the closures or share plans for the closed CVS locations.
The choice to shutter the stores is a component of CVS’ effort to cut back its retail footprint “based on our evaluation of changes in population, consumer buying patterns and future health needs,” the CVS spokesperson said.
In 2021, CVS said it could close about 900 stores, which is about 10% of its U.S. locations, between 2022 and 2024, as the corporate pushes to rework itself from a serious drugstore chain right into a large health-care company.
CVS has deepened that push over the past yr with its nearly $8 billion acquisition of health-care provider Signify Health and $10.6 billion deal to purchase Oak Street Health, which operates primary care clinics for seniors.
But the corporate also launched a cost-cutting program last yr as a part of that expensive push into health care, with plans to put off 5,000 employees.
The closures also come after pharmacy staff from CVS and other drugstore chains walked out in the autumn to protest what they call harsh working conditions that put each employees and patients in danger. CVS has told CNBC that the corporate is engaging with staff to directly address any concerns they might need.
— CNBC’s Melissa Repko contributed to this report.
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