But the push for new sizes and formats has taken on more urgency because both companies have large amounts of debt and face escalating pressure from flat or falling sales of general merchandise in the front of their stores.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2026/03/30/cvs-begins-rollout-of-smaller-pharmacy-only-stores/
Small formats are for the places where we get raided with shrink but can still fill a void for scripts. Saw the picture online of that new one and it looks like w bank with the windows, probably bullet proof!
A lot of them are closed stores that are moved a short distance away, and re-opened, with the same store number, new spot.
Word is the company only expects these to make a small profit or just break even. It’s a way to avoid people yelling about RX deserts.
This is interesting. One thing I wonder is if these "RX-only" locations will be new stores or will they be existing locations that will be downsized? Because the answer to that question might tell you a little bit about the future plans CVS has for it's retail front store business. I don't think front store is going anywhere anytime soon. But if these pharmacy only locations do well, CVS will look to expand that concept.