CVS 1250 W. 7th St. Reno, NV to be rebuilt

Post Reply
storewanderer
Posts: 14378
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Online

CVS 1250 W. 7th St. Reno, NV to be rebuilt

Post by storewanderer »

CVS has been operating this 30,000 square foot former Sav-On for a while. This store is a bit different in that it never got carpet, it has an original 1970 green floor (the store was built as a Safeway which was short lived as the store was a Skaggs before the 80's).

The aisle configuration is the same as it was as Sav-On and all they did here was paint the walls and hang a limited number of CVS department signs in the store. They also kept one of those old steel Sav-On checkstand to conduct transactions through (it is all they need for the volume they do).

The store is in dire condition, poorly stocked, dirty, poorly maintained, and a generally unpleasant place to be. I am amazed how poor this store has become. It was a pretty well stocked store as Sav-On (had expanded groceries).

CVS has filed a permit with the City of Reno to rebuild this store with a brand new store of just 9,000 square feet including a drive through pharmacy.
rwsandiego
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1242
Joined: April 3rd, 2016, 10:57 pm
Has thanked: 23 times
Been thanked: 55 times
Status: Offline

Re: CVS 1250 W. 7th St. Reno, NV to be rebuilt

Post by rwsandiego »

storewanderer wrote: September 12th, 2018, 9:34 pm CVS has been operating this 30,000 square foot former Sav-On for a while. This store is a bit different in that it never got carpet, it has an original 1970 green floor (the store was built as a Safeway which was short lived as the store was a Skaggs before the 80's).

The aisle configuration is the same as it was as Sav-On and all they did here was paint the walls and hang a limited number of CVS department signs in the store. They also kept one of those old steel Sav-On checkstand to conduct transactions through (it is all they need for the volume they do).

The store is in dire condition, poorly stocked, dirty, poorly maintained, and a generally unpleasant place to be. I am amazed how poor this store has become. It was a pretty well stocked store as Sav-On (had expanded groceries).

CVS has filed a permit with the City of Reno to rebuild this store with a brand new store of just 9,000 square feet including a drive through pharmacy.
On one hand, I am sorry to see this store be torn down, as it is very cool from an architectural standpoint. On the other, a 30K square foot decrepit CVS is o fun to shop at. There's a similar huge SavOn-turned-CVS in San Diego at the Loma Square plaza in the Midway district. It was a crappy SavOn and is a crappy CVS. Interestingly, CVS kept that store and closed the much newer Long's Drugs that was a block or two away. That became a BevMo.
storewanderer
Posts: 14378
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Online

Re: CVS 1250 W. 7th St. Reno, NV to be rebuilt

Post by storewanderer »

rwsandiego wrote: September 12th, 2018, 11:15 pm
storewanderer wrote: September 12th, 2018, 9:34 pm CVS has been operating this 30,000 square foot former Sav-On for a while. This store is a bit different in that it never got carpet, it has an original 1970 green floor (the store was built as a Safeway which was short lived as the store was a Skaggs before the 80's).

The aisle configuration is the same as it was as Sav-On and all they did here was paint the walls and hang a limited number of CVS department signs in the store. They also kept one of those old steel Sav-On checkstand to conduct transactions through (it is all they need for the volume they do).

The store is in dire condition, poorly stocked, dirty, poorly maintained, and a generally unpleasant place to be. I am amazed how poor this store has become. It was a pretty well stocked store as Sav-On (had expanded groceries).

CVS has filed a permit with the City of Reno to rebuild this store with a brand new store of just 9,000 square feet including a drive through pharmacy.
On one hand, I am sorry to see this store be torn down, as it is very cool from an architectural standpoint. On the other, a 30K square foot decrepit CVS is o fun to shop at. There's a similar huge SavOn-turned-CVS in San Diego at the Loma Square plaza in the Midway district. It was a crappy SavOn and is a crappy CVS. Interestingly, CVS kept that store and closed the much newer Long's Drugs that was a block or two away. That became a BevMo.
It is a very cool store. It also has a large backroom area. The bathrooms are downstairs (CVS has closed them to the public, since janitorial is non-existent) down a narrow creaky stairway out of a horror show.

If you look at the back of the building built along the hill, it appears there is some storage area that is exposed to the back of the building down at that basement level as well.
storewanderer
Posts: 14378
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Online

Re: CVS 1250 W. 7th St. Reno, NV to be rebuilt

Post by storewanderer »

There was a trailer outside the store last night (the plan was to operate pharmacy out of the trailer while the store was being rebuilt) so I assumed the rebuild must be about to happen. I went into the store. The shelves were pretty empty, even moreso than before which they were already quite empty. I asked the employee about the pending rebuild and was told that it was canceled for now and they will be taking the trailer out of the parking lot soon. The employee expected it to happen at some point, but not right now.
storewanderer
Posts: 14378
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Online

Re: CVS 1250 W. 7th St. Reno, NV to be rebuilt

Post by storewanderer »

The new store has been open for a while and I finally went to take a look. The building is no more than 10k square feet. It is tiny. Food/seasonal/liquor have 2 aisles and some wall space. Cosmetics and OTC Drug areas feel about the same size as a typical CVS. Everything has one facing. Shelves are low. Aisles are narrow. Aisles all go in one direction, very easy.

There is one self checkout and two regular checkouts (also tiny, you will touch elbows with the next customer is both are in use at the same time).

Size shock aside the store is functional and very easy to shop.

If they can get their whole store fleet like this, they can just run like a convenience store. They won't have to do much if any promotion, and can rely on pharmacy customers picking an item or two up out of the store when they are walking to/from pharmacy.
Alpha8472
Posts: 3929
Joined: February 24th, 2009, 8:55 pm
Been thanked: 79 times
Status: Offline

Re: CVS 1250 W. 7th St. Reno, NV to be rebuilt

Post by Alpha8472 »

CVS also shrunk a former Payless turned CVS in Dublin, California a couple of years ago. The new CVS was carved out of the old store of 60,111 square feet and is very small but not as small as 10,000 feet. It is 28,642 square feet.

The Reno store reminds me of a Kroger Convenience store with a Kroger Pharmacy inside. However, Kroger probably did it much better.
storewanderer
Posts: 14378
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Online

Re: CVS 1250 W. 7th St. Reno, NV to be rebuilt

Post by storewanderer »

Alpha8472 wrote: May 14th, 2022, 10:27 pm CVS also shrunk a former Payless turned CVS in Dublin, California a couple of years ago. The new CVS was carved out of the old store of 60,111 square feet and is very small but not as small as 10,000 feet. It is 28,642 square feet.

The Reno store reminds me of a Kroger Convenience store with a Kroger Pharmacy inside. However, Kroger probably did it much better.
It is really a pretty functional little store. It downplays front end significantly but still has pretty good SKU depth in core drugstore categories. No Minute Clinic or anything in the store- just a store and pharmacy.

I almost wonder if they should just put the pharmacy at the front of the store and let the pharmacy "run" the front end. Sort of like those small independent drugstores with a pharmacy counter in back and a couple aisles of items in front of it. No separate counter for front end, etc.
Post Reply