CVS to close 900 stores

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Re: CVS to close 900 stores

Post by Super S »

storewanderer wrote: November 18th, 2021, 5:54 pm
Alpha8472 wrote: November 18th, 2021, 5:43 pm Longs Drugs was booming in California when it was open. They had good prices and a huge selection of grocery items and private label items. They sold clothing, garden plants, home decor, toys, fresh food, produce, etc. It was an adventure going there to find new treasures. The stores were staffed with many employees and the lines moved swiftly. Customer service was top of the line. The pharmacy was staffed very well and you got great service.

CVS ruined all that. They got rid of the huge selection of items and cut staff. The lines are line and there are few employees to help you. The customer counts have probably dropped to only 20 percent of what they were before. This is how you ruin a trusted local drugstore chain. They could close about 50 percent of those former Longs Drugs stores. They do so little business now.
Same thing in Reno. The Longs were never that busy in Reno, but way busier than they are now. Longs also operated its own slot machines in the Reno Stores. The store plus slot machines made for a very profitable operation in a lower cost market. CVS pulled the slot machines out in the former Longs Stores, but kept some machines in, well at this point, just one of the former Sav-Ons in Sparks since the two Reno former Sav-Ons both got demolished this year (assuming more have them in Las Vegas).

I was sort of okay with CVS after they took the Sav-On Stores over. I have become less impressed with them based on how things have gone with Longs but also feel CVS has seriously increased its pricing on consumables over the past decade compared to what it was in 2006. They actually had some decent value consumables back in 2006 like .99 for large rolls of paper towels (comparable to whatever Dollar Tree had), and various really good deals on snacks/candy. CVS back in 2006 was also very quick to clearance seasonal categories and 90% off came fast. That is all long gone. The current CVS reminds me of the worst of Longs (old smelly stores) minus any of the attributes of Longs (easy deals you picked off the shelf and went and paid for without screwing around with coupons/apps and wide selection).
To some extent this sounds like the old days of Thrifty/PayLess/Pay 'N Save. I don't know the square footage, but some of the larger stores were about the size of some of the smaller Kmarts and had a merchandise selection that was comparable, and many items were present that Rite Aid does not carry. Some examples were Sporting Goods, full Toy departments, bicycles, Apparel departments, Electronics with music departments, large hardware and automotive departments, and garden centers. These stores were not always the lowest priced, but there were no gimmicks, and the stores filled a need particularly in the towns considered too small for a Kmart, Walmart, Fred Meyer, Target etc. Rite Aid alienated a lot of customers when they took over, requiring a card for sale items right away (which was not common yet...even Safeway did not have one at the time) and they made the news a number of times for screwing up prescriptions, and they closed a number of stores and cancelled some new stores that were proposed. It's only in recent years that they seem to be investing in many of the acquired stores, some which were virtually unchanged on the inside for 20+ years.
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Re: CVS to close 900 stores

Post by mburb1981 »

I'm going to imagine that some of the ex-Arbor strip mall locations in the Detroit area are getting the axe. I've already noticed two Detroit CVS closures within the past year, both in very rough areas (one on Dexter near Davison, and one in Highland Park).
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Re: CVS to close 900 stores

Post by Romr123 »


yes, they've not done a full purge of suburban Detroit stores, even as they've acquired a few Sav-On drug stores(local voluntary chain)...there are now two CVS within 1/2 mile of each other in Birmingham (one formerly Sav-On). There are 4 within roughly 3 miles in a straight line in Oak Park/Ferndale/Hazel Park (9 and Coolidge in Oak Park/W. 9 in Ferndale (24h store), E 9 in Ferndale, 9 and John R in Hazel Park). Would bet that the E 9 store will close (it's tranquil and lower volume compared to the others). Just north in Royal Oak they have 2 small stores where both Walgreens and Rite Aid only have one....northwest a couple miles in Berkley/N. Oak Park/Huntington Woods Rite Aid is the one with excess stores.
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Re: CVS to close 900 stores

Post by mbz321 »

In other related news, Dollar General to open 900 new stores by 2023 :P.
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Re: CVS to close 900 stores

Post by arizonaguy »

Romr123 wrote: November 19th, 2021, 5:10 am
yes, they've not done a full purge of suburban Detroit stores, even as they've acquired a few Sav-On drug stores(local voluntary chain)...there are now two CVS within 1/2 mile of each other in Birmingham (one formerly Sav-On). There are 4 within roughly 3 miles in a straight line in Oak Park/Ferndale/Hazel Park (9 and Coolidge in Oak Park/W. 9 in Ferndale (24h store), E 9 in Ferndale, 9 and John R in Hazel Park). Would bet that the E 9 store will close (it's tranquil and lower volume compared to the others). Just north in Royal Oak they have 2 small stores where both Walgreens and Rite Aid only have one....northwest a couple miles in Berkley/N. Oak Park/Huntington Woods Rite Aid is the one with excess stores.
Same situation in Phoenix where they have ex-Eckerd, ex-Osco, and CVS stores (built by CVS themselves) scattered throughout town. Some of the Eckerd stores have changed hands but they still have an oversaturation of stores in some areas.
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Re: CVS to close 900 stores

Post by retailfanmitchell019 »

storewanderer wrote: November 18th, 2021, 5:54 pm I was sort of okay with CVS after they took the Sav-On Stores over.
I miss Sav-on quite a bit. Like Longs, Sav-on was more of a variety store. Unlike Longs, they had a strong connection to supermarkets (Lucky/Albertsons), selling more food than its competition. they branded their food aisles as "Albertsons Food Mart". Although some of Sav-on's stores were in poor shape when CVS bought them... Sav-on still exists, in trademark only.

Most of the CVS stores in San Diego's North County are ex-Sav-on and Longs, like your area. Many of them (especially the older Sav-on stores) lack a drive-thru. A lot of these stores haven't been remodeled to keep up with the times. I expect stores that are too close to each other, in areas like Rancho Bernardo (2) and Solana Beach (2), and San Marcos (5) to close. I also expect older stores without a drive-thru to close.
From what I have observed, the former Sav-on stores seem to get lower reviews than the former Longs stores for some reason...

If only Albertsons could buy whatever stores in SoCal are closing and bring back Sav-on... I'd love to see that.
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Re: CVS to close 900 stores

Post by rwsandiego »

retailfanmitchell019 wrote: November 19th, 2021, 2:56 pm
storewanderer wrote: November 18th, 2021, 5:54 pm I was sort of okay with CVS after they took the Sav-On Stores over.
I miss Sav-on quite a bit. Like Longs, Sav-on was more of a variety store. Unlike Longs, they had a strong connection to supermarkets (Lucky/Albertsons), selling more food than its competition. they branded their food aisles as "Albertsons Food Mart". Although some of Sav-on's stores were in poor shape when CVS bought them... Sav-on still exists, in trademark only...
A vestige of their days owned by Jewel and later by ASC.
retailfanmitchell019 wrote: November 19th, 2021, 2:56 pm...Most of the CVS stores in San Diego's North County are ex-Sav-on and Longs, like your area. Many of them (especially the older Sav-on stores) lack a drive-thru. A lot of these stores haven't been remodeled to keep up with the times. I expect stores that are too close to each other, in areas like Rancho Bernardo (2) and Solana Beach (2), and San Marcos (5) to close. I also expect older stores without a drive-thru to close.
From what I have observed, the former Sav-on stores seem to get lower reviews than the former Longs stores for some reason...
I think that's due to a lack of investment since ASC was acquired by Albertson's, which occurred more than 20 years ago.
retailfanmitchell019 wrote: November 19th, 2021, 2:56 pm...If only Albertsons could buy whatever stores in SoCal are closing and bring back Sav-on... I'd love to see that.
A LOT of Chicagoans would be happy if Albertsons bought closing CVS stores in metro Chicago and converted them back to Osco Drug. Like Sav-On, they had more general merchandise and also very good liquor departments.
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Re: CVS to close 900 stores

Post by storewanderer »

retailfanmitchell019 wrote: November 19th, 2021, 2:56 pm
storewanderer wrote: November 18th, 2021, 5:54 pm I was sort of okay with CVS after they took the Sav-On Stores over.
I miss Sav-on quite a bit. Like Longs, Sav-on was more of a variety store. Unlike Longs, they had a strong connection to supermarkets (Lucky/Albertsons), selling more food than its competition. they branded their food aisles as "Albertsons Food Mart". Although some of Sav-on's stores were in poor shape when CVS bought them... Sav-on still exists, in trademark only.

Most of the CVS stores in San Diego's North County are ex-Sav-on and Longs, like your area. Many of them (especially the older Sav-on stores) lack a drive-thru. A lot of these stores haven't been remodeled to keep up with the times. I expect stores that are too close to each other, in areas like Rancho Bernardo (2) and Solana Beach (2), and San Marcos (5) to close. I also expect older stores without a drive-thru to close.
From what I have observed, the former Sav-on stores seem to get lower reviews than the former Longs stores for some reason...

If only Albertsons could buy whatever stores in SoCal are closing and bring back Sav-on... I'd love to see that.
In my area looking at the stores CVS has:
2 former Sav-Ons in Reno- one was demolished/relocated into old but totally remodeled space and is a Health Hub on one of the highest traffic intersections in town, the other is in the process of being demolished/being rebuilt
1 former Sav-On in Sparks- this was the 24 hour store and easily the highest volume drugstore/pharmacy in the area; two Longs closed nearby and were moved into this store when CVS and Longs merged; it was remodeled by CVS twice and now has Minute Clinic inside/Health Hub. A third former Longs a couple miles from this store closed earlier this year pushing even more business to this store.
1 former Sav-On in Carson City- this was built by Albertsons in the early 00's to replace a very old Skaggs that was demolished in the same lot now a Petsmart; this store is just terrible and it probably should be closed. It did get one self checkout. It is stocked oddly, many expired consumables, and has little traffic and poor service. There is nobody up front and if you need help or the self checkout glitches you have to ring a bell to get the employee up there no matter what time it is. This was not a particularly busy store as Sav-On either but it was at least steady.

CVS also built 3 stores of its own in the area between the entry via Sav-On and the merger with Longs. 2 of these seem to do pretty well but the third which was opened as a 24 hour store and since has cut hours has performed quite poorly despite it being in a busy location.

Then there are the former Longs which are an interesting lot of stores:
Longs had 2 late 90's Rite Aids in Reno: both of these have been fully remodeled twice and one is a Health Hub, these two stores do well. Traffic is much higher than it was as Rite Aid or Longs.
Longs also got 3 late 90's Rite Aids in Carson City, Fallon, and Sun Valley; these just got the conversion remodel and aside from Fallon they just do okay. I am very surprised CVS keeps Fallon open, it has almost no business. All of these had a lot more traffic as Rite Aid but didn't do that great as Longs either. Generally lower income areas.
Longs also had 2 former Thriftys in Reno from when Thrifty left in the early 90's; one of these has been remodeled twice and the other just got the conversion to CVS remodel; these two stores also do pretty well.
The other stores are all stores built by Longs at various points in time ranging from the 80's to the 00's and are in very mixed condition, only a couple of these stores have had two remodels by CVS and only one is freestanding.

When CVS took Longs over, they closed or opted to not open a number of locations in the area:
East Plumb-Reno-giant former 80's Payless
NW Corner Prater and McCarran-Sparks-giant former 80's Payless that Longs had downsized quite a bit
175 Disc Drive-Sparks- new build Longs in mid 00's
1410 E Prater-Sparks-former Rite Aid, was Longs only 24 hour store in the market (was a 24 hour Rite Aid also)
SE corner N 2nd and W Sierra-Reno-store Longs had fixtured and stocked, but was never opened
2464 Wingfield Hills Road-Sparks- Store was in the process of being fixtured but was not yet stocked; never opened
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Re: CVS to close 900 stores

Post by Alpha8472 »

The former Longs Drugs Flagship store in downtown Walnut Creek has been rumored for years to be closed in order for condominiums to be built on the land. It has a huge empty parking lot that could become a very expensive housing complex. The classic McDonald's across the street was bulldozed to become a condominium complex. CVS is the last big lot in downtown to not sell out to condos. Genova's Delicatessen next door will also close if CVS sells.
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Re: CVS to close 900 stores

Post by buckguy »

ASC did tinker a bit with Sav-On and even used the Osco name for awhile and later consolidated Osco and Sav-On management. The actual Osco stores were rather different from Sav-On---some were entirely separate but adjacent to Jewel and its siblings (partly because of liquor laws) but some were "stores within stores", a small format for urban neighborhoods in Chicago, and some were in old supers that had been replaced by bigger stores. Like most drug store chains that really developed in the 60s, they were trimmed down a bit in their operations compared with older chains---no soda fountains and much more focused general merchandising (no portable tvs or other slow moving lines). Because they were connected in some ways to super markets, they usually didn't stock much in the way of food. Sav-On had gone in some odd and probably unprofitable directions like building supplies and it seemed as though ASC did pare down some of the non-drug merchandising.
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