CVS to close 900 stores

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storewanderer
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Re: CVS to close 900 stores

Post by storewanderer »

Seems like nowhere near 900 CVS have closed yet.

I have my eye on a few locations in my area that have not had any interior updates since being opened or acquired:
1. Carson City, NV Fairview- former Sav-On, has Sav-On conversion interior; does have 2 self checkouts
2. Carson City, NV Highway 50 East- former Longs, has Longs conversion interior; also has 2 self checkouts
3. Carson City, NV Carson Street- former Rite Aid and Longs, has Longs conversion interior; does have 2 self checkouts
These three stores all have some traffic... so I am surprised they have not done any recent renovations. The way the stores are placed, they should probably all stay open.
4. Reno, NV Northtowne Lane- opened as CVS pre-Longs, as a 24 hour store, has performed poorly. Has original opening interior (same as Sav-On conversion interior), and NO self checkout
5. Sparks, NV Vista Blvd- has Longs conversion interior, has one self checkout, very low traffic store, not really sure why traffic is so low.
6. Sun Valley, NV- former Rite Aid and Longs, has Longs conversion interior, some aisles have been removed, some old floor tiles are showing, liquor is gated off, this store has 2 self checkouts. This store seems to have traffic so not sure what the deal is with it.
7. Fallon, NV- former Rite Aid and Longs, has Longs conversion interior, has one self checkout. This store has almost no traffic. Rite Aid had traffic in Fallon but it was mostly for liquor; Longs didn't do great and CVS has done far worse.
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Re: CVS to close 900 stores

Post by norcalriteaidclerk »

A longs drugs holdover location in Berkeley will soon bite the dust.

https://www.berkeleyside.org/2022/05/27 ... ncroft-way

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Re: CVS to close 900 stores

Post by storewanderer »

And as I posted that yesterday I see the unit on Fairview Drive in Carson City is being remodeled. The CVS remodel crew works FAST. They have repainted the entire store exterior, repainted the entire store interior, removed the old hanging signs (that was probably easy) and switched out the carpet in a matter of a few days.
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Re: CVS to close 900 stores

Post by bryceleinan »

storewanderer wrote: June 4th, 2022, 12:21 am And as I posted that yesterday I see the unit on Fairview Drive in Carson City is being remodeled. The CVS remodel crew works FAST. They have repainted the entire store exterior, repainted the entire store interior, removed the old hanging signs (that was probably easy) and switched out the carpet in a matter of a few days.
I was kinda suprised they remodeled, given that their biggest potential customer base pharmacy wise (State of Nevada employees) cannot use their pharmacy, since Express Scripts doesn't have Wags or CVS in our network.

That being said, I cannot see any of the Carson stores closing. North Carson would leave Walmart and Save Mart as the only stores in that part of town.
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Re: CVS to close 900 stores

Post by Alpha8472 »

CVS seems to be closing CVS locations that are near to CVS stores inside of Target. It must be cheaper to run a CVS inside of a Target than a standalone store.

I have noticed some old low volume CVS stores getting remodeled now. The remodels look cheap. They simply repaint, put up new signs, and replace the carpet. These are not as extensive as the CVS HealthHub stores where there are wood floors, professional makeup chairs, and fancy lighting.
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Re: CVS to close 900 stores

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bryceleinan wrote: June 4th, 2022, 4:22 pm
I was kinda suprised they remodeled, given that their biggest potential customer base pharmacy wise (State of Nevada employees) cannot use their pharmacy, since Express Scripts doesn't have Wags or CVS in our network.

That being said, I cannot see any of the Carson stores closing. North Carson would leave Walmart and Save Mart as the only stores in that part of town.
That is exactly why I had been questioning the viability of the 3 stores. Supposedly the Fairview one has the busiest pharmacy of the 3 despite this situation. CVS is a poor fit for Carson City and should never have ended up with 3 stores there.

I don't understand why Express Scripts does not have one of the two chains in network for State of Nevada employees though... the way they used to sell their program was to arrange benefits at CVS *or* Walgreens in a given market.
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Re: CVS to close 900 stores

Post by bryceleinan »

storewanderer wrote: June 4th, 2022, 8:55 pm
bryceleinan wrote: June 4th, 2022, 4:22 pm
I was kinda suprised they remodeled, given that their biggest potential customer base pharmacy wise (State of Nevada employees) cannot use their pharmacy, since Express Scripts doesn't have Wags or CVS in our network.

That being said, I cannot see any of the Carson stores closing. North Carson would leave Walmart and Save Mart as the only stores in that part of town.
That is exactly why I had been questioning the viability of the 3 stores. Supposedly the Fairview one has the busiest pharmacy of the 3 despite this situation. CVS is a poor fit for Carson City and should never have ended up with 3 stores there.

I don't understand why Express Scripts does not have one of the two chains in network for State of Nevada employees though... the way they used to sell their program was to arrange benefits at CVS *or* Walgreens in a given market.
Our network is absurd. Walmart is covered, Sam’s Club is not. CVS and Wags pulled from network, which is why I’m surprised CVS has the market penetration it does.
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Re: CVS to close 900 stores

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bryceleinan wrote: June 5th, 2022, 10:51 pm
Our network is absurd. Walmart is covered, Sam’s Club is not. CVS and Wags pulled from network, which is why I’m surprised CVS has the market penetration it does.
Some plans seem to force you to go to CVS. Other plans communicate to you as if you are forced to go to CVS (but can actually go to other places). CVS has far more penetration in Northern Nevada than it should have and the FTC never should have allowed it to get as many stores as it has. Longs was pushing it on store count (Longs loved this market since they owned all of their slot machines) and CVS should have had to divest all of its existing stores in Northern Nevada (except the Elko one) when they bought Longs. Especially when you look at the market now and see how many pharmacies have closed since that time- Scolaris closed multiple pharmacies, Raleys closed multiple pharmacies, Save Mart closed multiple pharmacies in Food Maxx conversions...
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Re: CVS to close 900 stores

Post by Alpha8472 »

CVS is suffering from pharmacist resignations. The workload at CVS is awful. The company understaffs the pharmacy and many pharmacists are quitting for better jobs. The job market has a shortage of workers right now. There are many better paying and lower stress jobs available now. CVS is foolish for cutting employee labor hours and reducing staffing. The workers hate CVS and are seeking out other pharmacies that have better staffing. Independent pharmacies if you can find them actually are well staffed and much nicer places to work. There is no corporate office pinching every penny and cutting labor hours and staff until you lose your mind.

When there is a pharmacist that quits, CVS is so short of staff, that the pharmacy will have to close early if there is one pharmacist. No overtime is allowed. The pharmacy will lose customers and sales. It could take months to recruit and train a new pharmacist.

When CVS bought Aetna, many changes were made. Aetna used to pay for 90 days of medication at pharmacies. Now most Aetna plans which are now run by CVS will only pay for a 30 day supply at a non-CVS pharmacy. CVS also runs Blue Shields drug plans in California. They also only cover only 30 day supplies at non-CVS pharmacy. Some Aetna plans force you to get drugs from CVS mail order. You cannot used any brick and mortar pharmacy.

With such restrictions, many companies are switching from CVS managed plans and going to Express Scripts or some other carrier. Now CVS is losing customers to other pharmacy chains. This has backfired on CVS. People need to speak up and tell their employers that they don't want these awful CVS plans that give fewer options.

The side effect of only paying for a 30 day supply is that customers have to visit the pharmacy more often (every 30 day). Since that pharmacy is a non-CVS pharmacy, the other pharmacy gets more sales every 30 days. So CVS is giving non-CVS pharmacies more front end sales. Also CVS, pharmacies end up with customers only visiting every 90 days to pick up prescriptions. Their front end sales are going down. No wonder why CVS is closing more of their pharmacies.
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Re: CVS to close 900 stores

Post by storewanderer »

Alpha8472 wrote: June 6th, 2022, 9:07 pm CVS is suffering from pharmacist resignations. The workload at CVS is awful. The company understaffs the pharmacy and many pharmacists are quitting for better jobs. The job market has a shortage of workers right now. There are many better paying and lower stress jobs available now. CVS is foolish for cutting employee labor hours and reducing staffing. The workers hate CVS and are seeking out other pharmacies that have better staffing. Independent pharmacies if you can find them actually are well staffed and much nicer places to work. There is no corporate office pinching every penny and cutting labor hours and staff until you lose your mind.

When there is a pharmacist that quits, CVS is so short of staff, that the pharmacy will have to close early if there is one pharmacist. No overtime is allowed. The pharmacy will lose customers and sales. It could take months to recruit and train a new pharmacist.

When CVS bought Aetna, many changes were made. Aetna used to pay for 90 days of medication at pharmacies. Now most Aetna plans which are now run by CVS will only pay for a 30 day supply at a non-CVS pharmacy. CVS also runs Blue Shields drug plans in California. They also only cover only 30 day supplies at non-CVS pharmacy. Some Aetna plans force you to get drugs from CVS mail order. You cannot used any brick and mortar pharmacy.

With such restrictions, many companies are switching from CVS managed plans and going to Express Scripts or some other carrier. Now CVS is losing customers to other pharmacy chains. This has backfired on CVS. People need to speak up and tell their employers that they don't want these awful CVS plans that give fewer options.

The side effect of only paying for a 30 day supply is that customers have to visit the pharmacy more often (every 30 day). Since that pharmacy is a non-CVS pharmacy, the other pharmacy gets more sales every 30 days. So CVS is giving non-CVS pharmacies more front end sales. Also CVS, pharmacies end up with customers only visiting every 90 days to pick up prescriptions. Their front end sales are going down. No wonder why CVS is closing more of their pharmacies.
When I look at foot traffic the CVS Stores seem to have by far the most foot traffic... compared to Walgreens. Walgreens used to have more foot traffic but it seems over the years their foot traffic has really declined.

I still find a lot of examples in NorCal where Rite Aid and CVS are fairly busy, while Walgreens nearby will be dead. I don't know of many busy Walgreens outside the bay area in NorCal.
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