Johnathan Walker:CVS closing dozens of pharmacies inside Target stores

CVS closing dozens of its Target pharmacies in 2024

CVS Health will close dozens of pharmacies inside Target stores as the drugstore chain confronts escalating costs. 

The closures involving a number of CVS' 1,800 locations in Target stores will start in February and end by early April. The closures are part of an effort to "realign our national retail footprint and reduce store and pharmacy density," a CVS spokesperson said in an email.

Impacted employees will be offered comparable roles within CVS, the spokesperson stated.

"Prior to the closing of any impacted location, prescriptions will be transferred to a nearby CVS Pharmacy to ensure patients have uninterrupted access to pharmacy care," the spokesperson said.

CVS, the nation's biggest drugstore chain, cautioned investors in August that increasing expenses in its pharmacy and insurance business would dent profit during the next couple of years. The company last year enacted a restructuring plan that cut 5,000 positions. 

Walgreen's earlier this month said it is looking to cut $1 billion in expenses this fiscal year. Rite Aid last year filed for bankruptcy.

Woonsocket, Rhode Island-based CVS has run pharmacies in Target locations since late 2015 when it purchased the business from the retailer for about $1.9 billion.

Minneapolis-based Target, which operates 1,950 discount stores across the U.S., referred a request for comment to CVS.

CVS had said it would close about 900 of its 9,000 stores between 2022 and 2024. By the close of 2023, the company had shut roughly 600 of those locations. 

Kate Gibson

Kate Gibson is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch in New York.