No decision yet on local CVS outlets as pharmacy giant announces hundreds of 2022 closings

CVS, with nearly 10,000 pharmacy stores in the U.S., announced Nov. 18 it will close 900 of them over the next three years — but a company spokesman told the Southeast Missourian the fate of outlets in this area will be decided early next year.

"These changes to our store footprint won't begin until the end of first quarter 2022 (and) we'll provide more details, including specific locations when available," said Charlie Rice-Minoso, manager of CVS Health's Midwest media relations, including Missouri and Illinois.

In this region, CVS has stand-alone Missouri pharmacies in Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, Poplar Bluff, Ste. Genevieve, plus another in Carbondale, Illinois. CVS also has pharmacies inside Target and Schnucks stores in Cape Girardeau.

"We do not anticipate Target and Schnucks locations to be impacted by the reduction. The focus of this footprint optimization is to align our core store fleet with our strategy and market dynamics," Rice-Minoso said.

A CVS news release had more detail, stating the cuts are being made to "ensure (CVS) has the right kinds of stores in the right locations," adding the company is instituting the closings after evaluating changes in population, consumer buying patterns and future health needs.

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