CVS to close a location for good and customers worry their city will be a ‘drug store desert’
In just one month, shoppers have one less drugstore to choose from, pushing a community to the brink of a drugstore desert.
The most recent closure is a pharmacy in Paulsboro, New Jersey time, which is scheduled to close on August 22nd.
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Earlier in the year, Rite Aid also closed its nearby Paulsboro location.
Though the closures are planned, the community isn’t as concerned as many locals fear running out of place to pick up their prescriptions.
“Absolutely a travesty. I had to take my stuff to Mullica Hill,” Lenny Curtis told Fox 29.
“You know, I’m an elderly person in winter. Getting in the car now, getting out and driving is really a disadvantage,” added Lenny.
Buyers must now collect all prescriptions from the CVS Pharmacy at 1098 Mantua Pike in Wenonah.
CVS Pharmacy’s Amy Thibault told the outlet that the “tough decision” is coming because of market dynamics, population shifts and store density.
The US Sun has reached out to CVS Pharmacy for comment.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
The news comes after CVS announced the closure of 900 stores earlier this year.
Back in January, the giant pharmacy chain said it would be closing about 300 stores a year, up to 900 locations by 2026.
Statistics showed that the pharmacy giant has around 9,600 stores across the country.
Earlier this year, the CVS in Orlando’s College Park neighborhood closed immediately after another Florida location closed weeks earlier.
Other previous CVS sites that have closed include:
- Euclid Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa
- Monroe Street, Tallahasee, Florida
- Troost Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri
- College Point, Queens, New York
- The Woods, Houston, Texas
- Willard Way, Fairfax, Virginia
CVS isn’t the only pharmacy hit by closures, with rivals Walgreens and Rite Aid also ditching their stores.
In fact, Walgreens recently announced a mass closure of 150 stores as the retailer wants to “optimize locations.”
However, no locations have been announced.
RETAIL APOCALYSIS
As consumers continue to migrate to the digital world, businesses across all industries are struggling to stay afloat.
The move has revolutionized multiple sectors such as restaurants, retailers and more.
The phenomenon has been dubbed the “retail apocalypse” by financial experts.
More specifically, a Reuters article last year questioned how Walmart slumped its quarterly profits by 25 percent.
That led to retailer Dennis Dick being interviewed by the news outlet, in which he described the spate of closures as a “retail apocalypse.”
“This is a little retail apocalypse, it was Walmart and everyone thought it was an isolated incident,” Dennis said in the interview.
The popular, bankrupt baby retailer has found a way to stay afloat after all stores were expected to close.
Also, shoppers are devastated after another Lidl branch was finally closed.