It might not be the best time to operate in the offline pharmacy business. CVS Health will finish closing all of its MinuteClinic locations in Utah by shuttering its last three in the state by Saturday, according to a report from Modern Healthcare.
Citing a company spokesperson, the magazine said the move will help support the pharmacy giant's growth plans in the future.
MinuteClinic serves as a walk-in for treatments and vaccinations for patients. According to CVS, it has more than 1,100 locations of these care centers nationwide.
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The Utah closures come after CVS said goodbye to 25 MinuteClinic in Los Angeles, earlier this year. But the closures are part of a larger trend. CVS and other pharmaceutical giants have been struggling with adapting to consumer buying habits. The brand along with rival Walgreens plan to close more than 2,100 locations by the end of 2025. The challenges have hit Rite Aid especially hard, which was forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
But it gets worse depending on where the stores are located and who owns them. For example, a recent report published in Health Affairs found that areas with high poverty levels experienced a 34.3 percent net loss of pharmacies, compared to a 28 percent decline in wealthier areas, from 2011 to 2021. Independent pharmacies suffered even more, with 38.9 percent being forced to close.
As for larger chains, CVS and Walgreens have previously attributed their store closures to rising competition and a dip in prescription reimbursements. It's unclear if Walgreens or CVS will be forced to close thousands more locations on top of what has already been announced. The two along with other industry giants might have to find a way to grow more through e-commerce, as companies like Amazon have embraced the way things have been trending.
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