CVS to close doors soon

July 27, 2023 at 12:10 a.m.
(photo Chris Louden)


What was once a regular trip to Liberty for many Union County residents to pick up prescriptions will no longer be just a convenient drive to town. The CVS Pharmacy in Liberty will be closing for good on Aug. 30. The pharmacy has been a convenient source for Union Countians to pick up their prescriptions, personal care items, and other household products, for over 40 years. Originally opened as a Hook's Drugs store at 201 West High Street, the 7,500-square foot building was constructed in 1980, on the site of the former Rude Brothers manufacturing plant. The store remained a Hook's until 1994, when Revco bought out the Hook's chain. Three years later CVS Pharmacies took over the Liberty location from Revco and has operated the store since 1997.

The CVS chain is one of the largest pharmacies in the US and they have approximately 9,600 stores nationwide. They recently announced they'd be closing nearly 900 stores by the end of 2024.

Why is CVS closing so many stores?

According to a CVS Pharmacies press release from 2022, ever since Covid-19, the buying pattern of customers has changed immensely and has shifted to online buying. As a result, to focus on developing medical technology, CVS has decided to reduce its in-store footprint and is hoping to move to an online business model. In September 2022, CVS even acquired “Signify Health,” a well-known home healthcare company, to expand its medicine delivery services. The overall goal of this company is to improve the clinical experience, said Karen S. Lynch, the CEO and president of CVS Health. Additionally, CVS also plans to increase Minute Clinics-owned retail clinics, create virtual and physical locations, and to make healthcare more affordable and accessible.

The company stated that employees at the closing stores will get opportunities to relocate or work in another capacity with CVS. According to the Liberty CVS store manager Cody Hill, “The Liberty location currently has eight employees, all of them have been offered a job at the Connersville CVS.” Hill declined to comment on when they were informed by corporate of the Liberty location's closing, but did confirm that Wednesday, Aug. 30 would be the last day the store is open to the public.

With the Liberty store closing, the surrounding communities will still have a CVS and customers can transfer their prescriptions to any one of the locations. Connersville's CVS is located at 301 Grand Avenue, Brookville has a location on Main Steet, and Richmond has two locations, East Main and SW 18th Street on the west side. These locations will all remain open.

The closing leaves MediCenter Pharmacy as the lone pharmacy remaining in Union County.

What was once a regular trip to Liberty for many Union County residents to pick up prescriptions will no longer be just a convenient drive to town. The CVS Pharmacy in Liberty will be closing for good on Aug. 30. The pharmacy has been a convenient source for Union Countians to pick up their prescriptions, personal care items, and other household products, for over 40 years. Originally opened as a Hook's Drugs store at 201 West High Street, the 7,500-square foot building was constructed in 1980, on the site of the former Rude Brothers manufacturing plant. The store remained a Hook's until 1994, when Revco bought out the Hook's chain. Three years later CVS Pharmacies took over the Liberty location from Revco and has operated the store since 1997.

The CVS chain is one of the largest pharmacies in the US and they have approximately 9,600 stores nationwide. They recently announced they'd be closing nearly 900 stores by the end of 2024.

Why is CVS closing so many stores?

According to a CVS Pharmacies press release from 2022, ever since Covid-19, the buying pattern of customers has changed immensely and has shifted to online buying. As a result, to focus on developing medical technology, CVS has decided to reduce its in-store footprint and is hoping to move to an online business model. In September 2022, CVS even acquired “Signify Health,” a well-known home healthcare company, to expand its medicine delivery services. The overall goal of this company is to improve the clinical experience, said Karen S. Lynch, the CEO and president of CVS Health. Additionally, CVS also plans to increase Minute Clinics-owned retail clinics, create virtual and physical locations, and to make healthcare more affordable and accessible.

The company stated that employees at the closing stores will get opportunities to relocate or work in another capacity with CVS. According to the Liberty CVS store manager Cody Hill, “The Liberty location currently has eight employees, all of them have been offered a job at the Connersville CVS.” Hill declined to comment on when they were informed by corporate of the Liberty location's closing, but did confirm that Wednesday, Aug. 30 would be the last day the store is open to the public.

With the Liberty store closing, the surrounding communities will still have a CVS and customers can transfer their prescriptions to any one of the locations. Connersville's CVS is located at 301 Grand Avenue, Brookville has a location on Main Steet, and Richmond has two locations, East Main and SW 18th Street on the west side. These locations will all remain open.

The closing leaves MediCenter Pharmacy as the lone pharmacy remaining in Union County.

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