CVS Pharmacy - Wikipedia

CVS Pharmacy used to be a subsidiary of Melville Corporation, where its full name was initially as Consumer Value Stores. Melville changed its name to CVS Corporation in 1996[12][13] after Melville sold off many of its stores other than its pharmacies.[14] The last of those operations were sold in 1997.[12]

Former CEO Tom Ryan has said he considers "CVS" to stand for "Customer, Value, and Service".[15]

During the company's days as a regional chain in the Northeast, many CVS stores did not include pharmacies. Today, the company seldom builds new stores without pharmacies and outside of New England is gradually phasing out any such shops. Any new non-pharmacy store is usually built in a more urban setting where another CVS with a pharmacy exists within walking distance such as downtown Boston, Massachusetts, or Providence, Rhode Island. These stores usually lack a pharmacy and a photo center but carry most of the general merchandise items that a normal CVS Pharmacy carries such as health and beauty items, sundries, and food items.[citation needed]

On October 18, 2024, David Joyner, who previously oversaw Caremark, replaced Karen Lynch as CEO.[16]

CVS Rewards Program

In 2013, CVS introduced a program that rewarded customers up to $50 per year in ExtraCare Bucks, a store credit system, that customers can use for purchasing additional items in store in exchange for filling their prescriptions.[17] In order to enroll in the program, customers had to sign a HIPAA waiver acknowledging that their provided information may be disclosed further. Stores had to fulfill a quota of a number of customers in the program each week. Walgreens and Rite Aid also offer rewards for filling prescriptions, although they do not require a signed HIPAA waiver.[18]

Online

The domain CVS.com attracted at least 26 million visitors annually by 2008 according to a Compete.com survey.[19]

CVS no longer owns the soma.com domain name, which it acquired with the purchase of online drugstore pioneer Soma; that domain now resides with the lingerie brand of the same name owned by clothing retailer Chico's.

By 2004, all CVS stores were able to receive electronic prescriptions.[20]