Here’s a timeline of how it all went down, according to a March 5 Yahoo story:
1963: Consumer Value Store opened as a health and beauty retailer in Lowell, Mass.
1964: The store changed its name to CVS.
1967: CVS introduced pharmacies in its stores.
1969: The company was sold to Melville Corp.
1988: The chain grew to 750 stores and $1.2 billion in sales.
1994: CVS introduced its own pharmacy benefit manager, PharmaCare. Healthcare and pharmaceuticals became the company’s primary revenue sources.
1999: CVS acquired digital pharmacy startup Soma.com for $30 million in stock.
2006: CVS bought PBM Caremark for $21 billion in stock, merging it with PharmaCare, and purchased MinuteClinic for $170 million. The company’s annual revenue was $44 billion.
2018: CVS acquired payer giant Aetna for $69 billion, while MinuteClinic debuted 24-7 digital services.
2020: The company instituted wellness kiosks at Pilot Flying J truck stops.
2021: CVS said it would close 900 stores over the next three years. The company also selected Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud service.
2022: CVS agreed to acquire home health company Signify Health for $8 billion. The Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation into the practices of CVS Caremark, now the largest PBM by market share, and five other PBMs. CVS’ revenues were $322.5 billion.
2023: CVS entered into an agreement to buy senior-focused primary care chain Oak Street Health for $10.6 billion, and invested $100 million in hybrid care company Carbon Health. Valued at $105 billion, CVS is the most profitable retail pharmacy chain in the U.S.
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