CVS Health has opened an “apothecary-style” store in Chicago’s West End, the second of nearly 20 small-format stores — with footprints averaging just 3,000 square feet — that the retailer has planned for 2026. CVS had opened its first pharmacy-only store in Birmingham, Ala. late last year and plans to open additional stores this year in Houston; Detroit; Roxbury, Mass.; and Brooklyn, N.Y.
The stores will feature full-service pharmacies with a selection of over-the-counter (OTC) products, and are designed to increase access to pharmacy care and prescriptions.
“Pharmacists are among the most accessible and most trusted health care providers,” said Len Shankman, EVP and President, Pharmacy and Consumer Wellness at CVS Health in a statement. “Our new, pharmacy-only locations allow our pharmacy teams to continue to build relationship with patients — their friends and neighbors — and provide on-the-ground pharmacy care in communities that need us.”
CVS had first announced plans to open a dozen small-format, pharmacy-focused stores in March 2025. On October 2025 CVS said it also would open nearly 100 larger community-focused stores featuring a larger assortment, including more than 60 in the Pacific Northwest acquired from the now-bankrupt Rite Aid.
