CVS Health on Monday quietly pulled back the curtain on a very different kind of drugstore on Chicago's West Side, opening a compact, pharmacy-only, apothecary-style shop that puts prescriptions, immunizations and one-on-one counseling front and center instead of a full front-end retail spread.
In a press release via CVS Health, the company said the new store, at 2628 West Pershing Road in Chicago's West End, is the first of nearly 20 pharmacy-only, apothecary-style CVS Pharmacy locations it plans to open nationwide this year. As reported by the Chicago Business Journal, CVS expects to open four more pharmacy-only stores in Chicago by August, bringing the local total to five.
Tiny Footprint, Big Neighborhood Focus
NBC Chicago reported that the Pershing Road location comes in under 5,000 square feet and debuted with an all-day community event featuring giveaways and staff on hand to field medication questions. The shop will stock a limited range of over-the-counter products, but the layout is built around a full-service pharmacy counter and space for patient consultations with pharmacists.
Company Pitch: More Pharmacist Time, Fewer Aisles
The company release says the pharmacy-only sites average about 3,000 square feet and are designed “to make it easier for patients to access medications, immunizations and other health care services provided by pharmacists,” per CVS Health. Len Shankman, CVS’s executive vice president for pharmacy and consumer wellness, is quoted saying, “Pharmacists are among the most accessible and most trusted health care providers.” The company also flagged other 2026 targets for the format, including Houston, Roxbury (Mass.), Detroit and Brooklyn.
Where This Fits In A Shifting Pharmacy Map
The openings come as CVS continues to reshape its retail footprint after closing stores in prior years and amid layoffs at related units, a shift that new smaller-format stores coverage has tracked. CVS says the smaller, pharmacy-centric design is meant to keep pharmacist care accessible in neighborhoods while the company tries to balance new store openings, in-store pharmacies and closures across the country.
For more on timing and specific Chicago neighborhoods slated to get these locations, see the report from the Chicago Business Journal. CVS's announcement lays out a broader national schedule for rolling out the pharmacy-only model this year.
