CVS Pharmacy (CVS or CVS/pharmacy) is a widely-known American pharmacy chain, which is the second largest one in the USA (Walgreens is the leader in the market). It is the retail pharmacy branch of CVS Caremark Corporation. The company owns more than 7,300 CVS locations in forty one states and in Puerto Rico. Its headquarters are in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

CVS Pharmacy stores and its website CVS.com sell a great number of prescription and over-the-counter medicines, cosmetics, beauty goods, seasonal products, convenience foods, and other general merchandise. CVS stores also have departments of MinuteClinic and Diabetes Care Centers suggesting healthcare services.

Landmarks in the History of CVS Pharmacy

• 1963 – Brothers Sidney Goldstein and Stanley Goldstein and their partner Ralph Hoagland open in Lowell, Massachusetts, the store that sells health and beauty merchandise. They name it CVS (Consumer Value Stores).
• 1964 – There are seventeen CVS locations in the chain.
• 1967 – CVS opens first pharmacy departments in its stores.
• 1969 – Melville Corporation acquires Consumer Value Stores, and CVS becomes its subsidiary.
• 1972 – CVS purchases Discount Stores and Clinton Drug.
• 1974 – The annual revenues of CVS achieve the mark of 0 million.
• 1977 – CVS acquires Mack Drug chain, located in New Jersey.
• 1980 – CVS is the fifteenth largest American pharmacy chain with 408 CVS locations.
• 1981 – CVS opens Store Support Center, situated in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.
• 1985 – The CVS annual sales reach one billion dollars.
• 1986 – Stanley Goldstein, one of the CVS founders, becomes president of Melville Corporation. A year later he is named CEO and chairman of Melville Corporation.
• 1988 - CVS Pharmacy, celebrating the 25th anniversary, owns about 750 stores and .6 billion of annual sales.
• 1990 – CVS purchases Peoples Drug, entering the markets of Washington D.C., Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania.
• 1993 – CVS Pharmacy introduces point-of-scale scanning terminals in all its stores.
• 1994 – PharmaCare is launched.
• 1994 – Tom Ryan is named CEO and President of CVS Pharmacy.
• 1996 – CVS Pharmacy becomes the stand-alone corporation. Stanley Goldstein is its first chairman.
• 1998 – CVS Pharmacy purchases 200 locations from Arbor Drugs. The total number of CVS stores reaches 4,100 across twenty four states.
• 1999 – Tom Ryan becomes chairman of CVS.
• 2000 – CVS buys Stadtlander pharmacy.
• 2001 – CVS launches the ExtraCare Card, the first national pharmacy loyalty program.
• 2004 – CVS Pharmacy acquires Eckerd with its 1,268 store and departments of health service.
• 2005 – By the end of the year, CVS Pharmacy is the largest American pharmacy retailer. It owns over 5,400 CVS locations, serving about 400 million people.
• 2005 – MinuteClinic becomes a partner of CVS Pharmacy and opens three clinics in CVS locations.
• 2006 – CVS Pharmacy purchases Osco and Sav-On store.
• 2006 – CVS buys MinuteClinic.
• 2007 – CVS Corporation merges with Caremark Rx, creating pharmacy service provider CVS Caremark.
• 2008 – CVS acquires more than five hundred Longs Drugs stores.
• 2008 – MinuteClinic launches its 500th department.
• 2009 – The 7,000th CVS location is opened. It is a store in Little Canada, Minn.
• 2011 – Larry Merlo becomes CEO and President of CVS Caremark.

CVS Pharmacy Today

Nowadays CVS Pharmacy employs about 200,000 people in forty four states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. It operates over 7,300 CVS locations, several onsite pharmacies, specialty drugstores, mail order pharmacies and two websites.

MinuteClinic operates more than 650 retail clinics. It has already served over 13 million patients.

By 2008, more than 26 million people visited CVS.com, the official website of CVS Pharmacy, where one can manage his prescriptions, buy necessary goods and get some extra care. It also suggests a convenient CVS locator that can be used for finding the nearest CVS location.

The annual revenues of CVS Caremark Corporation exceed 7 billion. It holds the 18th place on Fortune 500 in 2012. Every year it fills and manages over one billion prescriptions annually. The loyalty program ExtraCare Card has about 70 million active customers.

You can get more information about CVS on cvs.com.