CVS stores aren’t all that well thought of in the Prairie States.
They never have made very bright branding decisions either.
Years ago they entered this market by buying out Rex all and then ditched that established name for an acronym no one had heard of. Decades later, they are still mostly known for buying out better stores which they can’t compete with in terms of customer service or quality.
I think CVS is making a risky gamble. I am betting it is going to go as well as JCPenney’s gamble to cater to gays.
I have gone to the CVS store at the corner of 16th and Meridian in downtown Indianapolis to buy two newspapers and two packs of cigarettes every single day for the last twelve years.....until last week when Brandy my favorite clerk told me they were permanently out of Marlboro silvers.
I now go to the Wallgreens directly across the street as, apparently, a hell of a lot of other people are doing according to their manager whom I spoke with. She said they have virtually doubled their cigarette business and overall store sales are up 15% in the last two weeks. As I told her, “who would have guessed that smokers buy a lot of other stuff too”.
It’s a free country and I applaud CVS for exercising their constitutional right to sell what they want to sell. And I am absolutely sure their smug, self-righteous, politically correct CEO is applauding my choice to spend four or five hundred dollars a week with his competitor.
CVS stands for Consumer Value Stores. i think.