CVS Launches New Store Design

CVS Pharmacy has unveiled a new store design, aimed at promoting healthier food choices and more beauty choices.

The new store design will be rolled out to as many as 70 stores this year, with plans to roll out several hundred more in 2018, according to a company press release. The redesign will focus on expanding access to healthy food, as well as on removing certain chemicals and products from its beauty and diet supplements section.

CVS estimates that 50% of the food in the store will be what it calls a “'better-for-you’ food option.” These items include Alo Exposed Waters, EPIC Bison Bars, and That’s It bars. Additionally, the chain will begin flagging products, such as those that are heart-healthy or sugar-free, with shelf tags. Erin Pensa, CVS Health Director of Public Relations, told Drug Topics that CVS “brought the expertise of our pharmacists into the aisles with signage designed to help [customers] navigate the stores to find the right solution.”

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The chain says also that it will phase-out certain chemicals in its beauty line. By the end of 2019, CVS intends to remove all parabens, phthalates, and formaldehyde in products within the CVS Health, Beauty 360, Essence of Beauty, Promise Organic, and Blade store-brand product lines. The chain also hopes to fully implement a new standard for vitamins and supplements. This new standard will include third-party testing of ingredient listings for vitamins and supplements.

 “We did a lot of research with our customers as well as our pharmacists as we reimagined our stores,” Pensa added. The decision to make the change, she said, stemmed from CVS’s decision to remove tobacco products from its shelves in 2014. According to Fortune, this decision led to years of sales decline, as the company lost nearly $2 billion in tobacco sales. The hope, according to Fortune, is to capitalize on the goodwill earned by that decision and lean into the healthiness of the store.

“Our new store experience brings our health purpose to life for our customers,” said Pensa.