A CVS is set to close in Hartford, Connecticut as drug stores face closures nationwide amid an ongoing retail apocalypse.

Shoppers will have to say goodbye to the West Hartford CVS by September 20, as the location has joined a longer list of store closures for the chain.

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That means all prescriptions will need to be transferred by this date, or customers risk losing access to their medications.

Currently, CVS operates five other standalone locations in Hartford as well as one pharmacy within the Bishops Corner Target.

"We’ve made the difficult decision to close our store at 978 Farmington Avenue in West Hartford on September 20," Amy Thibault, the lead director for communications, confirmed to The Middletown Press.

Store closures come down to several factors, but in the CVS location’s case, sales rates and market trends likely played a role.

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"Maintaining access to pharmacy services in the communities we serve is an important factor we consider when making store closure decisions," Thibault said. 

"Other factors include local market dynamics, population shifts, a community’s store density, and ensuring there are other geographic access points to meet the needs of the community."

Thibault confirmed that all CVS employees at the affected location have been offered jobs at other CVS stores in the area.

While prescriptions will automatically be transferred to the 150 South Main St CVS store, shoppers can also ask for their medications to be sent to another pharmacy of their choice.

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CVS has been on a closing streak of underperforming stores, with one of the latest closures also slated for the unit in Harlingen, Texas, today.

Then tomorrow, on August 16, CVS will also shut its store down in Placer County, California.

Customers will have their prescriptions transferred to a nearby CVS at 5090 Foothills Boulevard.

The shutdowns follow CVS’s plan to close roughly 300 stores per year until 2024.

Last month, CVS' store in Brookfield, Illinois, about 15 miles west of Chicago, was also scheduled to close on July 20.

Meanwhile, in June, a store in Lincoln, Nebraska closed, CVS confirmed to the Lincoln Journal Star.

In addition, a CVS in New Jersey, near the suburbs of Philadelphia, is also scheduled to close this month.

In total, the drug store chain has experienced at least five closures during this summer alone.

CVS also made headlines when its chief executive officer Karen Lynch revealed 5,000 workers would be laid off in an effort to lower costs for the drug store chain.

“As part of an enterprise initiative to reprioritize our investments around care delivery and technology, we must take difficult steps to reduce expenses,” Lynch wrote in a memo.

“This unfortunately includes the need to eliminate a number of non-customer-facing positions across the company.

“Throughout our company’s history, we’ve continuously adapted to market dynamics to lead the industry. The difficult decision we are making will set the company up for long-term success.”

CVS had about 300,000 employees in the US at the end of last year.

Overall, the company operates 9,000 retail locations and 1,100 walk-in clinics nationwide.

CLOSURES NATIONWIDE

Several factors have created the perfect storm for retailers to struggle in what some financial experts are calling the retail apocalypse.

Due to the rise of online shopping in the wake of the pandemic, many brick and mortar stores have experienced low foot traffic and find it difficult to keep up with past sales.

Other rival pharmacy stores like Walgreens are feeling the impacts too.

In fact, Walgreens closed multiple stores in May.

This included one in Syracuse, New York, and another in Dundalk, Maryland.

Even home goods giant Bed Bath & Beyond found itself going under, as the company filed for bankruptcy this year.

All 360 locations, as well as 120 buybuy Baby stores, were scheduled to shutter this summer even amid the company’s IP sale to Overstock.com.

Through the $21.5million acquisition, Overstock claimed the company and maintained its online presence.

Party City also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will be closing more than 30 locations this year.

CVS has also created an automatic surcharge if you place an order online.

Plus, find out the real story behind CVS’s abbreviated name.