What was CVS previously called?

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CVS was originally called Consumer Value Stores (or Consumer Value Store) when it was founded in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1963.

Key Details

  • Founding Name: Consumer Value Stores
  • Name Change: Shortened to the acronym CVS just one year later in 1964.
  • Original Purpose: Started as a discount retailer for health and beauty products before adding pharmacy services in 1967.
  • Corporate History: Owned by the Melville Corporation starting in 1969 before eventually spinning off and evolving into CVS Health.

What pharmacy did CVS take over?

CVS Pharmacy took over select assets and prescription files from Rite Aid and Bartell Drugs following Rite Aid's bankruptcy.

Acquisition Details

  • Physical Stores: CVS took over and now operates 63 former Rite Aid and Bartell Drugs stores located in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.
  • Prescription Files: CVS acquired the prescription records for 626 former Rite Aid and Bartell locations across 15 states.
  • Patients Affected: The transition brought over 9 million former patients into the CVS network.
  • Staffing: CVS hired more than 3,500 former employees from the affected Rite Aid and Bartell Drugs locations.

You can read the official announcement from CVS Health.

What company did CVS merge with?

CVS Health acquired and merged with the health insurance company Aetna in November 2018 for approximately $69 billion.

Key Details of the Deal

  • Date: The deal officially closed on November 28, 2018.
  • Cost: The transaction was valued at roughly $69 billion in equity value (and about $78 billion including Aetna's debt).
  • Structure: Aetna operates as a standalone subsidiary under the CVS Health umbrella and keeps its brand name.
  • Goal: The merger combined CVS's retail pharmacies and Caremark pharmacy benefit manager with Aetna's health insurance network to lower medical costs and expand local care through MinuteClinics.

Who was first, Walgreens or CVS?

Walgreens was founded first, opening its initial store in Chicago in 1901.

Founding Timeline

  • Walgreens: Founded in 1901 in Chicago, Illinois, by Charles R. Walgreen Sr.
  • CVS: Founded much later in 1963 in Lowell, Massachusetts, originally as Consumer Value Stores.

Who did CVS buy out in the 90s?

In the 1990s, CVS bought out several major drugstore chains, most notably Peoples Drug, Revco, and Arbor Drugs.

🛒 Major 1990s Acquisitions

  • 📅 1990: Acquired 500 Peoples Drug stores to expand into the mid-Atlantic.
  • 📅 1990: Bought the 23-store Rix Dunnington chain.
  • 📅 1997: Completed a historic purchase of more than 2,500 Revco stores.
  • 📅 1998: Acquired 200 Arbor Drugs stores based in Michigan.

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9 related questions found

What was CVS originally called?

CVS was originally named Consumer Value Stores.

Key Facts

  • Founding: Opened in 1963 in Lowell, Massachusetts, by brothers Stanley and Sidney Goldstein and partner Ralph Hoagland.
  • Original Focus: Sold health and beauty products rather than prescriptions.
  • Name Change: Shortened to the abbreviation CVS in 1964, just one year after opening.
  • Pharmacies Added: Introduced in-store pharmacies later in 1967 in Rhode Island.

What was the drug store before CVS?

CVS grew by acquiring several regional drugstore chains over the decades, meaning your local CVS might have previously been a Revco, Eckerd Corporation, Peoples Drug, or Arbor Drugs.

Major Chains Acquired by CVS

  • Revco: CVS bought this massive 2,500-store chain in 1997, which turned many Midwest and Southern locations into CVS.
  • Eckerd: CVS purchased a large block of Eckerd stores in 2004, rebranding hundreds of locations.
  • Peoples Drug: CVS acquired this Mid-Atlantic chain in 1990 and phased out the name by 1994.
  • Arbor Drugs: CVS bought this Michigan-based chain with 200 locations in 1998.
  • Big B Drugs: Revco bought Big B in 1996, and CVS absorbed those stores when it acquired Revco soon after.

What companies did CVS buy out?

CVS Health has bought many major companies over the years to grow into a massive healthcare and pharmacy network.

Major Recent Acquisitions

  • Oak Street Health (2023): Bought for about $10.6 billion to add primary care clinics focused on older adults.
  • Signify Health (2022): Bought for about $8 billion to expand into in-home health evaluations.
  • Aetna (2018): Bought for roughly $70 billion, making it one of the largest health insurance and healthcare mergers in history.
  • Select Rite Aid & Bartell Drugs Assets (2025): Acquired 63 retail stores in the Pacific Northwest and prescription files for hundreds of other locations across 15 states.

Past Major Pharmacy & Care Buyouts

  • Omnicare (2015): Provider of pharmacy services to long-term care facilities.
  • Coram (2014): Provider of home infusion services.
  • Navarro Discount Pharmacy (2014): Hispanic-focused retail pharmacy chain in Florida.
  • Caremark (2007): Pharmacy benefit manager that formed CVS Caremark.
  • MinuteClinic (2006): Provider of retail medical clinics inside stores.
  • Sav-On and Osco Drugstores (2006): Bought thousands of stores from Albertsons.
  • Eckerd Drug (2004): Acquired a large portion of Eckerd stores.
  • Revco (1997): Major drugstore chain acquisition.
  • Peoples Drug (1990): Mid-Atlantic drugstore chain.

You can view a full timeline of milestones on the CVS Health Company History page.

What is the CVS Pharmacy scandal?

CVS Pharmacy has faced multiple high-profile legal scandals, government fraud lawsuits, and federal investigations regarding its billing practices and operations.

Major Legal Scandals and Investigations

  • Medicare and Medicaid Overbilling (Caremark): CVS Caremark (the pharmacy benefit manager subsidiary) faced major judgments for overcharging Medicare for generic drugs. A federal judge ordered a $290 million penalty after finding that Caremark inflated Medicare Part D drug prices to create hidden profits. CVS also faced a coalition of state attorneys general in a Medicaid fraud lawsuit alleging CVS overbilled state programs by charging more than what was billed to private insurers.
  • Insulin Pen Overbilling Settlement: CVS agreed to a $37.76 million settlement to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act from 2010 through 2020. The government alleged CVS prematurely refilled prescriptions, dispensed extra insulin pens, and under-reported days-of-supply to get improper reimbursements from Medicare, Medicaid, and other public healthcare programs.
  • Controlled Substances and Opioid Lawsuits: The Department of Justice filed a nationwide lawsuit accusing CVS of knowingly filling unlawful, invalid opioid and controlled substance prescriptions. The suit claimed that strict corporate performance metrics and low staffing forced pharmacists to prioritize speed over safety.
  • Antitrust Accusations: A House Judiciary Committee report accused CVS Health of antitrust violations by allegedly blocking independent pharmacies from using rival digital pharmacy hubs through coercive audits and cease-and-desist threats.
  • Hospital 340B Drug Pricing Lawsuits: Major hospital systems (including Mount Sinai and the University of Michigan Health) sued CVS Health, claiming the company ran a scheme to siphon hundreds of millions of dollars in drug savings away from hospitals serving vulnerable populations.

CVS has denied wrongdoing in several of these matters and has appealed major financial penalties.

Who is CVS owned by?

CVS Pharmacy is owned by its parent company, CVS Health Corporation, which trades publicly on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CVS.

About CVS Health

  • Public Company: It is not owned by a single private entity; instead, it is owned by public shareholders and institutional investors.
  • Major Brands: CVS Health owns several large companies, including CVS Pharmacy, the pharmacy benefits manager CVS Caremark, health insurer Aetna, and clinic provider MinuteClinic.
  • History: CVS was previously owned by the Melville Corporation until it was spun off as an independent company in 1996.