HOUSTON — The first pharmacy-focused CVS location in this city debuted today.
The new small format CVS Pharmacy, at 8503A Gulf Freeway in south Houston, will help bridge gaps in pharmacy care and make it easier for community members to access medications, immunizations and other health care services provided by pharmacists.
Nearly 20 pharmacy-focused locations will open in select communities across the country, increasing access to vital pharmacy care. Each site will feature a full-service pharmacy with a customized selection of over-the-counter products available for purchase. With footprints averaging around 3,000 square feet, the pharmacy-focused locations will help ensure patients have access to prescription medications and the trusted advice and counsel of their neighborhood CVS pharmacist.
"Community pharmacists are often the most accessible healthcare professionals in the communities they serve," said Sid Tenneti, Senior Vice President and Interim President, Pharmacy and Consumer Wellness, CVS Health. "Our new pharmacy-focused locations optimize how we engage with communities by expanding access to trusted care, clinical expertise, and personalized support. We help people get the guidance, medications, and pharmacy care services they need where, when and how they need it most."
Multiple pharmacy formats to meet community health needs
The new pharmacy-focused locations are just one component of the company’s work to reinvent pharmacy. By taking a customized approach focused on the diverse needs of the communities they serve, CVS Pharmacy has worked to strategically realign its retail footprint over the last few years. The new pharmacies will help the company better support its patients in those communities, ensuring its footprint is the right size and scale, and addressing shifts in the pharmacy industry.
These smaller neighborhood pharmacies join several other formats already in place across the country. They include CVS Pharmacy’s traditional full-service front store and pharmacy locations, store-in-store pharmacies, such as those inside Target and Schnucks grocery stores, CVS Pharmacy stores that feature a MinuteClinic retail medical clinic, and side-by-side CVS Pharmacy and Oak Street Health care centers, primarily located in neighborhoods with high Medicaid populations.
The company has opened pharmacy-focused locations in Birmingham, Ala., Chicago, Detroit, and in Washington, D.C. In addition to the new site near the Gulf Freeway, two additional pharmacy-focused locations are planned in the greater Houston area over the next year. The company also plans to open more than 40 new CVS Pharmacy locations, including traditional stores and pharmacies in Target.
Importance of one-on-one interactions with pharmacists
The 2025 CVS Health Rx Report highlighted that 80% of patients prefer face-to-face pharmacy care, and nearly half (48%) would switch pharmacies if limited to digital-only options. The overwhelming majority of pharmacy professionals (97%) also say in-person interactions remain vital.
“Access to local, timely health care matters — which is why, whether in-person, online, or a combination of the two, our community pharmacists provide trusted counsel and best-in-class service through consistent, personalized experiences that focus on helping patients become their healthiest,” said Tenneti.
“In the expansive greater Houston metropolitan area, being able to walk into any of our pharmacies, speak directly with a pharmacist, and have in-person access to pharmacy services is important,” said Thanh Hoang, Pharmacy Manager, CVS Pharmacy. “Our pharmacists live and work within the communities they serve and because authentic connections are created through meaningful interactions, patients and customers trust their local pharmacy teams.”
Whether a patient prefers the convenience of same-day or 1- to 2-day prescription delivery or prefers to visit their local pharmacy in-person, CVS Pharmacy is ensuring patients have multiple care options to choose from, depending on their individual needs.
