WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark Corp. is slated to name Macy’s Inc. executive Mark Cosby as president of CVS/pharmacy, Chain Drug Review has learned.
Cosby, previously president of stores at Macy’s, fills the vacancy created when CVS Caremark named Larry Merlo president and chief operating officer in May 2010.
Merlo, who had been CVS/pharmacy president, also was designated to become the next CVS Caremark chief executive officer with the retirement of Tom Ryan in May 2011. Merlo, officially named as the incoming CEO in late January, took the helm as chief executive this spring.
Cosby has served as Macy’s president of stores since February 2009. In that role, he was responsible for all of Macy’s store operations and support functions nationwide, as well as overseeing the retailer’s stores in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Before that, he was president and COO of New York-based Macy’s East beginning in May 2007 (prior to June 1, 2007, Macy’s Inc. was known as Federated Department Stores Inc.). He joined the corporate office in July 2006 as senior vice president for property development.
Before coming to Macy’s, Cosby was president of full-line stores at Sears Roebuck & Co. and earlier was chief operations officer of KFC and chief development officer of Yum Brands, the restaurant company spun off from Pepsico. He began his career as a financial analyst at General Foods Corp.
CVS Caremark previously planned to hire former Walmart executive Hank Mullany as CVS/pharmacy president, announcing the move in early December. However, in the wake of a legal challenge by Walmart, which claimed Mullany’s hiring would violate a noncompete agreement, CVS Caremark in January said it would not proceed with the appointment.
In the interim, CVS Caremark had named Mike Bloom, executive vice president of merchandising and supply chain, and Scott Baker, executive vice president of internal operations and real estate, to lead its retail drug store business. Bloom and Baker at the time were the company’s two highest-ranking retail executives. Merlo had been overseeing CVS/pharmacy during the company’s search for a retail president.
