Pharmacy giant CVS entering Las Vegas market

Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2001 | 11:20 a.m.

Las Vegas' crowded drugstore market will get even busier before the end of the year with the announcement of plans by the nation's second-largest pharmacy chain to build in the area.

Woonsocket, R.I.-based CVS Corp., which has more than 4,100 stores in 29 states, announced plans to enter the Las Vegas and Phoenix markets Tuesday. A spokesman for the company said today there are no details on how many stores would be built, their locations or how many people would be employed.

The company has 97,000 employees nationwide and its retail outlets are known as "CVS/pharmacy."

Todd Andrews, director of corporate communications for CVS, said the growth of the Las Vegas area and the demographic patterns emerging -- an increase in aging Baby Boomers -- will result in a 50 percent increase in demand for pharmaceutical products in Las Vegas within five years.

Las Vegas already is home to stores representing three major chain operations, Walgreen Co., the nation's largest pharmacist; Rite Aid Corp.; and Longs Drug Stores Corp.

Sav-On Drugs has some stand-alone stores as well as affiliations with the Albertson's grocery store chain. Other grocery companies and large retail outlets like Wal-Mart, Kmart and Target also have their own pharmacies and there are a handful of independents operating in the area.

CVS, which has an extensive Internet shopping site, also announced plans to launch a national loyalty program called ExtraCare later this month.

CVS reported record sales and earnings for its fourth quarter Tuesday. The company reported earnings of $209.5 million, 51 cents a share, compared with $186.3 million, 46 cents a share, for the same period a year ago. The 18 percent increase in earnings was based on sales of $5.49 billion for the quarter, compared with $5.18 billion a year ago.