February was a busy month for CVS Caremark. First it was a party on Beale Street as the chain announced its entry into Memphis. A week later, it broke out the pina coladas as it cut the ribbon on its first store in Puerto Rico. In January, it was Budweiser in St. Louis.
There are just eight states in which CVS does not operate stores: Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. In drug store retailing, being able to provide coverage “from sea to shining sea” means a lot when you try to sell your services to big healthcare payers.