Are CVS And Walgreens The Same? Here Is All You Need To Know

By Phillip Adcock
Last updated: Jan 8, 2023
Are CVS And Walgreens The Same

CVS and Walgreens are not the same. That’s the fact that we can confirm, they are not identical brands. 

If you live in a metro city, you’ve probably noticed many times that your neighborhood location of both Walgreens and CVS are located near each other, which can confuse you that these two brands are the same. 

Well, they are located next to each other because they’re competing stores. However, this odd location gives them a competitive advantage. Let’s find out more here!

Additional Reasons For Walgreens And CVS Located Together

Two pharmacies are often located near each other because of the hoteling model. This trend explains how firms in certain locations would behave regarding businesses and brand popularity. 

This can impact large chain stores and local corner shops as consumers search for goods in their area. In this case, the increase or decrease of sales could be attributed to footfall from people moving between different places offering all of the same goods nearby.

Additionally, just like the ‘Nash Equilibrium’ dictates, if either the two were to move away from changing their strategy and relocate away from each other, both of them would risk losing a lot of customers. 

They would also inevitably risk making fewer profits as paying attention to all their outlying customer demands might become too difficult for them to handle.

Does Walgreens Own CVS?

Well, the answer is no, they are technically different companies, and they don’t own the other. CVS Health is the official owner of CVS. On the other hand, Walgreens is Walgreens Boots Alliance’s property. For now, there is no CVS Walgreens merger. 

The first is the property of CVS Caremark, which, in turn, falls under the larger company of CVS Health. Meanwhile, the second (also owns Duane Reade) comes under the WBA holding company

The pharmacy chains are very similar in many ways. Still, each one has its nuances, such as pricing structure, rewards program at play, and is known for a particular type of customer, i.e., those seeking contact lenses or make-up products.

Are CVS And Walgreens The Same In Their Profit?

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They are both great stores that offer a wealth of products, but as of November 2019, it was evident Walgreens was the more profitable of the two. 

During its 3rd quarter in 2018, the previous one reported a net income of $1.5 billion, whereas the following had net earnings of $677 million during its 4th quarter in 2018.

Which One Owns More Stores?

These are the two major pharmacy chains in the U.S., and they both have a sizable amount of stores where you can go to fill a prescription, purchase over-the-counter medicine or pick up some basic household items for less. 

Walgreens has close to 18,000 stores throughout the globe, with 9,200+ located in America; CVS offers more than 9,900 locations in the U.S. alone.

Some Last Words

Hope you enjoyed our post. You can use this knowledge to help you find where you want to shop for certain products or determine where stores you want to shop at will be located. 

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start shopping.

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* Disclaimer: We do not buy, sell or provide service, we only share with you our trusted sources, and experience. In case of any changes in the products or services of the companies, all the information below is supposed to change at any time.

Phillip Adcock is the founder and Managing Director of the research agency Shopping Behaviour Xplained (SBXL), a shopping research organization using psychological consumer insight to explain and help consumers answer their questions about stores and services.

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