CVS-Target deal to create 80 retail clinic locations

NEW YORK — CVS will secure 80 retail clinic locations as part of the Target pharmacy acquisition announced on Monday, according to Kalorama Information.

Target will rebrand its nearly 80 medical clinic with CVS’s MinuteClinic banner. It will also build another 20 clinics in stores, expecting to operate 1,500 by 2017.

"This might be an underreported detail in a deal of this size, but we think it's significant," Kalorama Information Publisher Bruce Carlson said.

There are several benefits to CVS’s expansion into indirect revenue clinics.

“They [CVS] now get new locations without the build-out, they get a new venue for new clinics, and they have a chance to turn the Target clinic operation into a consistent national brand that consumers can identify," he said.

Carlson expects the clinics’ transparency of pricing and convenient locations to appeal to customers.

CVS will have access to more than half of the 1 billion-dollar retail clinic services market, outpacing Walgreens, The Little Clinic, RediClinic and other small providers.