CVS Health history

The CVS name was first used in 1964, by which time the founders were running a 17-store chain.

By 1967 sales topped $260 million.

In 1968 Melville also acquired Foxwood, renamed Foxmoor, a 16-store apparel chain that catered to young women.

1969 — CVS is sold to Melville Corporation.

By 1970 Melville, the fifth largest and most profitable United States shoemaker, operated 1,644 total retail outlets.

In 1971 Melville entered into a joint venture with C.F. Bally of Switzerland, contracting to sell the upscale Bally shoe line in the United States.

In 1973 Melville initiated a venture to market Thom McAn shoes in Japan.

Despite the diversification, shoes still accounted for 71 percent of Melville's $765 million in sales in 1974.

In 1975 Melville branched out further into nonshoe retailing when it bought Marshalls Inc., then a chain of 32 retail apparel stores.

In 1976 total receipts from the firm's 3,300 outlets totaled $1.2 billion.

He ran the corporation for nearly half a century and served as chairman of the board until the day he died in 1977 at the age of 90.

By 1978 Melville operated 3,812 stores and had sales of $1.75 billion.

In 1980, Melville, with 48,000 employees and more than 4,500 stores, saw its 26th straight year of increased sales.

1981: Kay-Bee Toys chain is acquired by Melville.

1982: Linens 'n Things is added to the Melville roster.

The firm began to phase out six of its seven shoe factories in late 1983, eventually terminating about 2,000 jobs.

1984 — Senior Vice President of Marketing Harvey Rosenthal is named President and CEO of CVS. He succeeds Stan Goldstein, who is named Executive Vice President of Melville Corporation.

1986 — CVS co-founder Stanley Goldstein is named president and COO of Melville Corporation.

In 1987, while amassing $5.9 billion in sales, Melville acquired 25 Heartland and Pharmacity drugstores and 36 Leather Loft stores.

In 1988 Melville bought athletic footwear retailer Finish Line as well as Bermans Specialty Stores.

In 1989 Melville underwent some structural renovation.

Sales for 1990 totaled $8.68 billion.

Further expansion came in 1991, when Melville acquired FootAction Inc., a Dallas-based chain of 128 athletic footwear stores, for $46 million.

In early 1992 CVS exited from the California market when it sold all 85 of its stores in that state to American Drug Stores Inc., a unit of American Stores Company, for $60 million.

1993: The Chess King and Accessory Lady chains are sold off.

CVS was by far the largest of Melville's chains, with 1994 revenues of $4.3 billion, or 38 percent of Melville's overall revenues of $11.3 billion.

1995 — Caremark launches CarePatterns® disease management programs.

1996 — Following the restructuring of Melville Corporation, CVS Corporation becomes a standalone company trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the CVS ticker.

CVS sold its remaining interest in Linens 'n Things during 1997.

In early 1998 Ryan was named president and CEO of CVS, with Goldstein remaining chairman.

An end of another era occurred in April 1999 when Goldstein retired as chairman of CVS, 36 years after cofounding the first Consumer Value Store.

In February 2001 CVS launched a chainwide loyalty card program called ExtraCare that would offer cardholders exclusive savings, mailings, and health information.

QuickMedx is renamed MinuteClinic in December 2002.

With the addition of insurance coverage and other improvements, QuickMedx became MinuteClinic in December 2003.

In August 2004, the company expanded with new clinics in Baltimore.

2005 — CVS/pharmacy partners with MinuteClinic, announcing three clinics to open in CVS/pharmacy stores.

Then in 2007 came the $21 billion merger between CVS and Caremark, which gave birth to the country’s leading pharmacy-benefits manager.

2008 — CVS Caremark acquires 541 stores from Longs Drug in California, Hawaii, Nevada and Arizona, giving CVS/pharmacy immediate market leadership in Northern and Central California.

2009 — MinuteClinic begins a series of affiliations with major health systems across the United States to enhance access to high-quality, affordable health care services.

2011 — In March, Larry Merlo succeeds Tom Ryan as President and CEO of CVS Caremark.

2014 —CVS Caremark purchases Coram, the specialty infusion services and enteral nutrition business unit of Apria Healthcare Group Inc.

2015 — CVS Health completes its acquisition of Omnicare, the leading provider of pharmacy services to long-term care facilities.

2016 — CVS Health announces Be The First, a five-year, $50 million initiative to help deliver the nation’s first tobacco-free generation.

2017 — CVS Pharmacy continues to expand access to the opioid overdose-reversal medication naloxone in more than 40 states as part of the company’s multi-faceted approach to combating the nation’s growing prescription drug abuse epidemic.

2018 — CVS Health fights back on high cost drugs by launching industry’s most comprehensive approach to saving patients money.

2020 independent market research study comparing patient out of pocket costs for an emergency room visit versus a MinuteClinic® visit for the same presenting condition.