CVS Pharmacy is taking a different approach to the neighborhood drugstore. The retailer has opened its first pharmacy-focused location in the Boston area, at 32 Warren Street in Roxbury, MA, as part of a new format designed to make prescriptions, immunizations and pharmacist advice easier to access.
These new stores look different from the CVS most shoppers know—averaging about 3,000 square feet and pairing a full-service pharmacy with a curated selection of over-the-counter products rather than the long aisles of a traditional store. Anything not stocked on-site can be ordered for free home delivery. The Roxbury location also has a safe medication disposal bin for unneeded, unwanted or expired medications, and a safe needle collection site.
“We are reimagining how pharmacy care is delivered by creating locations designed around the needs of the communities we serve,” says Sid Tenneti, senior vice president and interim president of Pharmacy and Consumer Wellness at CVS Health.
At the center of the new format: more face time with the pharmacist. “Being able to speak with a pharmacist one-on-one, having questions answered and getting advice and counsel when needed is crucial to helping patients maintain and achieve their best health,” says Marco Mares, pharmacy manager at the new location. “Our new Roxbury pharmacy is excited to welcome residents, build new relationships and serve the community’s pharmacy care needs.”
CVS’s own research backs up the in-person approach. The 2025 CVS Health Rx Report found that 80 percent of patients prefer face-to-face pharmacy care, and 48 percent said they would switch pharmacies if they were limited to digital-only options. Among pharmacy professionals, 97 percent said in-person interactions remain vital.
Roxbury joins pharmacy-focused CVS locations already open in Birmingham, AL; Chicago; Detroit; Houston; and Washington, DC. Nearly 20 will open in select communities across the country in 2026. They’re part of more than 40 new CVS Pharmacy locations planned this year, including traditional stores and pharmacies inside Target.
The company says the new format is part of reshaping its retail footprint around what each community needs. It joins CVS’s existing formats: traditional stores with a full front store, pharmacies inside Target and Schnucks, locations with a MinuteClinic, and sites that sit side by side with Oak Street Health clinics.
