CVS is the latest drugstore chain to try to stake a claim for a bigger piece of the nation’s trillion-dollar food budget. The Woonsocket, R.I.-based company will double the size of food sections in 3,000 of its 7,000 stores by year’s end. So far, at least a dozen CVS stores have been converted in the Boston area.
Retail consultants say it’s yet another example of “channel blurring” – the growing multiplicity of product categories being sold in stores. Just as supermarkets have expanded pharmacy and health and beauty sections in the past decade, drugstores are retaliating by putting food products in the forefront.
“It’s retailers anarchy and everybody’s trying to fill a void in new spaces,” said Michael Tesler, president of Retail Concepts in Norwell.
Two CVS stores in Quincy already showcase the expanded food sections, which CVS promotes with new signs proclaiming, “What you want, when you want it.” CVS’ Gold Emblem private-label pasta and sauce sits side-by-side with name brands such as Barilla and Bertolli.
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