a cvs pharmacy store in north richland hills texas that opened in february 2016 . formerly called consumer value stores 1963 96 type subsidiary industry retail founded may 8 1963 ; 53 years ago 1963 05 08 lowell massachusetts united states founders stanley goldstein sidney goldstein ralph hoagland headquarters 1 cvs drive woonsocket rhode island united states number of locations 9 600 stores 2016 estimate area served nationwide key people david w. dorman chairman larry j. merlo ceo revenue us 153.3 billion 2015 operating income us 1.5 billion 2015 net income us 9.5 billion needs update 2015 owner melville corporation 1922 96 cvs health 1996 present number of employees 240 000 needs update 2016 website cvs.com cvs pharmacy stylized as cvspharmacy and previously cvs pharmacy is a subsidiary of the american retail and health care company cvs health headquartered in woonsocket rhode island . 1 it was originally named the consumer value store and was founded in lowell massachusetts in 1963 . 2 the chain was owned by its original holding company melville corporation since its inception until its current parent company cvs health was spun off into its own company in 1996 . cvs pharmacy is currently the largest pharmacy chain in the united states by number of locations over 9 600 as of 2016 and total prescription revenue . 3 4 5 as the retail pharmacy division of cvs health it ranks as the 7th largest company in the world according to fortune 500 in 2016 . 6 cvs pharmacy s leading competitor walgreens boots alliance ranked 37th . cvs sells prescription drugs and a wide assortment of general merchandise including over the counter drugs beauty products and cosmetics film and photo finishing services seasonal merchandise greeting cards and convenience foods through their cvs pharmacy and longs drugs retail stores and online through cvs.com . it also provides healthcare services through its more than 1 100 minuteclinic medical clinics 7 as well as their diabetes care centers . most of these clinics are located within cvs stores . contents 1 overview 2 acquisitions and growth 2.1 1960s 2.2 1970s 2.3 1980s 2.4 1990s 2.5 2000 08 acquisition of eckerd s 2.6 2012 present acquisitions and conversion to cvs health 2.7 online 3 environmental record 4 controversies 4.1 2.25 million hipaa privacy case 4.2 executives accused of bribing state senator 4.3 prescription errors 4.4 texas lawsuit over illegally dumping patient information 4.5 cigarette sales 4.6 deceptive business practices 4.7 methamphetamine lawsuit 4.8 dea investigation into oxycodone diversion 4.9 racist receipt 4.10 cvs rewards program 4.11 homeopathy 4.12 apple pay 4.13 security 5 references 6 external links overview edit a cvs pharmacy on canal street in new orleans cvs pharmacy used to be a subsidiary of melville corporation where its full name was initially consumer value stores . melville later changed its name to cvs corporation in 1996 8 9 after melville sold off many of its non pharmacy stores . 10 the last of its non drugstore operations were sold in 1997 . 8 ceo tom ryan has said he now considers cvs to stand for convenience value and service . 11 during the company s days as a regional chain in the northeast many cvs stores did not include pharmacies . today the company seldom builds new stores without pharmacies and outside of new england is gradually phasing out any such shops . any new non pharmacy store is usually built in a more urban setting where another cvs with a pharmacy exists within walking distance such as downtown boston or providence . these stores usually lack a pharmacy and a photo center but carry most of the general merchandise items that a normal cvs pharmacy carries such as health and beauty items sundries and food items . acquisitions and growth edit a cvs pharmacy store 6240 in southside place texas greater houston that was formerly an eckerd . a cvs pharmacy in durham north carolina . 1960s edit the cvs name was used for the first time in 1964 . that year they had 17 retail locations and 40 stores only five years later . 12 in 1967 cvs began operation of its first stores with pharmacy departments opening locations in warwick and cumberland rhode island . cvs was acquired by the now defunct melville corporation in 1969 boosting its growth . 1970s edit in 1972 cvs acquired 84 clinton drug and discount stores which introduced cvs to indiana and the midwest . by 1974 cvs had 232 stores and sales of 100 million . in 1977 cvs acquired the 36 store new jersey based mack drug chain . 12 by 1970 cvs operated 100 stores in new england and the northeast . 1980s edit the chain had more than 400 stores by 1981 . sales reached 1 billion in 1985 partly due to the pharmacies being added to many of cvs s older stores . 12 in 1980 cvs became the 15th largest pharmacy chain in the u.s. with 408 stores and 414 million in sales . in 1988 cvs celebrated its 25th anniversary finishing the year with nearly 750 stores and sales of about 1.6 billion . 1990s edit in 1990 cvs acquired the 490 store peoples drug chain from imsco which established the company in new mid atlantic markets including washington d.c. pennsylvania maryland and virginia . in 1994 cvs started pharmacare management services . the parent company decided to focus on cvs in 1995 selling off marshalls and this end up . the following year they let go of footaction footstar meldisco linens n things and kay bee toys and the company changed its name from melville corporation to cvs corporation . in 1997 bob s stores were also sold and cvs nearly tripled its 1 400 stores after purchasing the 2 500 store revco chain . cvs bought 200 arbor drugs locations in 1998 opened approximately 180 new stores closed about 160 stores and relocated nearly 200 existing stores from strip malls to freestanding locations . in 1999 cvs acquired soma.com the first online pharmacy and renamed it cvs.com . the same year cvs launched their cvs procare pharmacy for complex drug therapies . 12 in 1990 cvs bought the 23 store rix dunnington chain . in 1993 cvs withdrew from the southern california market . formerly traded as mvl on the new york stock exchange the company now trades as cvs . 2000 08 acquisition of eckerd s edit cvs bought stadtlander pharmacy of pittsburgh from bergen brunswig amerisourcebergen in 2000 . 12 13 as of december 2009 cvs caremark had over 7 000 locations . 14 in 2004 cvs purchased 1 268 eckerd drug stores and eckerd health services a pbm mail order pharmacy business from j. c. penney . 15 most of the former eckerd stores which were converted to cvs stores by june are located in florida texas and other southern states . because j. c. penney credit cards were accepted at eckerd locations cvs continues to accept them as well . on january 23 2006 cvs announced that it had agreed to acquire the freestanding drug store operations of supermarket chain albertsons . 16 the deal included the acquisition of 700 drug stores trading under the osco drug and sav on drugs banners mostly in the midwestern and southwestern united states with a concentration of stores in southern california and the chicago area and was formally completed on june 2 2006 . 17 transition of sav on and osco stores to the cvs brand was completed by december 2006 . cvs now dominates the southern california market . also included were albertsons health n home now cvs home health durable medical equipment stores . approximately 28 cvs home health locations are present in arizona california and the kansas city area representing cvs s first venture into the specialized dme market . cvs had previously operated stores in southern california but completely withdrew from the market in 1993 . cvs sold virtually all of the locations to sav on s then owner american stores who operated them under the name american drug stores . many of the stores cvs gained in january 2006 had been the stores it owned prior to 1993 . before their re acquisition these stores were operated under the name sav on express the express name was used to help customers identify these stores that did not carry all the lines of merchandise as compared to the larger traditional sav on drugs locations . cvs now operates over 6 200 stores in 43 states and the district of columbia . 18 in some locations cvs now has two stores less than two blocks apart . alternative logo of cvs pharmacy logo until 2016 on july 13 2006 cvs announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire minneapolis based minuteclinic the pioneer and largest provider of retail based health clinics in the u.s. minuteclinic operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of cvs corporation . minuteclinic health care centers are staffed by board certified nurse practitioners and physician assistants who are trained to diagnose and treat common family illnesses such as throat ear eye sinus bladder and bronchial infections and provide prescriptions when clinically appropriate . minuteclinic also offers common vaccinations such as flu shots tetanus and hepatitis a & b. the clinics are supported by physicians who collaborate with the staff . there are over 550 locations across the united states most of which are within cvs pharmacy locations . on november 1 2006 cvs announced that it was entering into a purchase agreement with nashville based caremark rx inc. a pharmacy benefits manager . the new company is called cvs caremark corporation and the corporate headquarters remains in woonsocket rhode island . the new pharmacy services business including the combined pharmacy benefits management pbm specialty pharmacy and disease management businesses is headquartered in nashville tennessee . the new cvs caremark corporation is expected to achieve about 75 billion in yearly revenue for 2007 . the merger was formally completed on march 22 2007 . 19 tom ryan cvs s chairman and ceo remains president and ceo of the combined company while caremark s president and ceo mac crawford is chairman of the board . 19 on november 7 2007 mac crawford stepped down as chairman of the board for cvs caremark . he was replaced by president and ceo of cvs caremark tom ryan . 20 on august 12 2008 cvs pharmacy announced that it would acquire longs drugs for 2.9 billion . walgreens made a counteroffer but dropped it . the deal closed october 30 2008 . 21 22 2012 present acquisitions and conversion to cvs health edit in 2012 cvs caremark received 59 percent of rhode island s tax credits . 23 on july 14 2014 it was announced that cvs caremark would acquire the miami based navarro discount pharmacies when the deal closes the 33 stores will remain untouched and will stay under the navarro name . 24 on september 3 2014 cvs caremark changed its name to cvs health and announced that it would stop selling tobacco products . 25 on october 25 2014 cvs health disabled near field communication nfc payments barring customers the ability to use apple pay or google wallet payment methods . 26 on may 21 2015 it was announced that cvs health would acquire omnicare inc.the leading provider of pharmacy services to long term care facilities for 98.00 per share in cash for a total enterprise value of approximately 12.7 billion which includes approximately 2.3 billion in debt . the transaction is expected to close near the end of 2015 . a cvs pharmacy inside a supertarget in watauga texas opened in may 2016 . on june 15 2015 cvs health announced its agreement to acquire target s pharmacy and retail clinic businesses . the deal expanded cvs to new markets in seattle denver portland and salt lake city . the acquisition