Soon-to-be shuttered CVS in Tampa opens up prime commercial property

CVS Health has notified customers that’s its store on the corner of Dale Mabry Highway and Kennedy Boulevard, one of Tampa’s busiest intersections and most desirable commercial corridors, will close Feb. 28.

According to a spokesperson, prescriptions for customers using that store will be transferred to a nearby pharmacy and employees are being offered comparable positions at other locations.

“Maintaining access to pharmacy services in the communities we serve is an important factor we consider when making store closure decisions,” the spokesperson says in an email. “Other factors include local market dynamics, population shifts, a community’s store density, and ensuring there are other geographic access points to meet the needs of the community.”

Rhode Island-based CVS Health has been closing stores for a couple of years as it streamlines operations and cuts costs. According to Reuters, the chain announced in 2021 that it was eliminating 900 stores nationwide over a three-year period. And just last month, it announced it would shutter some of its pharmacies inside Target stores starting in February.

The spokesperson, however, did not respond to a question about whether other locations in the city or across the region would close.

CVS bought the property in 2003 for $1.5 million, according to county property records.

The store’s shuttering frees up a prime piece of commercial real estate along one of the fastest growing stretches in the city.

The store, at 102 South Dale Mabry Highway, is less than a mile south of Midtown Tampa, the 23-acre, 1.8 million-square-foot, $1 billion development that’s raising the fortunes of businesses and property owners within its geographic orbit.

Already in the immediate vicinity, national retailers have taken up spaces once held by local companies or that sat vacant for years, including the electric car maker Rivian, Men’s Warehouse and Bassett Furniture.

While some vacancies remain nearby — most notably a former Barnes & Noble space across Kennedy from the CVS — the area has been trending upwards for the past few years as prices and populations in that part of Tampa continue to grow.