CVS has been a staple in the U.S. for 62 years, and while we're used to seeing the bright red signs on corners in every town (typically across the street from competitor Walgreens), we suddenly realized we have no idea what the name actually stands for.
After checking with the Country Living staff (including our most faithful CVS enthusiast) and finding no one knew the answer, I figured it was time to do some digging. One of our editors gave a valiant effort by guessing Considerably Voluminous Sales Receipts, and, while that's certainly appropriate, it's not quite right.
The company has been around for decades, with the first CVS store popping up in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1963. The original owners, brothers Stanley and Sidney Goldstein and Ralph Hoagland, initially focused on health and beauty products. They added pharmacies in 1967.
Through the years, they have acquired competitors including Peoples Drugs, Revco, Eckerd, Caremark, and Aetna, and the company has more than 9,000 locations (including pharmacies inside Target stores) and serves millions of customers daily.
Even if you're one of those regulars, this news may come as a surprise: CVS stands for Consumer Value Store. In fact, that was the company's name when it first opened in 1963. It only made it a year before it was rebranded as CVS. The official name today is CVS Health. Feel free to use this fact to impress your friends on your next road trip!
Katie Bowlby is Digital Director at Country Living, where she covers pop culture news including country music, Yellowstone, and all things HGTV, plus gift guides and product reviews. She has been with Country Living for more than 11 years. Before that, she worked for Southern Living. The Indiana University grad also stitches up the cross-stitch pattern for every issue of the magazine.
