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You’ve probably seen the plywood or the "pharmacy closed" signs by now if you live in Wayne County. It’s a bummer, honestly. The CVS Richmond Indiana closure in March wasn't just some random corporate hiccup; it was part of a massive, cold-blooded strategy that the company has been rolling out for a few years.
Specifically, the location at 1515 E. Main Street permanently locked its doors on March 11, 2025.
If you were one of the regulars there, you likely found out through a flyer or a text alert that seemed way too casual for such a big change. People have questions. Why that store? Where do the prescriptions go? Is the "pharmacy desert" thing finally hitting Richmond?
Why did this CVS actually close?
Basically, CVS Health is in the middle of a "retail footprint realignment." That’s corporate-speak for "we have too many stores and some aren't making enough money." Back in 2021, the company announced they’d shut down 900 stores over three years. They finished that round, but then internal reports from early 2025 confirmed another 271 stores were on the chopping block this year.
Richmond got hit because of "market dynamics."
CVS looks at a few things:
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- How many people are moving in or out of the neighborhood.
- The density of other CVS locations (we still have the ones on National Road and Chester Boulevard).
- Buying patterns—kinda like how everyone buys their toilet paper on Amazon now instead of running to the corner store.
The prescription scramble
When the 1515 E. Main Street doors closed, your digital files didn't just vanish into the ether. CVS typically migrates all active prescriptions to the nearest branch automatically. For most folks in Richmond, that meant their records took a trip down the road to the CVS at 298 South 37th Street or the Chester Boulevard location.
It sounds simple, but for seniors or people without a reliable car, those extra miles are a massive pain.
Is this part of a bigger trend in Indiana?
Totally. It isn't just Richmond. We’ve seen similar closures in Elkhart and South Bend recently. The retail pharmacy industry is basically on fire right now. Walgreens is closing 1,200 stores. Rite Aid has been through the wringer with bankruptcy.
CVS is trying to pivot away from being a "convenience store that sells drugs" to becoming a "healthcare hub." They want you to go to their MinuteClinics or use their Oak Street Health primary care centers. If a store is just a dusty aisle of greeting cards and expensive snacks, they don’t want it anymore.
What you should do now
If you’re still feeling the fallout from the March closure, don't just wait in a longer line at the remaining stores.
1. Check your insurance's preferred list. Sometimes, when a CVS closes, it’s a good excuse to see if local spots like Meijer or even Walmart have better co-pays. Honestly, sometimes the independent pharmacies in town offer way better service anyway.
2. Switch to mail order.
If the drive is the issue, CVS Caremark (their insurance arm) pushes mail order hard. It usually comes in a 90-day supply, which saves you the trip to East Main entirely.
3. Update your apps.
Make sure your "Home Store" in the CVS app is updated to the South 37th Street location so you don't accidentally send a refill request to a dead building.
The building on East Main might sit empty for a bit—these big retail spaces are notoriously hard to fill—but the pharmacy landscape in Richmond is officially smaller. Keep an eye on your local news, because as these multi-year "optimization" plans continue, the store you use today might not be there by next March.
Next Steps for You:
If you haven't yet, call your doctor’s office to verify they have your newly assigned pharmacy on file for any future electronic prescriptions. This prevents your next urgent script from being sent to a closed building, which is a headache nobody needs.