CVS Unveils New Store Design, Removing Certain Chemicals From Beauty Products

CVS Health Corp. announced a new store design on Thursday that will highlight CVS Pharmacy's focus on healthier food, health-focused products, and expanded beauty merchandise. Seventy new and existing stores will have the new design this year, with several hundred more to be added in 2018. The new format has 100 feet of new items in health, beauty, and healthy food. This includes an expanded selection of vitamins and supplements; new "on-trend" beauty brands and products with greater skin health benefits and more natural ingredients; and 27 new healthy food items under the Gold Emblem Abound product line. This month there will be an exclusive Korean beauty selection available in 2,100 stores. CVS also plans to remove parabens, phthalates and formaldehyde donors in products within the CVS Health, Beauty 360, Essence of Beauty, Promise Organic and Blade store brands by 2019. And CVS is developing new standards requiring third-party testing of ingredient listings for vitamins and supplements as well as testing of certain "ingredients of concern." Changes to mobile and the ExtraCare Rewards program, including the new CVS Pay app, have also been unveiled. CVS shares are unchanged in Thursday premarket trading, and down 24.1% for the past year. The S&P 500 index is up 11.2% for the last 12 months.