Why Was the CVS at the Sky condos near Circus Circus Closed?

Why was the CVS at the Sky condos near Circus Circus suddenly closed?

Location, location, location. That’s our theory, anyway.

The CVS in question was an overpriced property on a dark stretch of the Strip where you might feel a little uneasy walking to fetch rations after dark. Its neighbors were the abandoned hulks of Fontainebleau and Echelon and the empty lot that used to be the Riviera.

The business plan, we assume, was to hang in there and wait for Resorts World Las Vegas to open. But that project has been delayed several times and isn't scheduled to open till 2020 at the earliest. Thus, business strategies — like CVS and SLS — predicated on being rescued by Resorts World customers have proven to be delayed at best.

When asked about the closure, Amy Lanctot, senior manager of CVS public relations, replied, “CVS Pharmacy made a business decision to close the CVS store located in the Sky Las Vegas building on March 11, 2017. We are committed to doing business on Las Vegas Boulevard and continue to operate several stores along the Las Vegas Strip.”

One of those, the store at Treasure Island, enjoys a particularly strategic location, surrounded as it is by Palazzo, Wynn Las Vegas, and Fashion Show Mall and attached to the 2,900-room TI.

The location issue was certainly compounded by the price paid for the drugstore in March 2014: a staggering $30 million (nearly $2,200 a square foot for a franchise that usually goes for $350 per.)

High price, bad neighborhood — what else could go wrong? Maybe the 22-year lease CVS signed in 2007. After 10 years in an area that is still awaiting significant new development, the parent company would appear to have decided to cut its losses.

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Comments

Sandra Ritter Jan-16-2018

Not making sense

It says CVS sign a 22-year lease in 2007 but paid $30M for the drugstore in 2014? Not getting this.

Annie Jan-16-2018

Two memories of that section of the Strip.

"[The CVS store] was on a dark stretch of the Strip where you might feel a little uneasy walking to fetch rations after dark"  When I first visited Vegas (late '80s), this area was the "Center Strip." With the gorgeous signage of the Stardust, Riviera, Circus Circus, it was tacky but friendly, busy, and safe, and felt like the center of the universe even at 3AM. 

The down side of those days on the Strip: There wasn't a single store where you could buy anything useful. If you needed a needle and thread your only options were to hope a gift shop had a souvenir sewing kit or to trek to Maryland Parkway more than a mile East of the Strip, quite a hike if you didn't have a car.

Question of the Day - 16 January 2018

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