CVS to close two Valley stores

CVS is closing stores in Madera and Visalia as part of a cost-cutting plan that will close 70 stores this year.

The Visalia store at 2135 N. Dinuba Blvd. will close March 11. The Madera store at 1456 E. Yosemite Ave. will close March 18.

The company is directing customers to other nearby CVS stores, including a store three miles away in Visalia at 1102 N. Demaree St. In Madera, the company is directing customers to a store nearly two miles away at 1109 Country Club Drive.

All employees in the closing stores will be placed in positions at other CVS stores, the company said.

CVS recently built and opened new stores at Herndon Avenue and Fresno Street in Fresno and another at Shaw and Minnewawa avenues in Clovis.

The company beat analysts’ expectations for fourth-quarter earnings in 2016 but is making changes that will save $3 billion by 2021. The store closures will save the company $265 million, it said.

This story was originally published February 22, 2017 at 10:32 AM.