CVS’s next target: opening stand-alone pharmacies

The first Colorado sites, including one in Denver’s West Highland neighborhood, may open in 2017.

After entering the Colorado market earlier this year with its takeover of Target’s instore pharmacies, CVS Health has even bigger plans for 2017.

The first stand-alone CVS Pharmacy locations in the state probably will open next year.

“We will be entering the Denver and Colorado Springs markets in 2017,” Stephanie Cunha, a spokeswoman for the Rhode Island-based chain said in an e-mail.

No other details were available, but CVS already has approved site development plans on file for a 1.1-acre piece of property it owns at West 38th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard in Denver’s West Highland neighborhood.

That property, the former Tommy’s Slalom Shop at 3740 Sheridan Blvd., was acquired in June by CVS for just shy of $4 million, according to city records. The seller was an entity managed by CorePower Yoga founder Trevor Tice.

Construction fences recently went up around the property, although a city spokeswoman said that as of Monday, a demolition permit had not been issued for the existing structure. Plans call for a new 14,700-square-foot building and 65 on-site parking spaces.

CVS also owns a trio of office buildings at East Hampden Avenue and South Tamarac Drive in south Denver that were purchased in late 2015 for $6.28 million, according to city records.

CVS entered Colorado with its acquisition of all Target pharmacies and retail clinics, including 39 in Colorado. Nationwide, CVS has more than 9,600 locations.

Walgreens, CVS’s main rival, is already an established presence in Colorado, with 159 locations as of August. Rite Aid also has retail locations in Colorado, including 11 in metro Denver and two in Boulder.