You may start seeing smaller Walgreens and CVS drugstores: Here’s why [Video]

SAN FRANCISCO — You may start seeing smaller Walgreens and CVS drugstores.

Walgreens and CVS are going through rounds of closures, and thousands of other independent drugstores have shuttered over the past five years.

These closures are leaving communities without pharmacies nearby.

In response, the companies are trying out new, mini stores that focus on health and wellness.

The stores are less expensive to run and allow companies to serve areas where the population cannot support a full store.

MORE: Final day of business for 2 more SF Walgreens stores, another will close later this week

America’s drugstores are testing smaller locations and more ways to offer care as price-sensitive shoppers look elsewhere.

Customers may see Walgreens stores that are one-fourth the size of a regular location or CVS drugstores with entire primary clinics stuffed inside. If these experiments succeed, the new stores might improve access to care and create a more lasting connection with customers, …