KEY POINTS
  • CVS normally opens 300 stores a year, CVS Pharmacy President Kevin Hourican said. 
  • This year, CVS will open about 100 stores and next year CVS will open about 50 stores, he said. 
  • Walgreens on Tuesday said it would close 200 stores. 

CVS Health will slow the pace of its annual store expansion by opening about one-third of locations it usually does and even fewer next year, the company's head of retail said Wednesday.

The drugstore chain normally opens about 300 stores every year, CVS Pharmacy President Kevin Hourican said on a call with analysts Wednesday discussing CVS' second-quarter earnings results. This year, CVS will open about 100 stores and next year will open about 50. Hourican told CNBC that the real estate growth reduction is "a natural change" given the number of stores CVS has and the growth in areas like delivery.