When Target reported its last batch of quarterly results, CEO Brian Cornell noted that visits to its in-store pharmacies were down after the conversion of those pharmacies to mini CVS stores. Readers explained to us why they left, and a popular reason was that CVS ditched Target’s easy-to-use red prescription bottles. Some customers held on to hope that CVS would deploy the bottles across its whole chain now that it owns the patent. Now we know the answer: nope.

A CVS spokesman finally picked up the phone and spoke to the Associated Press about the issue, explaining that it’s easier and more cost-efficient to use the same bottles across all 9,600 CVS pharmacies, instead of keeping the red bottles at the stores inside Target.

CVS as a whole is working on a new dispensing system, and the AP even reports that Deborah Adler, the designer behind the beloved red bottles, is working on the project. However, CVS declined to answer whether the new system would incorporate any elements of the beloved Target packaging.

The CVS spokesman also said that he didn’t see a connection between the drop in pharmacy sales and the phaseout of Target’s red bottles, possibly because he hasn’t talked to any customers.

Unhappy Target customers send strong message on pill bottles [Associated Press]

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