Press Release

WOONSOCKET, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 13, 2004--CVS Corporation (NYSE:CVS) today announced that total sales for the five-week period ended July 3, 2004 increased 8.3% to $2.66 billion, compared to $2.45 billion in the prior year period. Same store sales (sales from stores open more than one year) for the five weeks ended July 3, 2004 increased 6.6% over the prior year period. Pharmacy same store sales increased 7.6%, while front-end same store sales increased 4.5%. Total pharmacy sales represented 69.1% of total company sales in June.

For the second quarter, total sales increased 7.7% to $6.94 billion, compared to $6.44 billion in the prior year period. Same store sales for the thirteen weeks ended July 3, 2004 increased 6.1% over the prior year period. Pharmacy same store sales increased 7.0%, while front-end same store sales increased 4.1%. Total pharmacy sales represented 69.1% of total company sales in the quarter.

Year-to-date, total sales for the twenty-six week period ended July 3, 2004, increased 7.9% to $13.76 billion, compared to $12.76 billion in 2003. Same store sales for the twenty-six week period increased 6.2% over the prior year period. Pharmacy same store sales increased 7.6%, while front-end same store sales increased 3.1%.

As of July 3, 2004, CVS operated 4,206 retail and specialty pharmacy stores in 32 states and the District of Columbia. On April 5, 2004, the Company announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement under which it would acquire approximately 1,260 Eckerd drug stores, located mainly in the southern United States, in addition to Eckerd Health Services, which includes Eckerd's mail order and pharmacy benefit management businesses. The Company anticipates that the Eckerd transaction will close during the month of July 2004.

With more than 40 years of dynamic growth in the retail pharmacy industry, CVS is committed to being the easiest pharmacy retailer for customers to use. CVS has created innovative approaches to serve the healthcare needs of all customers through its over 4,200 CVS/pharmacy(R) stores, its online pharmacy; CVS.com(R) and its pharmacy benefit management and specialty pharmacy subsidiary, PharmaCare Management Services. General information about CVS is available through the Investor Relations portion of the Company's website, at http://investor.cvs.com.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. For these statements, the Company claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company strongly recommends that you become familiar with the specific risks and uncertainties outlined under the caption "Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements" in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the annual period ended January 3, 2004 and in its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended April 3, 2004.