WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark Corp. has opened its first drug stores in the St. Louis market and plans another there later this year.

The pharmacy chain said Thursday that it opened four stores in the market over the past week, including two CVS/pharmacy locations in St. Louis, one in Olivette, Mo., and another in Ellisville, Mo.

A fifth CVS store is slated to open in Ballwin, Mo., in the fall, the company said, adding that the five stores will bring about 125 new jobs to the St. Louis community this year. 

Overall, CVS has 46 pharmacy stores in Missouri, according to the company’s web site.

CVS marked its entry into the St. Louis market with a grand opening event Thursday at the new Ellisville stores. Joining CVS officials at the ceremony were Charlie Dooley, St. Louis county executive, and Matt Pirrello, mayor of Ellisville.

"We are pleased to be opening stores in St. Louis, the 20th largest drug store market in the country. It is a great fit for our strategy of expanding into high-growth markets," Larry Merlo, president of CVS/pharmacy, said in a statement. "Our mission at CVS is to make pharmacy solutions effective and easy for our customers, so we look forward to providing high-quality and convenient pharmacy services at a great value to our new customers in St. Louis."

CVS said the new St. Louis stores feature all of the products and services found in its other locations nationwide, including a full-service pharmacy, a complete line of health and beauty products (including many CVS-exclusive brands), general merchandise and digital photo processing, and the ExtraCare customer rewards program.

As part of the grand opening in Ellisville, CVS announced a $10,000 donation in funding and products to the St. Louis Area Foodbank. The donation includes a $5,000 gift in January and a $5,000 match in personal care products in February as part of a collection drive.

During February, the four St. Louis CVS stores will have collection bins for customers to donate to the food bank nonperishable food and personal care items, such as hygiene and baby products purchased at CVS/pharmacy. CVS said it will match the amount of product donated by customers with an additional product donation of up to $5,000 in value.