Press Release

CVS/Eckerd Transaction Expected to Close in July

WOONSOCKET, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 7, 2004--CVS Corporation (NYSE:CVS)
announced today that the Company now expects to complete its proposed
transaction to acquire approximately 1,260 Eckerd drugstores as well as Eckerd's
mail order and pharmacy benefits management businesses from J.C. Penney
(NYSE:JCP) during the month of July 2004.

J.C. Penney is under agreement to sell Eckerd's remaining business to The
Jean Coutu Group (PJC), Inc. (TSX:PJC.A) immediately after the closing of the
CVS acquisition. While CVS had previously anticipated that the Eckerd
transaction would close around the end of June, the change reflects the expected
timing of the closing of The Jean Coutu Group (PJC), Inc. transaction. The CVS
and Coutu transactions are scheduled to close on the same day. As previously
announced, the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period has expired for both the
CVS/Eckerd transaction and the Jean Coutu/Eckerd transaction.

With over 40 years of dynamic growth in the retail pharmacy industry, CVS is
committed to being the easiest pharmacy retailer for customers to use. With
4,191 stores in 32 states and the District of Columbia, CVS has created
innovative approaches to serve the healthcare needs of all its customers through
its online pharmacy, CVS.com 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 fiscal year ended January 3, 2004.