Until now, University of Maryland students without cars had to rely on CVS or buses to Beltway Plaza to get their groceries.

Though it isn’t a full grocery store, the new TargetExpress on Route 1 has a pretty substantial food and household items section, … but how does it stack up to the pharmacy?

The numbers speak for themselves. Click to see the price differences:

CVS Target receipts graphic

To college students, time is of the utmost value. The two are about equidistant to the campus, meaning they take about the same time to reach.

However, if students are driving, there is one difference. Around the back of the Landmark is a parking garage with TargetExpress customer parking that’s free for 90 minutes. In front of CVS is metered city parking, which costs 25 cents for 20 minutes. 

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TargetExpress is obviously newer, with flashier displays. There’s even a statue of Bullseye, Target’s bull terrier mascot, for selfies.

CVS has some well-lit makeup racks and that weird pharmacy smell.

TargetExpress is popular with students right now, and consequently the store seems to have an issue keeping produce and other popular items (ramen noodles) in stock.

This is because it has the exciting allure of a new store. TargetExpress is like the transfer student in elementary school; everyone wants to hang out with them on the playground only to leave their old best friend, CVS, behind. Soon, only the hipsters will want to hang with the 24-hour drug store on the swings.

That round-the-clock service is something TargetExpress does not provide. It is open 7 a.m. to midnight on weekdays, 8 a.m. to midnight on Saturdays and 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Sundays.

It should be noted that CVS and TargetExpress did not offer the same type of Command strips (listed at the bottom of the receipts) but the two packs were comparable.