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CVS to stop selling cigarettes

Alareth

Philosopher
Alareth
Joined
Aug 30, 2006
Messages
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Location
Jacksonville, FL
CVS has announced they will cease the sale of all tobacco products by October 1st.

We’ve come to the conclusion that cigarettes have no place in a setting where health care is being delivered,” CVS Caremark CEO Larry Merlo told AP of the decision. He added in a written statement that ultimately discontinuing sales was “the right thing for us to do for our customers and our company to help people on their path to better health.
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The company estimates the decision will cause them to lose $2 billion in revenue

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/cvs-caremark-plans-stop-selling-tobacco-products-22371836

http://info.cvscaremark.com/newsroo...top-selling-tobacco-all-cvspharmacy-locations

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/02/05/3250011/cvs-smoking-cessation/
 
I don't smoke anymore, but if I did I'd be a little peeved that one of the places selling cigs at a lower price wasn't going to sell them anymore.

All the same, it's a move I'm glad to see made by the company and not as a result of coercion by government or pressure groups. Time will tell how the stockholders take the loss of $2 billion in revenue, and if Merlo learns the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished.
 
I think it's a great move; and CEO's statements echo my own long-standing sentiments on the notion of drug-and-health-supply stores selling tobacco, a product which in all its iterations seems so antithetical to the point of a pharmacy.

I am likewise glad that this is a company decision and not a government-compelled one, because it provides one less avenue for any potential detractors to shift the discussion off-point.
 
Alareth said:
CVS has announced they will cease the sale of all tobacco products by October 1st.
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I think this is a great move. And I think it will be a financial win for them.


The company estimates the decision will cause them to lose $2 billion in revenue
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I don't doubt that number, but it is misleading. My impression is that the margins on the cigarette business are slim. So I spent a quarter of a second googling and came up with one reasonable looking source saying about 15% for convenience stores. If CVX is similar that is about $300M in gross. But there are other costs to selling tobacco. Licensing in each state is a hassle, you have more training and liability issues with employees. Security issues. Multiply all that by 7400 stores and you can eat up a lot of that $300M Even for a pharmacy it is not easy money.

And there will be other costs, mainly less walk in traffic from smokers. But that will be partly offset by former smokers who will now come into the store instead of using the drive through to avoid the smokes.

And ultimately, they are getting a lot of good press for the next few days and likely longer.

I think it will be a net win financially, but I also think it took huge fortitude to do this an it really shows that they have strong leadership.

ETA: I also think that this is far better than government regulation.
 
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Checkmite said:
I am likewise glad that this is a company decision and not a government-compelled one, because it provides one less avenue for any potential detractors to shift the discussion off-point.
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And will make it all the more sweeter when conservatives talk about this move depriving them of freedom.
 
Sherman Bay said:
So how does CVS feel about selling homeopathic solutions, Bach Flower Remedies or herbal potions?
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For pete's sake, they just got around to stop selling stuff that was causing direct harm! You think they are to the point where they will worry about stuff that just doesn't do any good?
 
pgwenthold said:
For pete's sake, they just got around to stop selling stuff that was causing direct harm! You think they are to the point where they will worry about stuff that just doesn't do any good?
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I complained once at my local CVS because the homeopathic junk was mixed in with real medicine. I was suprised a while later to see that they had moved most of the stuff labeled "homeopathic" to a separate section.

Of course, now it's all mixed back in with the real medicine again.

-- Roger
 
Interesting and a good idea I think. Of course in Ireland (and the UK) pharmacies don't sell tobacco products
 
Who cares? There is always Walgreens, smoke shops, 7-11, etc who are doing a happy dance.
 
2 billion is only 1.6 percent of the company's revenue. It will be made up elsewhere. CVS is starting to create urgent care centers at its locations, so I think this move is partly to reconcile the conflict between being a healthcare provider and selling tobacco. The company has been under pressure to stop tobacco sales for a long time.
 
Am I reading this right? You had a pharmacy chain selling CIGARETTES?
Are they nuts?
Apart from the total lack of ethics displayed, what a lawsuit waiting to happen!

I am shaking my head in wonderment. Needless to say, that would never be dreamt of in Australia.
 
It's not just a pharmacy. It's a convenience store selling just about everything. They sell liquor and junk food, too. It happens to have a pharmacy in it. This is a common type of store in the US.
 
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Walgreens made similar noises when they made a big deal out of dropping alcohol sales from their stores back in the early 90's (IIRC). They are quietly re-introducing it in a lot of their stores in the past few years. I believe it is to help them compete with the CVS, which is expanding into Walgreens' heartland. CVS is also a huge seller of alcohol beverages - In the state of Indiana, I believe that they are the largest liquor chain.
 
I'm just glad we don't live in a cynical world where this story gets tagged with the headline: "CVS Announces that it's Seeking Free Advertising."
 
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