CVS to stop selling cigarettes

No, supermarkets here don't have pharmacies, or chemists, as we call them within.
 
Renmarkable said:
I guess I'm baffled, because in all the countries I been in, I have never seen any pharmacy style store that would also sell alcohol and tobacco. However, thus is in a country that considers it appropriate to sell guns the same way, so why should I be surprised?
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What the hell are you talking about?

I've never seen guns sold in pharmacies, or in stores that sold alcohol and tobacco.
 
correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that what an earlier poster said Walmart does? Also didn't qudraginta also say much the same thing ?
 
In Australia, there no where else to buy alcohol from, other than a booze store. It may be one of the little independently owned ones, although I think their days are numbered, or more likely , one owned by Coles or woollies, but there's nowhere else to get it from, in the form of takeaway...
 
Renmarkable said:
correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that what an earlier poster said Walmart does? Also didn't qudraginta also say much the same thing ?
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Yes, and all the Walmarts around here also have Walmart-branded optometrist offices and photo studios in them. I wouldn't say "guns are sold in pharmacies" any more than I would say "guns are sold in photo studios" or that "alcohol is sold by optometrists".

"Guns sold in stores that sold alcohol and tobacco" would be true though, since the "main" part of a supermarket may sell all three.
 
I can't believe no one has yet mentioned the biggest advantage of this: it will keep you from ever again having 30-60 seconds of your life wasted by the idiot in line in front of you who is utterly incapable of communicating to the cashier which kind of cigarettes they want. I'm generally a Walgreens fan, but that alone is enough for me to make CVS my default pharmacy. And there might just be enough cranky, impatient SOBs like me out there to make up that 1.6% lost revenue.

Now if only a chain of convenience stores would stop selling lottery tickets...
 
Quinn said:
I can't believe no one has yet mentioned the biggest advantage of this: it will keep you from ever again having 30-60 seconds of your life wasted by the idiot in line in front of you who is utterly incapable of communicating to the cashier which kind of cigarettes they want. I'm generally a Walgreens fan, but that alone is enough for me to make CVS my default pharmacy. And there might just be enough cranky, impatient SOBs like me out there to make up that 1.6% lost revenue.

Now if only a chain of convenience stores would stop selling lottery tickets...
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Does this happen to you a lot?

Most of the smokers I've known are pretty much settled on a particular brand by the time they have been smoking very long. The ones that aren't tend to be underage and are probably going to be buying their smokes in a quicky mart instead of a drugstore, if only because the quicky marts usually aren't going to be as finicky about IDs.
 
quadraginta said:
Does this happen to you a lot?
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"A lot" is a fairly vague term. It happens often enough that if I'm given the choice between two equally convenient pharmacies, and that's guaranteed not to happen at one of them, I'll pick that one.

Then again I live in New Orleans.
 
quadraginta said:
Does this happen to you a lot?

Most of the smokers I've known are pretty much settled on a particular brand by the time they have been smoking very long. The ones that aren't tend to be underage and are probably going to be buying their smokes in a quicky mart instead of a drugstore, if only because the quicky marts usually aren't going to be as finicky about IDs.
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As someone who worked in a convenience store for three years.... yes it does. Somewhere between 10%-15% of the cigarette customers would waffle about what they want. The biggest chuck of customers have a very specific preference they will not deviate from, but with the sheer volume of customers those one in ten can be pretty annoying.
 
The Fallen Serpent said:
As someone who worked in a convenience store for three years.... yes it does. Somewhere between 10%-15% of the cigarette customers would waffle about what they want. The biggest chuck of customers have a very specific preference they will not deviate from, but with the sheer volume of customers those one in ten can be pretty annoying.
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I pay cash for gasoline, and people in front of me in line at the gas station do this frequently, with cigarettes and with lottery tickets. They probably do the same for items on the shelves, but that is on their own time.
 
So, what exactly does a convenience store sell? are they always big chain places, or small family own businesses? it sounds as if you have a lot of big stores selling many things, so what happens to those small family businesses, or do they really not exist as such? What about in small towns?
 
Renmarkable said:
So, what exactly does a convenience store sell? are they always big chain places, or small family own businesses? it sounds as if you have a lot of big stores selling many things, so what happens to those small family businesses, or do they really not exist as such? What about in small towns?
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What I would call a "convenience store" would be something attached to a gas station or possibly alone in a larger city, college town, or deteriorating suburban neighborhood, with maybe 2500 square feet of sales floor space, max. that sells smokes, batteries, beer, soda, snacks, a limited selection of bread, milk, and prepared sandwiches, a few hot items of dubious quality, etc. In other words, a 7-11 or clone.

Most Walgreens and CVS are something in between that and a supermarket, with a better selection of non-prescription medicine and watch batteries than either. Consider just the average sizes:
7-11 x 4 = CVS
CVS x 2.75 = Publix (average grocery store)
Publix x 2.5 = Walmart Supercenter (giant supermarket).

The only independent family-owned business I shop at is an Amish fruit and vegetable market, because they have better prices and quality than chain stores. I suspect that most people in the US rarely buy staples from anything but a chain store.
 
The Fallen Serpent said:
As someone who worked in a convenience store for three years.... yes it does. Somewhere between 10%-15% of the cigarette customers would waffle about what they want. The biggest chuck of customers have a very specific preference they will not deviate from, but with the sheer volume of customers those one in ten can be pretty annoying.
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The absolute worst is people who buy cigarettes at grocery stores. "I want two packs of <X>" Checkout cashier walks to cigarette case, unlocks it, comes back, says "We're all out, what do you want instead?" Customer hems and haws while three other customers actually buying groceries just stand there. Urgggh.
 
Renmarkable said:
So, what exactly does a convenience store sell? are they always big chain places, or small family own businesses? it sounds as if you have a lot of big stores selling many things, so what happens to those small family businesses, or do they really not exist as such? What about in small towns?
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"Convenience store" is a catch-all category. As Modified said, they are relatively small stores, typically attached to a gas station. In big cities, they may be open longer hours than bigger stores, even 24 hours. Prices tend to be higher and selection lower, but if you need something right now, or you happen to think of it while paying for gas or beer, it's right there. They often serve small neighborhoods within walking and biking distance; may be part of a mini-mall and kids often congregate around them.

Many are franchises, so they are locally-owned but affiliated with a chain. Stereotypically, they are often known for "foreign" owner/operators as typified by Apu and Kwik-E-Mart in the Simpsons animated TV show.
 
Quinn said:
I can't believe no one has yet mentioned the biggest advantage of this: it will keep you from ever again having 30-60 seconds of your life wasted by the idiot in line in front of you who is utterly incapable of communicating to the cashier which kind of cigarettes they want. I'm generally a Walgreens fan, but that alone is enough for me to make CVS my default pharmacy. And there might just be enough cranky, impatient SOBs like me out there to make up that 1.6% lost revenue.
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CVS stores seem understaffed. Often, I have to wait for a cashier at the front of the store or pay at the pharmacy in the back. So, one thought I had when I heard that CVS would stop selling cigarettes was that it was too labor intensive. Perhaps, what it costs them in sales might be offset by reduced labor costs.

But, as mentioned elsewhere, CVS is expanding their in-store health care services which is probably a good enough reason by itself for them to get rid of tabacoo sales.

-- Roger
 
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