We should ban news print. It’s for the trees, you know.
CVS built up too much, too fast. Such bubble expansions court disaster, both because you do not see overexpansion, and it is extra hard to go into a stability mode.
When I go into a CVS what I notice are that its prices for everything are a third to a half higher than for Walgreens.
Importantly, cigarettes are both low volume and high margin for retailers, despite the greedy federal and state taxes, so I imagine that CVS is going to take a hit to the bottom line, and get nothing out of the deal.
In as precarious as their economic circumstances, that may be like waving a needle around their bubble.
This is a non event. So what if a pharmacy no longer sells tobacco? Pharmacies used to sell laudenum, and gasoline. In fact when cars were first invented the pharmacy was the only place to buy gas. Now they don’t sell laudenum or gas anymore. Big deal. If you want tobacco go to the tobacco shop. Its a lot cheaper than CVS.
I’m hearing a bunch of communists trying to tell CVS what they may and may not do in their stores.
I’m a smoker, but as many other commenters have said, I nonetheless support CVS for making its own private business decision.
I also see the logic of a pharmacy — that is morphing into a medical facility — not selling a product that is a proven contributor to chronic health issues. I wonder if CVS will stop selling booze, too, as they now do in California....
Smells like Germany in the1930’s.
That's a big "if"....
First of all soda and energy drinks are not addictive like cigarettes...
Nobody walks into a CVS and a clerk puts a gun to the customer head to make them buy a sugar laden drink...
Secondly, soda sales are a HUGE part of CVS profits...
Soft drink companies pay nice sums of marketing funds to display and put their products in the weekly ads promoting their brand...
Getting rid of beer and wine sales would make better sense if CVS has safety and heath concerns...
I can assure you it's a tidy sum...
Every inch of space in a retail outlet needs to be justified...cigs probably didn't meet that criteria...
The CEO is just making a smart PR move...
I doubt they’ll dump soda. From a business perspective cigarettes are a pain to sell, high levels of taxation, high levels of space, low levels of profit, high levels of government oversight, dramatic changes in the law from region to region with many of the laws being annoying and stupid (in my city we force stores to keep their cigs where no one underage could STEAL them). And of course if you carry cigarettes you carry lighters, and in this WOD world lighters have been known to be tied to some odd regulations too. With a smaller and smaller percentage of the population smoking there are good business reasons to dump cigs. Soda has really none of those issues. Sure their EXCUSES for dumping cigs might apply, but that’s just PR, soda is good business.
I think this is a massive strategic mistake.
It was smart to not sell cigarettes. I know there are smokers here who will disagree with me, but as a former smoker I am no longer in favor of cigarettes and/or other tobacco products in a “healthy” store.
But going beyond the actual carcinogenic properties of cigarettes to twerk America’s eating habits, will be strongly counter-productive to their sales.
This is a massive mistake.
I predict it will be overturned almost immediately.
Actually, we all know what is good for us. I applause this company as a conservative...yes...a rare breed that is putting the almighy $ behind what is right for people! Not the other way around.
Since you can buy soda with food stamps, but not cigarettes, I’m guessing they’ll keep selling soda. Wouldn’t want to miss out on that gravy train.
Employees at retail giant CVS Caremark will have to pay a hefty $600-a-year penalty for not disclosing their weight and other personal health data to the company’s benefits firm, under a new health policy that many prominent patient rights advocates are calling invasive.
CVS must want the feds off their back for how they have been filling out prescription’s they have been under investigation’s for some time now.
CVS could save billions of trees a year by not giving every customer a 45” long receipt for a pack of gum.
bump