(TruthandLiberty.com) – Beginning in the 1990s, some big-box retailers, including Target, stopped selling tobacco products. In 2014, CVS halted tobacco sales, saying it ran counter to the company’s purpose of serving as a healthcare provider. In 2021, cigarettes accounted for $95 billion in sales, mostly at gas stations and convenience stores. Big-box retailers accounted for just 14% of cigarette sales. That number is about to become smaller as Walmart begins moving away from selling tobacco products.
For years, Walmart CEO Doug McMillion tried to persuade company executives to stop selling tobacco products. The issue became a source of debate among leaders in the world’s largest retailer. Some believed the company had no business telling customers what legal products they could buy. Still, as the company makes a significant move to join the healthcare retail world, others say the company should stop selling tobacco products because 480,000 people die from cigarettes every year. In some stores, the latter are getting their wish.
Walmart Inc. is stopping cigarette sales in some U.S. stores after years of debate within the retail giant's management team about selling tobacco products, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
— Newsmax (@newsmax) March 28, 2022
Walmart has over 4,700 stores in the United States. It’s preparing to remove tobacco products from its shelves in select stores located in California, Florida, Arkansas, and New Mexico. New check-out registers and shelving that will include grab-and-go food or candy will replace the tobacco products.
Walmart is now one of the largest pharmacy chains in the United States, putting a new health emphasis on the company’s business outlook.
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