Walmart is ending cigarette sales in some stores in California, Florida, Arkansas and New Mexico after years of debate among the company’s senior ranks – potentially giving the store more time to install self-checkouts
- Walmart removes cigarettes from stores in California, Florida, Arkansas and New Mexico
- Walmart, which has more than 4,700 locations nationwide, is replacing cigarette displays with self-checkout and grab-and-go groceries
- Move comes after years of debate between CEO David McMillon and other top executives
- In 2019, Walmart stopped selling e-cigarettes due to growing regulatory complexity
Walmart will stop selling cigarettes in some of its stores after years of debate within the retail giant’s management team over the sale of tobacco products, it was revealed Monday.
Markets where cigarettes are being removed from stores include California, Florida, Arkansas and New Mexico, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter and store visits.
The retailer has adopted a design with more self-service checkouts and other items such as take-out groceries or candy near the front of stores instead of Marlboro, Newport and other tobacco products, according to the report.
Walmart removes cigarettes from stores in California, Florida, Arkansas and New Mexico. Pictured: An employee scans items for a customer at a Walmart in Burbank, California
Altria Group, the maker of Marlboro cigarettes, was down 1.6 percent in premarket trading on Monday
Altria Group, the maker of Marlboro cigarettes, was down 1.6 percent in premarket trading after the Journal’s report was released.
Walmart did not immediately respond to a request from for comment.
CVS became the first US drugstore chain to take cigarettes off the shelves in 2014, resulting in a massive loss of sales totaling $2 billion, while Walmart decided to stop selling e-cigarettes and electronic nicotine delivery products at $4,700 in 2019 Branches due to growing regulatory complexity and uncertainty.
Several Democratic senators have also called on Walmart and other retailers to stop selling all tobacco products.
Cigarette smoking causes 480,000 deaths annually, including from secondhand smoke
The move comes after Walmart CEO David McMillon spent years trying to convince other top executives to find a way to remove cigarettes from the company’s stores, the Journal reported.
Walmart CEO David McMillon has spent years trying to persuade other top executives to remove cigarettes from the company’s stores
One of the country’s largest pharmacy chains, Walmart has opened a primary care clinic in recent years, and in 2021 the retail giant bought a telemedicine provider.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cigarette smoking causes about one in five deaths in the United States each year, resulting in an estimated 480,000 deaths, including from secondhand smoke.
The newspaper, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, reported that some Walmart executives have argued that tobacco products are legal and that the company should honor their demands if customers want to buy them.
Walmart, which has more than 4,700 locations nationwide, is replacing cigarette displays with self-checkout and grab-and-go groceries
Around $95 billion worth of cigarettes were sold in the United States last year, mostly at gas stations and convenience stores, according to data from Euromonitor International, a London-based market research firm. Walmart and other blended retailers accounted for 14 percent of U.S. cigarette sales.
At Walmart, selling tobacco products is less profitable than other retail items because cigarettes are kept in a locked container or out of reach of customers and must be delivered by employees who are of a certain age and trained in tobacco sales.
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