CVS Stops Tobacco Sales Today

[kpete]

CVS, the giant drugstore chain that shocked the U.S. public health community and Wall Street with its decision earlier this year to remove tobacco products from its shelves by October, said cigarettes are officially no longer on store shelves a month ahead of schedule.

The move to remove tobacco products effective this morning coincides with a company decision to also change its corporate name to CVS Health (CVS), from CVS/Caremark Corp. to reflect “its broader health care commitment” and desire to change the future health of Americans.


http://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2014/09/03/cvs-stops-tobacco-sales-today-changes-name-to-reflect-new-era/

[pipoman]

1. The only people who buy cigarettes at the drug store

Are old people who are picking up prescriptions and a few where a CVS is just conveniently located. Not sure why this is big news.

[CBGLuthier]

2. Don't you just hate old people and their old people ways.

I tell you, they are just not normal regular people them old people. Can't trust them. Fucking oldies. I sure hope one never marries my sister.

[Contrary1]

12. Thank you.

Sincerely,

An old person who picks up prescriptions at CVS

[pipoman]

25. Do you suspect CVS prescription drug demographic is different than the rest of the country?

Last I heard 80% of prescription drugs are purchased by seniors.

[bigwillq]

3. I think it's great

that they are trying to be more health-conscious. They're going to lose millions. It's about time that companies thought about more than just profits. We'll see what happens with it.

[pipoman]

7. I don't buy that they are making millions

I believe that the margin on cigarettes to remain competitive doesn't justify the cost of the inventory. I believe it is good capitalist business for them to get out of the tobacco business.

[bowens43]

4. You're not sure why a company giving up millions is profits is big news? Really?

[pipoman]

5. Smoke and mirrors. ..

[Blue_Adept]

6. Cynicism and dismissiveness

[pipoman]

8. see post #7

[Go Vols]

9. Billions

In its announcement, management warned that it will lose around $2 billion in annual revenues from this decision. That breaks down to around $1.5 billion in tobacco sales and $500 million in sales of other products to tobacco customers.

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-cost-of-not-selling-tobacco-to-cvs-2014-2

[pipoman]

11. Revenues. ..

If I sell a product for $5 I have $5 in revenue. If the product cost me $6 including inventory costs, labor, and raw materials, I still had $5 in revenue. I won't believe it had anything but a marginal, more likely positive, effect on their profits until I see their annual report after a year not selling them.

[Go Vols]

13. Prolly wont see it on an annual report

The company says $2 billion in sales will be shaved off its $125 billion top line. That will pressure earnings, too, though Merlo swears incremental cost cuts will keep those pressures from showing up in its profit statements.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2014/02/05/cvs-to-stop-selling-tobacco-sacrificing-2-billion-in-sales-for-public-health-and-future-growth/

[pipoman]

22. I am incredulous of their explanation and have no reason to believe

The health of their customers trumps profits. I would wager this is a fiscally responsible decision.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

21. Lol. That dog won't hunt. Are you honestly saying cigarettes cost cvs money to sell?

Your little narrative is blown out of the water by that $2 billion dollar fact. Give it up.

Even at 1% margin the number is $20 million. $10 million at .5%. I suspect the margin is higher on tobacco peripherals.

[pipoman]

24. Margin can easily be blown out by inventory cost combined with low margins. .

Since when has DU been the "we trust corporate motives" site?

I guess it is no surprise since it is now the "we hate police" site...

[Hassin Bin Sober]

27. Oh I don't doubt there is some business attached to this business decision.

Part of the decision seeing the writing on the wall of a declining/dying smoking population. Part of the decision being pressure from health groups.

To say cvs is losing money on cigs is redicoulous.

[pipoman]

31. I didn't say they were losing

Just likely one of the lowest return product lines they handle. The cigarette business is a loss leader business. Most smokers buy from the least expensive source within reasonable distance. Now that cigarettes are $50+ per carton. CVS here isn't really close to the least expensive. Prescription drugs have a 30+% margin, otc drugs have 30+ and store brand much better. Some places have a pretty short margin on cigarettes average convenience store margin is 15%...the lowest margin in the convenience store. Watch what they put in the space (prime space for impulse purchases)...it will be much higher margin goods. So now they have shed the high inventory, low margin product placement with lower inventory, higher margin merchandise.

This was entirely a business decision that they are pimping as 'look at us good citizens'...a brilliant marketing scheme at work....it even has liberals singing the praises of big pharm...

[tabbycat31]

30. I used to work for CVS

And this was not true (granted I was last there in 1999 but still). People of all ages and stripes of life bought cigarettes there.

They told me to take up smoking when I complained that smokers were getting more break time (meanwhile I could barely use the bathroom).

[Go Vols]

10. Walgreens quit selling liquor

20 years ago,they brought it back 5 years ago.Hell,the liquor dept took up half the store back then.

[Spider Jerusalem]

14. It's somewhat more shocking that a pharmacy/drugstore was selling cigarettes in the first place

that seems to be an American thing; outside the US, licensed pharmacies don't sell tobacco products (they may sell smoking cessation aids like nicotine gum and e-cigarettes, but not actual cigarettes).

[MineralMan]

15. Nicotine is a drug. Drugstores sell drugs.

I've never been surprised that they have sold them. They sell all kinds of things that are not good for your health.

That said, good for CVS for stopping tobacco sales.

[Spider Jerusalem]

16. Not outside the US they don't

[MineralMan]

17. Depends on where you are, I suppose.

In Turkey, in the last half of the 1960s, they sold hashish at the pharmacies there. It was something of a problem for the leadership at the little AFB where I was stationed. The barracks were often scented with the smell of people smoking it.

And then, in France, in the mid 1980s, I went into a chemists shop (pharmacy) to get some cough syrup. I had caught a bad cold, and had to be able to play the oboe in the orchestra I was travelling with, without a fit of coughing, so I asked the pharmacist for something "tres fort." Looking at the label on the bottle I got, I discovered later that the active ingredient was morphine.

Regulations and practices differ in different countries. In the U.S., it has been common for drugstores to sell tobacco products. That CVS is stepping away from that norm is good. But they still sell worthless homeopathic remedies over on the supplement and vitamin shelves, so I'm not impressed.

[Spider Jerusalem]

18. You can buy codeine linctus (cough syrup) OTC in pharmacies here in the UK, but not cigarettes

and kaolin and morphine or J Collis Browne's Mixture (containing tincture of morphine) for diarrhoea. The difference is that tobacco is not a recognised medicine and has no medical uses. Morphine is and does.

[MineralMan]

19. I didn't say that nicotine was a medicine. I said that it's a drug.

There's a difference. Each country has its own rules about what can be sold over the counter. I suppose it's up to the individual customer what to buy or not buy, more or less.

BTW, that morphine cough syrup did a great job in stopping my cough. The performances went off without a hitch.

[Spider Jerusalem]

20. Which is why it's not sold in pharmacies outside the US

because they're for the sale and dispensing of medicines, not drugs (can't buy booze in pharmacies, either).

[MineralMan]

23. You won't find tobacco in standalone pharmacies here, either.

Or alcohol, except in tinctures. However, most retail drugstores are more than just pharmacies here. Most of them are general merchandise oriented. They sell office supplies, clothing, cosmetics, magazines and books, groceries, and just about everything else a general store sells. The pharmacy is usually at the very back of the store. And then, places like Target, Walmart and most major supermarket chains also have pharmacies. The standalone pharmacy is not a very common thing in the US, really. Most of them can't survive economically.

So, people submit their prescriptions to pharmacies in stores where they shop regularly here in the US.

CVS is far from just a pharmacy. Depending on the individual CVS store, you can buy pretty much anything you need while you're in there, along with a bunch of stuff you don't need.

Comparing US drugstores to European pharmacies or chemists isn't comparing the same things, really. For example, here's a list of product categories you'll find in CVS stores that you won't find at the chemists shop, straight from the CVS website:

Automotive
Bags, Wraps & Storage
Batteries & Flashlights
Cameras & Film
Candles
Candy
Cleaning Supplies
Electronics
Food & Snacks
Gifts
Hardware
Hosiery & Underwear
Laundry Supplies
Paper & Plastic Products
Pet Supplies
School & Office Supplies
Shoe Care
Small Appliances
Toys & Games

[Spider Jerusalem]

26. Sure, and major supermarkets like Tesco will have a pharmacist in-store

but you can't get a prescription and a packet of smokes at the same window.

[joeglow3]

29. You can't at CVS either

The pharmacy is at the back of the store, separate from the registers at the front of the store.

[trashcanistanista]

28. I quit smoking by using CVS brand nicotine gum

It took a few years to get off the gum by breaking each piece into smaller and smaller pieces, but I was able to do it. So far 5 years tobacco free with no desire to go back. They also offer steep discounts on the gum like buy 1 get 2 periodically to make it a little cheaper.