CVS Caremark Corp. said on Wednesday that it would stop selling tobacco products at its 7,600 stores by October, becoming the first national drugstore chain in the United States to take cigarettes off the shelf.

Public health experts called the decision by the No. 2 U.S. drugstore chain a precedent-setting step that could pressure other retailers to follow suit.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ ... 8382.story

Stand behind what you purport to be. Novel concept.

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Im still trying to figure out the actual reason they are doing this.

It was a big hassle for them to sell them because you can't purchase them at the self-checkout. Just another reason to shut down an actual cash register.

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Some corporations do have a conscience.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

...and gas stations / corner stores / tobacco store owners around the country rejoice!

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The explanation has to do with their involvement with Caremark and other medical related ventures. It was becoming incompatible to sell such a dangerous product while trying to grow healthcare businesses.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

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Here we go

Merlo says that continuing to sell cigarettes, which the Surgeon General blames for 480,000 deaths every year from heart disease, lung cancer, and stroke, was anathema to CVS’ long-term plan to become a central player in the U.S. health care system that interacts ever more closely with patients, giving flu shots, reminding them when they are not filling prescriptions, and, through its 800 Minute Clinic in-store nurse practitioner stations, prescribing medicines. “I see my role as insuring that the company is positioned for growth,” says Merlo. “And that is what this decision is about.”

CVS, like rivals Walgreen WAG +2.13% and Rite-Aid Corporation, is seeing a dramatic change to its business as it focuses less on taking marginal revenue out of drug sales and more on larger agreements with hospitals and insurance companies. In fact, CVS is in the midst of an even bigger shift than its competitors. Because of its 2007 merger with Caremark, the company is not only a drug store chain but also a pharmacy benefit manager, meaning it works with insurance companies and employers to control drug costs. The assumption is that by being a rival to both Rite-Aid and benefits manager Express Scripts ESRX -0.44%, CVS can extract better savings and offer better care to patients, saving employers money both by cutting costs and by making people healthier.

Agreed.

But very few would put it ahead of revenue.

The ACA makes pharmacies more of a health care provider than just a retail store pushing drugs. It is similar to your nurse or doctor assistant telling you to be sure to grab a pack of smokes on your way out of the office.

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Short-term PR boost.

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

Used to smoke a Camel in the hospital myself.

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They're just gonna use the extra space to sell the cheap liquor like White Irish Rose or MD 20/20. There was always some bum in the CVS on Harlem by the Green Line L buying that crap behind the counter.

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Right. I found an article that explained that.

They needed more room to store receipt paper for the unnecessarily long proof of purchase you get.

I bought a stick of deodorant. Why is my receipt two feet long?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Lies. You stink.

There may not have been that much revenue in it. Maybe they only make 50 cents a pack or something. By the time they buy them, ship them, stock them, and then pay people to put them out into the store, it might actually be more profitable for CVS to carry other items. I don't know what the markup on tobacco is, but I know for other stores like this and other convenience type stores its very, very small on items like alcohol and gasoline.

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The mark up on gas is not small any longer.

What's the mark up on a light bulb Frank? Those FFL ones?

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CVS sells alcohol? Walgreens got out of the booze business 6 or 7 years ago & I suspect that CVS will as well.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

Is that ALL Walgreens?

Pretty sure some of them still sell it.

i always figure everything is marked up by 20% at least

Walgreens has been back in the booze biz for two years.

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#Truth

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i worked at the walgreens in Mt. Greenwood at 111th and Kedize during high school and the first few college summers....we were one of the few ones left at the time that had a full liquor dept. , as they were phasing them out at the time
they were also remodeling many of the stores at the time and my manager didn't want the remodel and was putting it off forever because she knew they'd take away the liquor department which was a big profit center
fond memories of ringing up mt. greenwood drunks for 1/2 pints of cossack vodka 3x a day

I suppose that you have an issue with Night Train and Thunderbird too?

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My only isssue is that they should automatically come with scratch-off lottery tickets, since every guy that buys a bottle spends ten minutes ruminating over which game he wants to play.

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

Will candy and soda be next?

Walgreens started selling it again a couple of years ago. CVS always sold booze, as did Osco before them.

yes time they started going after caffeine, the true evil