Walmart is pulling tobacco products from some stores, making it the largest national retail chain to cut off cigarette sales.
Stores in a certain few states are on the list to stop selling cigarettes at their Walmart locations. Walmart has 4,700 stores across the U.S. Some stores in California, Florida, New Mexico, and Arkansas will be the first to remove the products from their shelves.
Walmart is not the first national retail chain to end the sale of cigarettes. In 1996, Target ended cigarette sales. CVS Health drugstore chain pulled tobacco products in 2014.
The choice to remove tobacco products from shelves will be left up to a store-by-store basis for Walmart locations, and be based according to the business and the particular market.
The decision comes following a massive internal debate that was held inside of Walmart about whether to continue selling the products, as the company aims to grow its footprint in health services.
Cigarettes would be damaging to Walmart’s strive to be seen as a major health service retailer. Cigarettes are blamed for one in five deaths in the United States every year.
Last year, cigarette sales raked up an enormous $95 billion in sales. But most of these sales occurred at gas stations and convenience stores, not at massive national retail chains like Walmart. Walmart and other mixed retailers make up about 14 percent of cigarette sales each year.
The move is the latest in Walmart’s updates to its tobacco policies. In 2019, Walmart announced that it would be ending its sale of vaping and electronic cigarettes at stores. That same year, it raised the minimum age to purchase tobacco to 21.
Public health advocates have for a long time urged retailers to stop selling tobacco products. While it is not yet clear how many stores will remove the products, these advocates hope this announcement is a step in the right direction for public health.
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