CVS are giving up €2billion in sales in a move they say is 'the right thing to do'.
If you have ever been to the US you will be very familiar with the chain known as CVS. Ostensibly a pharmacy, they sell pretty much everything but from October 1 they won't be selling any tobacco products, the first major store to remove cigarettes from their shelves.
All 7,600 stores will be cigarette free zones in a move that will cost the company an estimated €2billion in revenue. Currently CVS generates €125b in revenue annually, so it is a small percentage in that sense, yet it is still a big move.
"An important and growing part of our business is the work we do with clients and health insurance plans," CVS Pharmacy president Helena Foulkes said in an interview, published in the
Washington Post. "As we thought about supporting their goals about improving outcomes and lowering costs, we believe that's the future we're looking towards. As we become more connected to their health-care work, this is an important decision for us to make.
"I would say that we have made a decision that this is the right thing to do for our business,"
The company also claims to have identified ways to make up the financial shortfall, though their share earnings are expected to fall by 6 to 9 per cent.
The Post also quotes President Obama, who welcomed the move, saying it "sets powerful example [that will] help advance my Administration’s efforts to reduce tobacco-related deaths, cancer, and heart disease, as well as bring down health care costs – ultimately saving lives and protecting untold numbers of families from pain and heartbreak for years to come."
CVS will also launch an anti-smoking campaign in the spring
