Should a company take a political stand against smoking, potentially losing millions of customers that smoke?  The answer is apparently YES for CVS.  In February 2014, CVS Caremark announced that it would stop selling tobacco products at its 7,600 stores by October 2014, becoming the first U.S. drugstore chain to remove cigarettes from the store.  Although tobacco companies and tobacco consumers were disappointed with the decision, CVS Caremark Chief Medical Officer Dr. Troyen Brennan said:  “I think it will put pressure on other retailers who want to be in healthcare.”  Non-tobacco consumers and the medical community in general applauded the CVS announcement.  It is worth noting a few retailers stopped selling tobacco products years ago, including Target Corp. and Wegmans Food Markets, and a few USA cities (such as Boston and San Francisco) already ban the sale of tobacco product in pharmacies.  With the announcement, CVS said its tobacco-ban will result in the firm losing about $2 billion in annual sales and between 6 and 9 cents of profit per share in 2014. Analysts expect the company to report 2014 revenue of $133 billion and a profit of $4.50 per share, so the impact is minimal but still significant.  Euromonitor International reports that cigarette sales in the USA declined 31.3 percent from 2003 to 2013.  However, smoking is still cited as the leading cause of preventable death in the USA, killing more than 480,000 Americans per year.  Thus, CVS may lose some customers, revenues, and profits with its decision, but at the same time it may save some lives.

Source:  http://www.dailyfinance.com/on/cvs-snuffs-out-cigarette-sales-house-of-cards-renewed/