Immediately, competitor Walgreens flip-flopped on a statement it made last year about selling cigarettes and announced it was evaluating the possibility of dumping them. Another competitor, Rite Aid, announced it’s sticking to tobacco for now, while other chains such as Dollar General just started selling cigarettes last year. Even if CVS did trigger a mass exodus of newly health conscious pharmacies from the tobacco market, it wouldn’t make much difference. Less than 4 percent of cigarettes are sold in pharmacies versus 16 percent in convenience stores, 21 percent in tobacco stores, and 48 percent in gas stations, according to market research from Euromonitor.
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