CVS, the nation’s second-largest pharmacy chain, said Wednesday it would stop selling all cigarettes and tobacco products nationwide by October, saying they have no place in a drugstore company that is trying to become more of a health-care provider.
What’s going on here? General Mills comes out with a ‘green washing’ piece on making Cherrios GMO free only to be trumped by Post’s declaration that not only will Grape Nuts be GMO Free, they will be listed on the Verified Non GMO list.
“Cigarettes have no place in an environment where health care is being delivered,” said Mr. Merlo, a 58-year-old former pharmacist who became CEO of CVS Caremark in 2011. “This is the right decision at the right time as we evolve from a drugstore into a health-care company.”
Who’s gonna be next in the race to wellness and customer loyalty? Watch and see as the markets begin to come into alignment with health and the well being of their customers.
After CVS announced this week that it will stop selling tobacco products on October 1, we’re starting to see petitions pop up on Change.org urging Walgreens and its Duane Reade pharmacies to also phase out tobacco sales.
The most popular Change.org petition, collecting more than 500 signatures since it was launched on Wednesday, was started by NYC resident Michael Brochstein, and calls into question Walgreens’ use of the slogan “at the corner of happy & healthy,” while selling products that cause cancer.
Says Michael Brochstein:
“I’ve signed a couple of petitions on Change.org before so when I read the story about CVS, I thought that a petition would be a great way to show Duane Reade and Walgreens, pharmacies which claim to do things to make us healthier, that their customers don’t think it is appropriate or consistent with their claims for them to be selling products that cause cancer.”
Customers and former employees are also leaving comments of support on Michael’s petition:
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