nick007 wrote:
naturalplastic wrote:
booze and beer aren't usually sold in drug stores.
RiteAid sells beer & wine. I occasionally buy beer from there. RiteAid & Walgreens & the other similar types of stores are more than just drugstores, they're also convenience stores which may be partly why they sell cigarettes.
There was a petition like a couple years ago to get one of the big name pharmacy stores to stop selling cigarettes & the store eventually quit. I don't remember what store it was but I know it's not RiteAid. I would guess maybe Walgreens or CVS but not sure.
CVS famously stopped selling tobacco products a couple of years ago. Didn't realize it was a response to pressure. But that's probably the chain you're thinking of. The OP is so young that he takes it for granted that a big chain like CVS doesn't sell cigarettes, and it seems odd to him that the other drugstore chains DO sell them. But to me it just seems natural to go to the drugstore "for a pack of cigarettes".
But apparently tobacco is dying a long slow death. Retail chains often outsource their inventory counting these days to companies like what I work for. We go in and physically count their stuff.
While finishing counting cans of soda in a cramped back of a 7-11 I over heard the store's manager (the stereotypical Indian/Pakistani 7-11 proprietor) going over his figures with HIS boss. His boss calmly explained to him that "in most years your bad numbers would be rescued by your tobacco sales. But nowadays you cant rely on that ...tobacco is an ever shrinking part of your sales...". On one hand I felt sorry for the guy (the hard working store manager) getting screwed, but on the other hand I was glad to hear how we Americans are now consuming dramatically less tobacco then in years past, and that its still trending downward.