CVS stops selling tobacco products

The second-largest pharmacy in the U.S. will no longer sell tobacco products in its 7,700 stores and will now be called CVS Health.

The New York Times: CVS Stores Stop Selling All Tobacco Products
At a CVS store near Times Square, the shelves are notable for what they no longer display: cigarettes. Now the only smoking products to be found are those that could help customers quit. As of midnight on Tuesday, all 7,700 CVS locations nationwide will no longer sell tobacco products, fulfilling a pledge the company made in February, as it seeks to reposition itself as a health care destination. The rebranding even comes with a new name: CVS Health (Abrams, 9/3).

Los Angeles Times: CVS Kicks The Tobacco Habit
The nation's No. 2 drugstore operator finally kicked the habit. CVS plans to announce Wednesday that it has pulled all remaining cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco and other tobacco products from each of its 7,700 pharmacies nationwide (Frost, 9/3).

USA Today: CVS Stops Selling Tobacco, Offers Quit-Smoking Programs
CVS Caremark plans to stop selling tobacco products in all of its stores starting Wednesday -- a move health experts hope will be followed by other major drugstore chains. CVS announced in February that it planned to drop tobacco by Oct. 1 as the sales conflicted with its health care mission. To bolster its image as a health care company, CVS will announce a corporate name change to CVS Health. Retail stores will still be called CVS/Pharmacy (O'Donnell and Ungar, 9/3).