This article from Marketwatch   suggests that CVS should stop selling other unhealthy items besides just cigarettes.   CVS employees will tell you that when they first stopped selling tobacco, there were many customers who suggested they also stop selling some of the 5 items below.  

Great suggestion, but it just ain’t gonna happen, folks.  They took a huge hit in sales by losing tobacco sales, but if you take away the 5 categories below you’d have virtually nothing except Health and Beauty aids and those products can be found cheaper virtually everywhere else.  Besides, how could I get through Easter without putting out Peeps and Christmas without Hershey’s Kisses would be sacrilege. 

 

     CVS has a new corporate name – CVS Health – and stopped selling cigarettes, as part of its larger mission to make customers healthier. But if drugstores were to only sell healthy products, advocates say, they’d need to completely overhaul their inventories.

“The CVS  name change reflects our broader health care commitment and our expertise in driving the innovations needed to shape the future of health,” the company announced in a statement on its website; the cigarette ban, the company says, is designed to “make a difference in the health of Americans.” Neither Walgreens nor Rite Aid plan to follow suit  but IBISWorld analyst Andy Brennan says that the move by CVS will put pressure on other drugstores and retailers to “evaluate what the selling of cigarettes says about their brand.”

The sale of cigarettes at drugstores is not as incongruous as it might seem — as far back as the 16th century, tobacco was thought to have medicinal benefits and was considered a kind of herbal remedy.

This particular tobacco ban is part of a larger trend: drugstores’ overall “evolution toward becoming more like health-care providers,” says Brennan. Indeed, drugstores across the nation are now doing things like offering on-site medical clinics: Rite Aid rolled out clinics where you could virtually chat with a doctor last year and CVS offers its in-store MinuteClinics staffed by nurse practitioners and physicians’ assistants. And this trend toward offering more options focused on promoting better health could continue at drugstores across the nation, says Brennan.

While consumer advocates note that CVS’s move toward banning tobacco products — at an estimated cost of about $2 billion in revenue each year — to promote “better health” is a laudable one, they note that to be truly “healthy,” drugstores (not just CVS) should do more to clean up their shelves — in particular in the food and beverage aisle. Indeed, some of the items that these drugstores still sell may lead to conditions that the drugstores have medications to treat, like heart disease, obesity and diabetes.

Here are five things drugstores might want to consider banning if they want to offer healthier options to consumers.

Bloomberg

Sweetened Sodas

Drugstore chains across the nation now sell far more than just drugs — and grocery items, including soda, are big sellers for these chains, experts say. Unfortunately, these drinks can lead to obesity and weight gain if they aren’t consumed in moderation, numerous studies show. Most Americans do not consume soda in moderation, with 48% saying that they drink at least one glass a day, according to a Gallup poll, even though the American Heart Association recommends that people consume no more than three 12-ounce cans of carbonated cola per week. Many drugstores sell cases of soda and two-liter bottles.

Bloomberg

Chips

While some chips are high in fiber and other nutrients, many are simply “empty calories,” says Sally Greenberg, the executive director of the National Consumers League. Plus, she adds, they’re very easy to overeat. Instead, grocery stores might want to consider adding more fresh fruits and vegetables and fewer things like potato chips to their shelves to become healthier, says consumer attorney Edgar Dworsky, the founder of ConsumerWorld.org.

Alcohol

While alcohol in moderation has been found to have some beneficial effects, overconsumption can cause serious health problems. Indeed, alcohol has been linked to heart and liver disease, gout, depression and more, studies show. To be sure, not all drugstores sell alcohol. Back in 2010, Walgreen’s reversed its 15-year ban on alcohol sales, and both CVS and Rite Aid sell wine and beer in some stores.