I wrote about CVS yesterday.
About how they are going to eliminate tobacco sales in all their stores by October.
If you read that post, you'll see that I (along with many many others) are very curious to see if Walgreens is going to react.
The ball is in their court.
Will they rid themselves of tobacco products too?
This is a fascinating analysis:
Could Walgreen be the Big Loser?
Joe Cahill
Highlights:
CVS Caremark and Walgreen are working to position themselves as go-to partners for health care providers. But there's a problem. Partnerships with drugstores require hospitals to get over their reservations about joining forces with purveyors of a chief cause of sickness and death. That just changed.
President Barack Obama, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the American Medical Association and the American Cancer Society all praised CVS yesterday, underscoring Walgreen's growing isolation from the broader health care community on the issue.
So Walgreen must choose. It can hang onto the revenue and profit that cigarettes produce today — and perhaps pick up a few smokers from CVS Caremark. Or it can kick the habit, enduring short-term financial withdrawal pains but strengthening its long-term prospects in the health care business.
This is shaping up to be a very interesting battle royal. One that I did not see coming.
Out for now....
Matt