CVS Health 在2014年棄賣煙草制品，犧牲了20億美元的銷售額鞏固其健康管理公司的形象，此后，來德愛（Rite Aid）和沃爾格林（Walgreens）一直面臨著是否追隨這種做法的壓力。

這兩家公司最近將煙草最低銷售年齡從18歲提高到21歲，以降低未成年人能夠買到煙草的機會。但這一舉措出臺在今年3月受到美國食品和藥物管理局（FDA）抨擊后不久，FDA發現這兩家擁有15000家連鎖店的公司，位居15家向未成年人銷售香煙的主要零售商之列。

根據歐睿信息咨詢公司（Euromonitor International）的數據，除了受到批評、影響公司形象，銷量下降或將成為棄售香煙的一個正當理由：2017年的香煙銷售數量從2012年的2927億支降至2527億支。

煙草業務對美國連鎖藥店來說占比不大而且有不斷下滑的趨勢，根據歐睿信息咨詢公司的數據，這項業務的總銷售額約為16億美元，但它們是沃爾格林和來德愛急需的客流來源。過去的四個季度，這兩家連鎖店的非藥房銷售額同比均有下降。

但相比之下，CVS的銷售額增長了0.5％，證明藥妝連鎖店在戒斷壞習慣之后，零售業務仍然可以健康運行。（財富中文網）

本文原載于《財富》雜志2019年6月刊。

譯者：Agatha

Ever since CVS Health ditched tobacco products in 2014—sacrificing $2 billion in sales to bolster its image as a health company—Rite Aid and Walgreens have been facing pressure to follow suit.

The companies recently raised their minimum tobacco sales age from 18 to 21—aiming to reduce minors’ access to them. But the moves came soon after a lashing in March from the FDA, which found both chains, with a combined fleet of 15,000 stores, to be among 15 major retailers selling cigarettes to minors.

Beyond the brickbats and bad PR, declining sales would be a valid reason to exit the category: Cigarette sales fell to 252.7 billion sticks in 2017, from 292.7 billion in 2012, according to Euromonitor International.

Cigarettes are a modest and declining business for U.S. drugstore chains—total sales of about $1.6 billion based on Euromonitor International data—but they’re a desperately needed source of foot traffic for Walgreens and Rite Aid. Both chains have seen comparable non-pharmacy sales fall in the past four quarters.

But in contrast, sales at CVS were up 0.5%, showing that there can be a healthy retail life after dropping a bad habit cold turkey.

This article originally appeared in the June 2019 issue of Fortune.