Walmart stops cigarette sales in some stores

Walmart is stopping cigarette sales in some US stores after years of debate within the retail giant’s management team about selling tobacco products, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

The markets in which cigarettes are being removed from stores include California, Florida, Arkansas and New Mexico, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter and store visits.

The retailer has rolled out a design with more self-checkout registers and other items such as grab-and-go food or candy near the front of the stores in place of Marlboro, Newport and other tobacco products, according to the report.

Walmart did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

CVS in 2014 became the first U.S. drugstore chain to take cigarettes off the shelves, while Walmart decided a few years later to halt sales of e-cigarettes and electronic nicotine delivery products at its U.S. stores due to growing regulatory complexity and uncertainty.

Several Democratic U.S. senators have also urged Walmart and a few other retailers to stop selling all tobacco products.