Walmart to stop selling cigarettes in select locations

Walmart will stop selling cigarettes at select stores in four states, including Arkansas, The Wall Street Journal first reported.

• The other states are California, Florida and New Mexico.

Driving the news: In an email to Axios, a Walmart spokesperson confirmed it would discontinue the sale of tobacco in select stores but would not confirm the states, provide the number of stores impacted or a timeline.

• The Wall Street Journal reported Walmart has decided to use the space more efficiently at select locations.

Why it matters: The nation's largest retailer has faced criticism for selling tobacco products while also offering pharmacy services and increasing its in-store health offerings.

Context: The company raised the minimum age to buy cigarettes to 21, and stopped selling e-cigarettes and vaping supplies at Walmart and Sam's Club stores in 2019.

• Walmart continues to sell moist tobacco, loose leaf tobacco and tobacco in pouches at its stores that sell cigarettes.

Flashback: Target stopped selling tobacco in 1996 and CVS in 2014.

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to note that Walmart still sells smokeless tobacco products such as dips and chews in stores that sell cigarettes. A spokesperson originally told Axios that Walmart does not sell smokeless tobacco.

Editor's note: Reporter Worth Sparkman is a Walmart shareholder.