--- title: See Who Really Runs The US Cigarette Game | TIME description: See Who Really Runs The US Cigarette Market canonical: https://time.com/video/xw2mozmS/ og:title: See Who Really Runs The US Cigarette Game og:description: See Who Really Runs The US Cigarette Market og:url: https://time.com/video/xw2mozmS/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/xw2mozmS/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See Who Really Runs The US Cigarette Game twitter:description: See Who Really Runs The US Cigarette Market twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/xw2mozmS/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # See Who Really Runs The US Cigarette Game > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: See Who Really Runs The US Cigarette Game [Watch (HLS stream): See Who Really Runs The US Cigarette Game](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xw2mozmS.m3u8) (1:59)  _Published 2014-09-05. See Who Really Runs The US Cigarette Market_ --- Jul 27, 2023 5:12 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Could Russia Ban Cigarettes?](/video/kYdZYHnT/) ### Could Russia Ban Cigarettes? [Can CVS Really Say Its Ban Cut Cigarette Sales By 1 Percent?](/video/IrcKWF7T/) ### Can CVS Really Say Its Ban Cut Cigarette Sales By 1 Percent? [E-CIGARETTE VIOLATIONS AND ORDINANCES](/video/zd9tZNTb/) ### E-CIGARETTE VIOLATIONS AND ORDINANCES --- ## Transcript In the first half of 2014, cigarette sales in the U. S. were roughly $ 21 billion. But one company will no longer be taking a piece of that pie. CVS Caremark, which has changed its name to CVS Health. Has decided that cigarettes don't fit its healthy profile. As a result, CVS Health stands to lose $ 2 billion in revenue from sales of cigarettes and other items smokers typically buy. In March, Attorneys General in 28 states asked companies with pharmacies. Including Wal- Mart, Rite Aid, Walgreens, Kroger, and Safeway, to follow suit and stop selling tobacco alongside medicine. Their answer? Don't hold your breath. [ MUSIC ] But drugstores like Rite Aid or Walgreens don't account for much of the market. Just around seven. Percent of sales. Convenience stores, like 7- Eleven and Circle K, make up the lion's share of cigarette sales, about 86 % of the market. Those companies have given no indication they intend to cut down on cigarette sales. And who is distributing the cigarettes to them. One of the nation's biggest tobacco distributors is McLane and Company. A grocery wholesaler specializing in highly regulated and taxed goods such as cigarettes and alcohol. McLane used to be owned by Wal- Mart but has since been sold to Berkshire Hathaway. Meaning that one of the country's biggest tobacco merchants is none other than Warren Buffet. And while CBS Health has dropped tobacco, other stores have taken it's place. Dollar General has begun selling tobacco in it's eleven thousand stores and rival Family Dollar now sells it in 6000 stores. 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