The Retail Partner: How Convenience Stores Became the Nicotine Industry's Last Ally
Convenience stores depend on cigarette sales for foot traffic and revenue. As cigarette volumes decline, the stores are fighting to protect their business—opposing flavor bans, fighting tax increases, and resisting the transition that would reduce their revenue.
Convenience stores are the nicotine industry's most powerful political ally—more visible than the tobacco companies themselves. When a state considers a flavor ban, the convenience store associations mobilize: 'this will hurt small businesses, cost jobs, and drive sales to the black market.' **The retail argument is self-serving (they profit from cigarette sales) and partly true (flavor bans do affect small retailers). The convenience store is the face of the opposition to nicotine regulation—a more sympathetic face than the cigarette companies themselves.**
