Corner stores must wean themselves off tobacco
The Hamilton Spectator's profile of the changing retail market for convenience store operators gives rise to both concerns and opportunities for improving business enterprise and community health simultaneously.
The Spec's article states that tobacco product sales account for 40 to 60 per cent of revenue generated in most corner stores. This represents a significant portion of their business and a reason to re-evaluate the business model. At a time when the social acceptance of tobacco use has significantly declined, the links between its use and disease are clear and public policy has emerged to further support prevention of its use — why take a step to continue to promote tobacco?
Instead of fighting Big Tobacco with more tobacco — which is a step backward not forward in terms of the long-term health of our community — why not take the opportunity to rethink and diversify the corner store retail business by considering emerging consumer demands. In the same section, the Spec even profiles a great example of how a local business successfully reinvented itself. The challenge and opportunity is for more corner store operators to rethink what their business could look like — to "dream big".
The scientific evidence concerning tobacco product access and price is very clear; the more available tobacco products are at a cheaper cost, the greater the level of use. Of greatest concern are those groups that are most influenced by and vulnerable to these two conditions — youth and people of low income.
As a society we've come a long way in our efforts to reduce the harmful impact of tobacco use, specifically cigarette smoking. Tobacco use rates in Ontario and here in the city of Hamilton are declining. Manufacturing more tobacco products, making these products more widely accessible at a cheaper price — is most certainly a step in the wrong direction.
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