Following Indiana pilot, Altria expands retail sales for e-cigarettes.
Altria, which is selling electronic cigarettes in about 3,000 stores in its Indiana test market, has announced plans to expand sales to about 2,000 stores in Arizona this December, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
Henrico County-based Altria, the parent company of U.S. cigarette maker Philip Morris USA, debuted its MarkTen e-cigarette in August.
Altria CEO Marty Barrington called it a successful launch of a new product. “We are really pleased with what we have learned in Indiana,” he said in a conference call with industry analysts. “It is too early to talk about the numbers, because I just don’t think they are well-developed enough to share and to be confident in them,” Barrington said.
“I can tell you that with respect to who is trying the products in e-vapor generally, we do know that there is dual use,” he said, referencing those who use traditional cigarettes as well as e-cigarettes.
Barrington noted the e-cigarette category “has grown very quickly off a very low base.” The pace of future growth will depend on factors such as continued product development, regulations and excise taxes.