For convenience stores in 16 states, implementing 21 as the federal minimum purchase age on tobacco products was a nonissue. They had already made the necessary signage and point-of-sale verification adjustments to abide by state tobacco-21 and experienced the fallout.
“When we went to 21, we didn’t see a very big sales decrease,” said Reilly Robinson Musser, vice president of marketing and merchandising for Robinson Oil Corp. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based retailer operates 34 Rotten Robbie c-stores.
For businesses in other states, the transition stirred up confusion. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stated that the law took effect immediately after it was signed by President Donald Trump in December. However, it also announced a transition period for stores to update systems and placards. Plus, federal law allots 180 days for the agency to rewrite its guidance and another 90 days for implementation. Some state and county officials have declared they won’t enforce the 21 minimum until the FDA finalizes its policy. Both the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) and National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO) advised retailers to immediately enforce the new age restriction.
Ironically, some c-stores may actually benefit from the new national age. For the past several years, cities independently passed tobacco-21 ordinances, but not all neighboring towns followed suit, thus creating competition for cigarette sales. Now federal law supersedes local ordinances, so all retailers must follow the same rule.
Legislation Continues
But turning 21 hasn’t extinguished the legislative spotlight on cigarettes.
“As of the first week in February, there is a bill pending in the U.S. House of Representatives (HR 2339) that would ban the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, nationwide,” said Thomas Briant, NATO executive director.
“With state legislatures having begun their respective 2020 legislative sessions, additional states may also have bills introduced that would ban menthol cigarettes,” he added.
Many in the c-store industry believe a prohibition on menthol would wield a bigger blow to cigarette sales than the age increase — IBISWorld reported menthol accounts for more than a quarter of cigarette wholesale transactions.
Musser has seen how flavor bans dampen tobacco sales.“We have had a handful of unincorporated counties and towns ban flavored tobacco altogether. In those locations, we have slimmed down our backbar offerings,” she said.
There’s also the perpetual possibility of cigarette tax increases.
“So far this year, cigarette tax increases are being proposed in legislation in Georgia, Iowa, Maryland, Nebraska and Virginia. There could be additional state cigarette tax increase bills as more states convene their 2020 legislative sessions,” Briant warned.
Update: The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday, Feb. 28, passed H.R. 2339, a bill that would ban nationwide sales of all flavored tobacco and vaping products, with few exceptions, as well as outlaw any remote sales not done face-to-face, effectively doing away with online purchases of any kind. The House bill’s ban on flavors includes menthol and applies not only to vaping products, but to all tobacco products, including smokeless or chewing tobacco as well as cigars. So called “premium” cigars — defined by the bill as any item costing no less than $12.00 — are exempt from the ban.