Walmart is ending cigarette sales in some California, Florida, Arkansas and New Mexico stores after years of debate within the company's leadership ranks – which will free up the store to install more self-checkouts

 Walmart will quit selling cigarettes in some of its stores after a years-long debate within the retail giant's management team about selling tobacco products, it was revealed on Monday. 

The markets in which cigarettes are being removed from stores include California, Florida, Arkansas and New Mexico, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter and store visits.

The retailer has rolled out a design with more self-checkout registers and other items such as grab-and-go food or candy near the front of the stores in place of Marlboro, Newport and other tobacco products, according to the report.

Several tobacco companies saw their stock slip in early-morning trading Monday after news of Walmart's decision.

Altria Group, the maker of Marlboro cigarettes, saw its stock drop 1.6 percent in pre-market trading - while British American Tobacco fell 2.11 percent.

Walmart did not immediately respond to a DailyMail.com request for comment.

Walmart is removing cigarettes from stores in California, Florida, Arkansas and New Mexico. Pictured: An employee scans items for a customer at a Walmart in Burbank, California, in front of a tobacco products display 

Altria Group, the maker of Marlboro cigarettes, saw its stock slip 1.6 percent in pre-market trading on Monday

CVS in 2014 became the first U.S. drugstore chain to take cigarettes off the shelves, resulting in a massive revenue loss totaling $2 billion, while Walmart decided in 2019 to pull the plug on sales of e-cigarettes and electronic nicotine delivery products at its 4,700 US stores due to growing regulatory complexity and uncertainty.

Several Democratic senators have also urged Walmart and other retailers to stop selling all tobacco products.

Monday's move comes after Walmart CEO David McMillon spent years trying to convince other top executives to find a way to remove cigarettes from the company's stores, the Journal reported. 

Cigarette smoking causes 480,000 deaths annual, including from secondhand smoke

Walmart CEO David McMillon spent years trying to convince other top executives to remove cigarettes from the company's stores

Walmart is one of the biggest pharmacy chains in the nation and has been opening a primary health clinics in recent years, and in 2021 the retail giant purchased a telehealth provider. 

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cigarette smoking causes about one of every five deaths in the United States each year, resulting in an estimated 480,000 deaths, including from secondhand smoke. 

The newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, that some Walmart executives have argued that tobacco products are legal, and if customers want to buy them, the company should meet their demands.

Walmart, which has more than 4,700 locations nationwide, is replacing cigarette displays with self-checkout registers and grab-and-go food

Some $95billion worth of cigarettes were sold in the US last year, mostly at gas stations and convenience stores, according to data from Euromonitor International, a London-based market research firm. Walmart and other mixed retailers accounted for 14 percent of cigarette sales in the US. 

At Walmart, the sale of tobacco products is less profitable than other retail items because cigarettes are kept in a locked case, or out of reach of customers, and they must be handed by employees who are over a specific age and trained in tobacco sales.