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Diving certificate:
- Stop & Shop intends to stop selling cigarettes and other tobacco products in all of its stores by August 31, the grocery chain announced Monday.
The supermarket operator also plans to hold cigarette buyback campaigns later this month in two stores in areas where smoking and smoking-related health problems are more prevalent.
Stop & Shop joins retailers such as Walmart, CVS and Target that have also taken steps to remove cigarettes from their stores.
Diving insight:
Stop & Shop says its decision to remove tobacco products from its shelves is a way to demonstrate its commitment to the communities where its stores are located, while also highlighting that it offers resources to help people quit smoking and learn about nutrition.
In its announcement, the Ahold Delhaize-owned retailer cited data published by the World Health Organization in December 2020 that found that less than a third of people who want to quit smoking say they have access to tools to help them do so. According to the UN agency, around 780 million smokers worldwide say they want to quit smoking.
“Our responsibility as a grocer extends far beyond our shelves, and we are committed to taking bold steps to help our associates, customers and communities work toward better health outcomes,” Stop & Shop President Gordon Reid said in a statement.
The retailer plans to offer financial and other incentives to customers who return cigarettes during the buyback events, which will take place at stores in Boston and New York City on August 28. The first 100 customers at each of the two Stop & Shop stores hosting the event will receive a gift card and an assortment of healthy snacks and smoking cessation materials.
The grocery chain’s efforts to distance itself from smoking follow Walmart’s March 2022 announcement that it would remove cigarettes from select stores in several states after several years of internal discussions about the move. CVS stopped selling cigarettes in its retail stores in 2014 and Target ended cigarette sales in its stores in 1996.
Stop & Shop’s initiative comes as the company implements its plan to close 32 of its approximately 400 locations by the end of 2024 to improve its financial performance.
