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Grocery chain Stop & Shop has announced that it will stop selling cigarettes and tobacco products in all 360 stores in the northeastern part of the country, effective Saturday, August 31.
The supermarket operator also said it would hold buyback events on August 28 “at locations in neighborhoods within the brand’s catchment area where there are higher rates of smoking and higher rates of smoking-related health problems,” the announcement said.
These will take place at a Stop & Shop location in Staten Island and another in Boston, Massachusetts.
“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.
Stop & Shop – owned by Ahold Delhaize USA – pointed to World Health Organization data from January showing that less than a third of people who want to quit smoking actually have the means to do so.
Smoking has decreased
Overall, smoking has declined in recent decades. Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that in 2005, 21 out of 100 adults smoked. In 2021, that figure has dropped to 12 out of 100 adults.
In all of 2018, according to CDC data, 13.1% of New Jersey residents reported smoking cigarettes.
Other chains have followed suit in the past. Target stopped selling cigarettes in 1996, followed by drugstore chain CVS Health in 2014 and Walmart in 2022.
In 2014, Englewood became the first municipality in the state to raise the legal age for purchasing tobacco products to 21; the state followed suit in 2017.
The end of cigarette sales at Stop & Shop comes as the chain begins plans to close “underperforming” stores across the northeast U.S., including 10 in New Jersey.
Daniel Munoz covers business, consumer affairs, labor and the economy for NorthJersey.com and The Record.
E-mail: [email protected]; Twitter:@danielmunoz100 and Facebook
