Stop & Shop, a well-known grocery chain on the East Coast, announced this week that it will stop selling tobacco products. The chain has 360 stores across Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey.
The company said it will no longer sell cigarettes and other tobacco products starting August 31, as part of its effort to support “community wellness.
Gordon Reid, the president of Stop & Shop, said in a statement, Our responsibility as a grocery store goes beyond just selling products. We are committed to helping our employees, customers, and communities achieve better health.”
To support this decision, Stop & Shop held two events this week where customers could exchange their cigarettes for cash in areas with high smoking rates and related health issues.
Stop & Shop joins other retailers in this move away from tobacco. Walmart announced in 2022 that it would stop selling cigarettes in some stores. CVS Pharmacy stopped selling tobacco in 2014, and Target stopped in 1996.
According to the World Health Organization, about 780 million people want to quit smoking, but only 30% have access to the tools they need to do so. Stop & Shop is partnering with the American Cancer Society and its Cancer Action Network to help address this issue.
Karen Knudsen, the CEO of these cancer-fighting organizations, said she is proud to partner with Stop & Shop as it stops selling tobacco. This is a positive step towards reducing Big Tobacco’s influence on children, and we believe more can be done to lower the impact of tobacco in our communities, she said.
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