Grocery chain joins Walmart, CVS and others in stopping cigarette sales

If you want to buy a pack of cigarettes, you won’t find it at Stop & Shop.

The grocer announced this week that it plans to stop selling cigarettes and tobacco products in all of its 360 stores in the Northeast U.S. by August 31, “as part of its commitment to the common good.”

“With our team of board-certified dietitians serving our customers free of charge and our trained and trusted pharmacy staff, Stop & Shop aims to support the health and well-being of the neighborhoods we serve – and this exit from tobacco is another way we are achieving that goal,” Stop & Shop President Gordon Reid said in a statement.

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Karen Knudsen, executive director of the American Cancer Society, said the move was “a step in the right direction to end the tobacco industry’s influence on children.” But more can be done “to reduce the impact of tobacco use in our communities,” she added.

On August 17, 2020, parking spaces are reserved for online pickup orders at Stop and Shop in Brockton, Massachusetts. (Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The organization is calling on state lawmakers to prioritize funding for tobacco control programs so more people can get the resources they need if they want to quit smoking.

Katie Thornell, pharmacy manager at Stop & Shop, said the company’s licensed pharmacists can provide smoking cessation counseling and vaccination recommendations for people whose immune systems may be weakened by smoking.

The grocer is the latest in a long list of companies that have already stopped selling such products, including Walmart (since 2019) and Target (since 1996).

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Packs of Marlboro cigarettes are displayed for sale at a supermarket in Somerville, Massachusetts on July 17, 2014. (Reuters/Brian Snyder / Reuters)

CVS has been tobacco-free since 2014. In 2019, the company announced that its decision resulted in 100 million fewer packs of cigarettes sold in the first year alone.

The company also provided $50 million to help the first tobacco-free generation through its “Be the first” initiative.

CVS has been tobacco-free since 2014. (Scott Olson/Getty Images/Getty Images)

HeraldPR CEO Juda Engelmayer argues that this is “a PR move to attract customers who want to believe that their grocery store is doing everything it can to make the world a better place, from organic produce to local suppliers to philanthropic and stewardship activities.”

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However, Engelmayer said this was not a bad idea for Stop & Shop, as the company needs to “stand out from the competition” in the grocery space.

Meanwhile, Dr. Pat Basu, a physician and former CEO of Cancer Treatment Centers of America, said Stop & Shop’s decision was “the right move for public health and for their business.”

“It has been known for decades that tobacco is one of the greatest risks for developing cancer and heart disease,” Basu said. “From the perspective of a grocery chain that wants to serve its communities and offer healthy alternatives, stopping the sale of these deadly substances is a no-brainer.”