Wegmans Grocery Stores To Stop Cigarettes Sales

[Stinky The Clown]

Source: WJZ TV 13, Baltimore

~~snip~~

Wegmans, which has 71 grocery stores in five states including Maryland's Hunt Valley, is selling off its remaining cigarette inventory and won't reorder.

"It's a major chain. It's a chain with a history of making good decisions. That's why they've gobbled up market share within their industry in recent years. That's why they continue to expand rapidly, and that's why they continue to have a large following," said Economist Aniban Basu.

In a statement to Eyewitness News, Wegmans' CEO says, "As a company, we respect a person's rights to smoke, but we also understand the destructive role smoking plays in health."

"This is great news. The American Cancer Society applauds Wegmans for removing a deadly product from their shelves. This is going to help many Marylanders to quit smoking," said Sherry Livick McCammon with the Cancer Society People.

~~snip~~

More at the link

Read more: http://wjz.com/local/cigarettes.wegmans.grocery.2.623647.html

[Cha]

1. I'm impressed..this has

got to be a huge step for any company that would make money off of cigs but are ceasing sales.

[harmonicon]

4. no, somethings got to be up with it..... no way this is a money loser or they wouldn't do it.

[ClintonTyree]

14. Correct.....

I live at ground zero of the Wegmans phenomenon, Rochester, NY. Their cigarette sales are next to nothing. They only carry a few brands and they're hidden far away from the consumers' view near the customer relations department. It's not like they're going to take a gigantic monetary hit from doing this. Wegmans made the decision long ago to not try for the tobacco dollars.

Most people in this area buy tobacco products from any number of discount tobacco stores and from the many Indian Reservations nearby (thereby skirting the oppressive NY tobacco taxes). A pack of cigarettes at Wegmans would cost someone around $5.00. The same pack at any of the nearby tobacco discount stores would be $4.50 and at one of the Indian Reservations around here it would cost $2.75. It's pure economics, trust me.

Although Wegmans is one of the nation's top companies to work for, this IS NOT a decision made out of social concern. It's purely economic and not anything to get excited about.

[Cooley Hurd]

19. Years ago (early 80's), I worked at a P&C in Auburn, NY, in the bad part of town...

...and our cig racks were right at the register, where you would find tabloids & candy now. Our cig losses (by theft) were astronomical. Nowadays, they're relegated to a small, locked kiosk at the front of the store.

[MorningGlow]

26. Agreed (Howdy, neighbor)

I'd even forgotten that Wegmans sold cigarettes in the first place. I'm not a smoker, but even I noticed they haven't been placed prominently in any Wegmans store in ages. The last time I saw someone buy cigs in a Wegmans, the person had to ask the cashier for his brand, and the cashier had to call the front-end manager, and the front-end manager fetched them from the customer service desk. That was a long time ago.

Of course, Weggies' PR says it's all about getting people healthy, and part of a plan to encourage their workers to quit smoking. Oookaaayyy... ;)

[Boojatta]

34. "oppressive NY tobacco taxes"

Are people oppressed by other taxes or are they oppressed only by taxes on tobacco?

Doesn't smoking create problems that cost money for governments to deal with?

[harmonicon]

38. when my taxes go to pay for my healthcare, I'll buy that argument.

Hell, I'd pay $10 a pack if it meant single-payer universal healthcare, a fair minimum living wage, far trade, etc. That's what they cost in England. In france they're 5 euro, but they still manage to provide free healthcare to all. It's a complete lie that tobacco taxes go to pay for healthcare. They're just a way to gouge the poor and deepen the class divide.

[Berry Cool]

2. Wowee.

Wegmans is the kind of supermarket where you can buy just about anything sold on the planet. Now you'll be able to buy just about anything sold on the planet there except cigarettes.

[DesertFlower]

3. good for them.

[razors edge]

5. Who buys ciggs at a grocery store?

Cheaper to get them elsewhere. They dumped a loss leader and try to look good doing it.

Big deal.

[Stinky The Clown]

6. Not true

Maryland law makes cheap smoke sales illegal. No matter where you buy them, they're within pennies a carton. That said, some places mark them up higher, but the law sets the lowest price.

January 1 our taxes went up. Sales tax went from 5% to 6%. Cigarette tax went up a buck a pack.

It appears they just decided that this was a good policy. It is in step with the state, which has now outlawed virtually all smoking in public, including within a prescribed distance of all entrance doors to public places. There are even outdoor spaces where it is prohibited, and in one county, you can get busted for smoking in your own apartment, house, or yard if your neighbor can smell it.

Wegamn's claim they made good money on smokes.

[razors edge]

9. To each their own.

I'm not pulling into a crowded lot and stand in a check out behind four people with twenty items each for a pack of smokes. Life is too short, and shorter yet for us smokers.

I almost feel sorry for the next group to be targeted by these lobbyists after there is no more money to be made outlawing cigarettes, almost.

[alcibiades_mystery]

12. In PA, it was a joke

Wegman's $5.50 a pack, gas station down the road, $4.50. Same day.

[ClintonTyree]

15. Not true.....

see my post above. Wegmans tobacco sales have always been negligible. They're not even a player in the tobacco market in this area and are merely cutting a line of products that take up more space in their stores than they're worth.

Wegmans makes their money selling high end products and pre-cooked and packaged meals. AND they're much more expensive compared to other area grocery stores. Grocery stores, as a rule, in the north, do not promote the sales of tobacco products. That's usually left for the convenience stores, discount tobacco stores and the many Indian Reservations around here.

Wegmans will not miss the paltry sales of tobacco in their stores. This is not a social statement in any way, believe me. ;)

[High Plains]

25. All the more reason for Marylanders to go to Virginia to get smokes.

My state raised cigarette taxes a buck a pack last year. I now buy mine online from an Indian reservation in New Mexico. I save $20 a carton, and my state now gets zero cig taxes from me.

[onehandle]

7. Good for them. nt

[rockybelt]

8. All of the hype about the cigarettes

is basically just that. Hype

There has NEVER been a positive link established between second hand smoke and lung cancer. Please, before the rants start, just check all valid scientific studies.

I am an ex-smoker. A three pack a day guy. Haven't had one in two years. But I do not see any reason to crucify those that do smoke. I thionk Jesus even smoked. How else would he come up with the story of walking on water and feeding thousands with a couple of loaves of bread and a couple of fishes. I think he was smoking some serious shit!

But, I digress. We're all (YOU TOO) going to die someday from something. Lighten up

[Stinky The Clown]

22. Project much?

"Lighten up"??

I posted a news story without opinion. On what should I lighten?

I'm an ex smoker, too and I still miss them. I miss my big, fat, 50 ring Maduro cigars even more.

[CreekDog]

32. What's the difference between second hand smoke and what a smoker is breathing?

Do tell.

[Lance_Boyle]

40. Concentrations of bad stuff.

Sorta like the difference between spray painting and huffing.

But you knew that, didn't you?

[pipoman]

10. I wonder if

partially hydrogenated oils, steroid/antibiotic meats and products with corn syrup are on the list for discontinuation? I wonder if they "understand the destructive role" these products play in health.

[alcibiades_mystery]

11. Nobody buys cigarettes at Wegman's anyway

They are $1 more expensive at Wegman's than at gas stations 1/4 mile down the road.

[MilesColtrane]

13. I guess they plan on taking up the revenue slack by selling three times as many Ho Hos...

...and Vienna sausages.

[ClintonTyree]

16. I doubt....

you could find those products in a Wegmans store. ;) Sushi, lobster, decadently rich baked goods, beef tenderloins, pre-cooked meals, high end kitchen utensils etc. are their cash cows. Wegmans is a high end store for people who have the money to spend on items they can't get at the discount stores.

And as someone else pointed out above, they've made no effort to cut back on sales of cholesterol and fat rich foods that kill just as many people as tobacco. In fact, they promote those foods. Their store made deserts are sublimely decadent. :9

[Habibi]

18. Uh, with respect

I shop at Wegmans in Rochester all the time. While I don't buy Ho-hos and Vienna sausages, I'm pretty sure they carry them, just as they carry all the stuff you can find in other grocery stores. Their prices are quite competitive. In fact, their only real rival in town, Tops, usually is more expensive.

They don't *just* sell high-end foodstuffs.

But yeah, I doubt this tobacco thing is other than Weggie's cutting loose an unprofitable product.

[melm00se]

21. as a former WNYer

I'd kill to have a Wegman's down here.

As a former smoker: this is great....can't really outlaw cigarettes but if more stores stopped selling them, that would have some impact.

[Toots]

24. When 75% of America doesn't like tobacco products you think the "only" reason

is profitability. Well maybe it is but not in the way you think. Good Will is a great commodity and they just created a good deal of that..

[Habibi]

30. Good will is the side effect..

Profitability is the motive. As you say, with a shrinking market for tobacco products, that would make sense then, no?

[CreekDog]

33. All that good food won't taste as good to a smoker

:puke:

[radfringe]

17. are they also removing

candy, sugar-coated cereals, junk food etc. from their shelves? these are also play a destructive role in a person's health.

[harmonicon]

27. yeah, they're getting rid of anything with any added sugar

fruit will still be allowed, but nothing with added sugar, fructose, corn syrup, etc. They're also removing all spicy foods, because the farts they cause were adding too much methane to the atmosphere.

[jordi_fanclub]

20. Ok... fasten your seat belts... I mean, your belts...

Oklahoma City mayor puts city on a diet
Fri Jan 4, 8:13 PM ET
OKLAHOMA CITY - With a button-popping spread of cornbread, sausage and gravy, chicken fried steak and pecan pie designated as Oklahoma's official state meal, it's no surprise that Oklahoma City's mayor wants to put the city on a diet. Mick Cornett has challenged the city to shed 1 million pounds as its New Year's resolution.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080105/ap_on_he_me/oklahoma_city_diet

After the tobacco-zealots there comes the time to the food-zealots and to the alcohol-zealots.
(GOOD!... smoker with 6ft/160lb and alcohol-abstemious it's my time to promote some "health" activism!)

[JerseygirlCT]

23. Good for them! nt

[L0oniX]

28. Even if smoking didn't cause health problems, I don't want to smell it anywhere...

just like I don't want to smell farts from other people. It is not your right to fart and smoke in public. How would you like it if you were about to eat at a nice restaurant and some fat fuck next to grunts out a stink bomb fart? Still hungry? Who wants to have a pick nick out next to someone who is burning garbage or next to a city sewage treatment plant? Who wants to smell your cigarette or your ass or your oil burning blue smoke car?


:sarcasm:

[Purveyor]

29. A bit off topic but a few days ago I was checking out at a local country store

and a little girl, I'd guess around 7 years old, was ahead of me paying for her selection of candies.

I was all but shocked that she had 3 packs of 'candy' cigarettes among her purchases. I had no idea they still sold those things.

After she left, I informed the clerk (daughter to the owner of the store) how inappropriate I thought is was that they carry and sell those things to the kids.

She agreed and said she'll see if she can 'do something about it'.

I'll be watching.

[TexasBushwhacker]

45. Country stores often sell "nostalgia" candies ...

from years past. Things like Necco Wafers, Pixie Stix and yes, candy cigarettes and bubble gum cigars.

[fenriswolf]

31. as someone who's been smoke free for five days

the less temptation the better (thank you new years resolution)

[Skittles]

35. true, true

I found that when they elimitated smoking at work it was much easier on me :D

[mbee]

36. They should improve how they treat their workers

also!

[LostinVA]

39. The ones in NJ are union -- or so I've been told

[Habibi]

41. Hm.

They consistently make the top Best Places to Work list, I believe.

[whistler162]

42. Correct....

for the past 10 years.

http://www.wegmans.com/about/pressRoom/pressReleases/fortune100Best2007.asp

[Habibi]

44. Heh. Every time I think I'm gonna lose my job, such as it is,

I remember that hey! I might be able to get a job at Wegmans!

[JustAnotherGen]

37. Misplaced Rochesterian

Lost somewhere in NJ as of early 2006.

For the Rochester folks - a Graduate of Aquinas. :-)

The Wegmans in the town I grew up in (Scottsville) was sooooooo tiny. People in other states can't even imagine how this to those of us from there - IS - the mom and pop shop that grew up and made it big.

I think this is a great stance.

Now - if only they could really flip the organic.

I know that Colleen Wegman has done a great job of expanding organics . . . but to someone's point re: added sugar.

My hope is that the HUGE produce section at Wegmans with the one wall of organics gets flipped - i.e. Only one wall of non-organic.
You want caged chicken with antibiotics - you go to that ONE section of the poultry wall.


I see it happening in 15 years. Wegmans being a superhuge Trader Joes. :-)


FYI - I had quite a few friends growing up in the late 80's and early 90's that went to college on Wegman's scholarships. And - they had a summer job when they came home each year for summer break. One of my friends loved the company so much - she still works there - as an Accountant. Not saying they are perfect - but they do a LOT for the greater Rochester community.

[TommyO]

43. The Wegmans near where you live now has great sushi

I get there from time to time for lunch, when I can get down there from the Bedminster area.