Wegmans to Snuff Sales of Cigarettes, Tobacco Products

Source from:  The Associated Press ROCHESTER pressconnects.com 01/07/2008

Wegmans Food Markets Inc., a supermarket chain with 71 stores, including one in Johnson City, announced Friday it will stop selling cigarettes and other tobacco products on Feb. 10. "We have come to this decision after thinking about the role smoking plays in people's health," the company's top executives, Danny Wegman and his daughter, Colleen, said in a letter to employees. "We certainly respect a person's right to smoke, but we believe there are few of us who would introduce our children to smoking." Signs posted in stores notifying customers of the decision express a similar sentiment. Wegmans has 50 stores in New York, 11 in Pennsylvania. The family-owned retailer said it has stopped ordering tobacco supplies and will sell its remaining inventory until Feb. 10. Employees also will be offered a smoking-cessation program. Johnson City store manager Rick Gilbert said, "We are asking all communications requests for comment go to our corporate office." Tobacco is a "very profitable category" for Wegmans, spokeswoman Jo Natale said, but she declined to specify how much money it has generated. Tobacco and related accessories, such as lighters, accounted for $5.4 billion in supermarket sales nationally in 2006, according to a survey published in September by Progressive Grocer magazine. The American Heart Association Syracuse Metro Region issued a press release praising the Wegmans decision. Enditem