Hannaford ending the discount program for customers who bring shopping bags

NEW YORK Customers at Hannaford Bros. who bring their own shopping bags will no longer get a discount on their groceries, according to published reports.

The New England supermarket chain will end a program that it started in the early 1990s whereby customers who bring reusable bags get 5 cents taken off their purchase for each bag.

The Times Union of Albany, N.Y., quoted a Hannaford spokesman as saying that the program offered a modest reward for the effort.

Several supermarket chains around the country have similar programs in effect.