Wegmans announces end to tobacco product sales

ROCHESTER, N.Y. Wegmans is discontinuing sales of cigarettes and other tobacco products at its supermarkets, according to published reports. Wegmans will become the first grocery chain in New York to do so.

The sales will stop on Feb. 10, but until then, the company will continue to sell tobacco products. Once the inventory is depleted, even if it is before the cut-off date, the company will not replenish its inventory.

“As a company, we respect a person’s right to smoke, but we also understand the destructive role smoking plays in health,” Wegmans chief executive officer Danny Wegman said in a statement.

In 2006, tobacco products and accessories accounted for about $5.4 billion in sales in supermarkets, according to one estimate.