By Taffie Foster-Toney
Co-Chair, WTPPN Health Equity and Social Justice Subcommittee
It’s bad enough that Pick ‘n Save is in the final stages of closing its fifth store in Milwaukee this summer, leaving many neighborhood residents scrambling to find somewhere else to shop. Many now have to travel miles, often without owning or having access to a vehicle, just to access healthy and affordable foods, medicines and other household goods.
Adding insult to injustice, shoppers at the five Pick ‘n Save stores were greeted with huge discounts on the store’s remaining inventory of tobacco products. Many of those stores are located in communities of color, which have historically and disproportionately been harmed by the tobacco industry.
At the Pick ‘n Save store in Metcalfe Park, which closed on July 18, tobacco products in a rack set in the middle of an aisle were marked with a closeout sign announcing a 50% discount. The same sale was witnessed at Pick ‘n Save stores on Silver Spring Drive, South 27th Street and Good Hope Road. At the Pick ‘n Save on Ryan Road the products were behind the counter but there was a sign on top of it advertised a 50% off sale for cigarettes.
It seems obvious that this is standard liquidation practice for Kroger, which operates Pick ‘n Save stores in Wisconsin. The company announced plans to close 60 stores, including the five in Milwaukee in June.
There are several major problems with this practice. Tobacco products in Milwaukee, by law, are required to be placed behind the counter, not in the middle of an aisle. According to the Public Health Law Center, federal law prohibits self-service displays except in adult-only stores where underage persons are not permitted to enter.
In addition, the severe price cut for tobacco products is a potential violation of Wisconsin’s “Unfair Sale Act,” also referred to as the “minimum markup law.” Also included in that law is a provision that says that no retailer may provide cigarettes at a nominal price to any person unless it is an adult-only establishment. Which begs the question: are these prices so low that they are being offered at a nominal price? We already know that minors are allowed to enter the store.
Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for companies to bring harm to communities before regulation catches up.
Most distressing of all is the fact that the store is unloading its stash of deadly tobacco products at a huge discount to the community at the same time it reduces their access to products that could extend their lives.
Nearly 90% of residents in Metcalfe Park are African American. Sixteen percent of African American adults in Wisconsin smoke, much higher than the state average. Smoking is the leading contributor to the three main causes of death for African Americans: heart disease, cancer and stroke.
Tobacco use kills 45,000 African Americans a year. Research has found that tobacco retail promotions and proximity contribute to tobacco use and youth initiation by making tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, more affordable and easier to start using and harder to quit.
We demand that Kroger revisit its policies regarding tobacco sales and stop doing more harm to the communities it no longer plans to serve. We also call on city, state, federal agencies and other parties to investigate Kroger’s practices to ensure that laws are being followed.
What you’ve done by reducing the price of tobacco to clear your inventory is shameful and just another slap in the face to a community already burdened by your departure. Please don’t repeat this as you move forward with plans to close additional stores across the country.