Cub Foods Ends Sale of E-Cigs, 'Bans' Open Carry

Cub Foods is the latest retailer making policy changes in the wake of current events. The grocer has tweeted that it will no longer sell e-cigarettes and vaporizers and asks all customers not to openly carry guns in its stores.

"While Minnesota is an open-carry state that allows individuals with lawful permits to carry firearms, we also respect the concerns and feedback shared by many of our customers following the recent tragic events throughout our country," the tweet read. "Therefore, we're respectfully asking our customers, other than authorized law enforcement officials, to no longer openly carry firearms into our stores."

The tweet describes the changes to the firearms policy and the discontinuation of e-cigarettes as "reasonable and prudent precautions" for the safety and well-being of all their customers.

Cub Foods isn't the first retailer making these policy changes. Walmart and Kroger both announced in the past month that they'll stop selling e-cigarettes, while Schnuck Markets has stopped carrying all tobacco products. 

As for open carry, many retailers are making similar pleas to customers. Walmart, Kroger, Wegmans, Albertsons and Schnuck Markets have all made requests to the public to not bring guns into their stores. 

Cub Foods is owned by Providence, R.I.-based United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI), which plans to sell the banner by 2020. 

UNFI delivers products to customer locations throughout North America, including natural product superstores, independent retailers, conventional supermarket chains, ecommerce retailers and foodservice customers. Combined with Supervalu, UNFI is the largest publicly traded grocery distributor in the United States, and is No. 30 on Progressive Grocer’s 2019 Super 50 list of the top grocers in the United States.