Stop & Shop still price gouging in inner-city stores, follow-up study suggests

BOSTON — A new study suggests Stop & Shop is still overcharging families in inner-city neighborhoods, prompting several Massachusetts lawmakers to press the company’s CEO for plans to lower prices across the Bay State.

The Hyde Square Task Force conducted a follow-up investigation to their June 2023 study that found the Quincy-based grocery chain was overcharging groceries in lower income communities, specifically at the Stop & Shop on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain.

The investigation led to lower prices at the store, but the Boston nonprofit recently reviewed other inner-city Stop & Shop locations and reportedly found families are still being overcharges.

The task force points to the Grove Hall, South Bay, and Mission Hill stores, where certain grocery items are more than $2 their counterpart at stores in Dedham.

U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, along with Representatives Jim McGovern and Ayanna Pressley pressed Frans Muller, CEO of Ahold Delhaize (Stop & Shop’s parent company) for answers.

“The Hyde Square Task Force’s April 2025 review reveals that, in response to our September 2024 letter, Stop & Shop fulfilled its promise to lower prices at the Jamaica Plain location: the 18 staple grocery items were either precisely or approximately the same price at the Jamaica Plain and Dedham location,” the lawmakers letter read. “However, as of April 2025, nearly all of the 18 grocery items appeared to still be more expensive at the Grove Hall, South Bay, and Mission Hill locations compared to the suburban Dedham location.”

The lawmakers outlined four questions they want answered by May 14:

1. Why does Stop & Shop still appear to be charging higher prices for groceries in low income communities in Massachusetts?
2. In response to our September 30, 2024 letter, Stop & Shop said that it had “launched a multi-year strategy to invest in pricing and lower everyday prices across all our stores,” including in each store in Western Massachusetts and “select locations in the Boston market,” including the Jamaica Plain location.
1. Please provide a summary of how this project has worked so far.
2. How did Stop & Shop select the Massachusetts store locations would be included in this strategy? Please list all of the Massachusetts store locations that were selected to be included in the price reductions.
3. Specifically, which “select locations” in the Boston market were included in this strategy? Please list each store location.
4. Were the Grove Hall, South Bay, and Mission Hill locations included in this strategy? If not, why not?
3. Please provide, for the 18 items included in the Hyde Square Task Force’s study, the five highest and five lowest prices that they are currently being sold for in Massachusetts Stop & Shop locations and provide the locations of each group of five.
4. Since our September 30, 2024 letter, Stop & Shop appears to have closed seven store locations in Massachusetts. What impact, if any, has this had on Stop & Shop’s pricing decisions?
1. Why did Stop & Shop decide to close these stores?

“It’s no coincidence that working-class communities are getting stuck with sky-high prices,” said Senator Warren. “We’re keeping up the pressure to make sure Stop & Shop isn’t overcharging families for the food they work hard to put on the table.”

In a statement, spokesperson for Stop & Shop said the following:

Stop and Shop remains committed to lowering prices across all of our stores in Massachusetts – and that work, which is already underway, will continue throughout 2025. Stop and Shop is also deeply committed to the neighborhoods we serve and will continue to invest in our stores and in our communities through programs like the Stop and Shop School Food Pantry Program, which offers consistent access to healthy food for thousands of students in need every month including students at more than 20 Boston Public Schools.

The full letter lawmakers wrote to Ahold Delhaize USA can be read below:

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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