Retail groups ask committee to exempt convenience stores from unit-pricing rule

Summary

Retail representatives told the Agriculture committee that unit-pricing—required in Vermont law but rarely enforced—creates disproportionate costs for small convenience stores and urged an exemption defined by store size or SKU count; committee asked stakeholders to negotiate language and return with a compromise.

Patricia Brown, a board member of the Vermont Retail Grocers Association and process improvement specialist at Steward Shops, told the Agriculture committee on April 15 that the association does not oppose moving Vermont’s retail pricing law toward the federal standard but is asking for an explicit exemption for convenience stores from the unit-pricing requirement.

Unit pricing lists a product’s price per unit (for example, per liter or per 100 count) on shelf tags to help shoppers comparison-shop, Brown said. She told the panel that unit pricing ‘‘is key’’ when grocery shoppers make major purchases but that the model does not fit the ‘‘grab-and-go’’ customers who use convenience stores, where most patrons are in and out within three to five minutes.

Brown said Vermont’s unit-pricing requirement has existed in state law but ‘‘has…

Retail groups ask committee to exempt convenience stores from unit-pricing rule

Summary

Subscribe to keep reading