FRAMINGHAM – Stop & Shop stores across Massachusetts had empty shelves Monday due to a cyberattack.
Stop & Shop shelves empty
People who walked into the store to stock up for Thanksgiving had to leave empty-handed.
“I can’t buy carrots. I can’t buy lettuce. The vegetables are meager and the meat section is low,” said shopper Jim Noto. “Very disappointing, especially at this time of year. It’s just a shame because they are losing a lot of customers.”
‘Empty. Completely empty! Everything,” said Maryanne Lambert, who could only grab half of her grocery list.
“The products just weren’t there. It was horrible. What’s going on?” said Instacart shopper Tina Diblasi. She’s thinking about taking a vacation from the delivery service until the shelves are stocked again.
Shoppers said they will look for another store to buy their essentials for the upcoming holiday.
Cyber security problem
Stop & Shop says it is a cybersecurity issue affecting its parent company, Ahold Delhaize, and that they have posted signs in stores telling customers it is due to an IT system glitch.
“While there may be limited inventory on certain products, we are working to restock our shelves and expect item availability to continue to improve in the coming days,” the store said in a statement.
Ahold Delhaize says it is investigating the matter and informing the police of the breach. They take some systems offline to protect them.
“This issue and subsequent mitigation measures have impacted certain Ahold Delhaize USA brands and services, including some pharmacies and certain e-commerce operations,” Ahold Delhaize said in a statement.
Stop & Shop announced in July that it would close 32 stores across five states who ‘underperformed’. Seven of those stores were in Massachusetts. The company donated all remaining food in its shuttered supermarkets to food shelters near their stores.
“Stop and Shop is a company in trouble. It changed CEOs in September. They are already closing almost 1 in 10 of their stores. It seems to be targeting their financial transaction systems so they couldn’t manage payments, but, frankly, everything is fragile,” said William Masters, Tufts University professor of food economics and policy at the Friedman School of Nutrition.
Paul Burton
