Stop & Shop cyber incident leaves some shelves empty ahead of Thanksgiving
A “cybersecurity issue” has left some Stop & Shop and Hannaford grocery stores in the Northeast with their shelves bare for nearly two weeks, just a week before the Thanksgiving holiday.
A “cybersecurity issue” has left some Stop & Shop and Hannaford grocery stores in the Northeast with their shelves bare for nearly two weeks, just a week before the Thanksgiving holiday.
The grocery stores’ parent company, Ahold Delhaize, of the Netherlands, said in a statement on Nov. 8 that it was experiencing a “cybersecurity issue within its U.S. network,” which resulted in product shortages at dozens of stores. Ahold Delhaize spokesperson Christy Phillips-Brown said in a statement that an investigation continues.
“Our teams are taking steps to assess and mitigate the issue,” the statement reads. “This includes taking some systems offline to help protect them. This issue and subsequent mitigating actions have affected certain Ahold Delhaize USA brands and services including a number of pharmacies and certain e-commerce operations.”
Stop & Shop has over 300 locations in five states, including New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut, and Hannaford has 189 locations in states such as Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. Stop & Shop spokesperson Caroline Medeiros said that despite the limited number of products, Stop & Shop stores and pharmacies are still open and operating as the chain works to restock its shelves and anticipate item availability.
Stop & Shop did not specify which systems were down at the stores and what products were limited. There have been reports that products such as milk, cottage cheese and chicken breasts were out of stock at many stores. There have also been reports that the cybersecurity issue has affected some stores’ ability to accept debit or gift cards payments and that it has also restricted product deliveries.
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