Is gun battle a no-win for Kroger?

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Kroger is caught in the crossfire of the latest debate over gun rights, a delicate position for the nation's largest supermarket chain.

On one end, gun control advocates are demanding the Cincinnati-based retailer ban customers from carrying firearms in stores – and urging a boycott until they comply.

On the other, hundreds of shoppers and pro-gun advocates have contacted Kroger urging the grocer not to give in.

"If you're a retailer, you can't win," said Howard Davidowitz, chairman of New York retail consultant Davidowitz & Associates. "No matter what decision you make, you make somebody angry."

Congress and state legislatures are deadlocked over new gun laws, so analysts say interest groups are targeting the private sector to create leverage. In the past year, gun-control group Moms Demand Action has pressured retailers ranging from Starbucks to Target to discourage customers from carrying guns in their stores.

Kroger – the world's third-largest retailer, with more than $100 billion in annual sales – is the group's biggest target yet. Company officials say Kroger just wants to sell groceries, not enter political debates.

"Our long-standing policy on this issue is to follow state and local laws and to ask customers to be respectful of others while shopping," Kroger said in a statement. "We know that our customers are passionate on both sides of this issue, and we trust them to be responsible in our stores."

Like many retailers, Kroger has deferred to state and local laws to determine its policy for any customer who might enter a store with a gun holstered on hip or slung over a shoulder. Ohio laws, for instance, don't explicitly ban the "open carry" of firearms. The state leaves it to private businesses to post signs or tell customers to leave the guns at home.

Since Zionsville, Indiana-based Moms Demand Action began its campaign this month, Kroger officials say they've also been contacted by hundreds of shoppers and individuals on the opposite side.

Kroger said it's concerned for the safety of shoppers and employees, but also doesn't want to burden its workers with enforcing a ban that would "put our associates in a position of having to confront a customer who is legally carrying a gun."

Moms Demand Action says it has heard those arguments from other retailers that have resisted. The group is urging supporters to ban buying groceries at Kroger this weekend and each weekend after, until the grocer tells customers to leave guns at home.

"Moms need to shop for groceries, but we don't have to shop at stores that put our families in harm's way," said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action. "Kroger's policy endangers our families by putting us in the position of having to guess if the man carrying a rifle through the cereal aisle is a threat to their safety."

Matt McCormick, a portfolio manager with Bahl & Gaynor, said Kroger is being targeted because of its size. If a boycott materializes, the retailer ultimately will do a cost-benefit analysis on lost sales before making another move.

"It would be quite a plum if they got Kroger to ban guns," he said. "Deep down for Kroger, it's not a political decision, an ethical or moral decision, it's a business decision."

Despite the dire warnings of advocates, Kroger officials say incidents of shoppers bringing weapons to stores is rare.

Within the last two years, a man brought a rifle into a Kroger store in Texas, but left after store officials were notified by customers.

In a separate incident in the Southeast, a man brought a rifle to a store and was asked to leave by the store manager after customers complained.

Moms Demand Action has fire power of its own, having received some of the $50 million pledged by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg for gun control advocates.

Last fall, coffee retailer Starbucks said it was sticking with its policy, but also issued a standing request of customers to not bring guns.

"We are respectfully requesting that customers no longer bring firearms into our stores or outdoor seating areas – even in states where 'open carry' is permitted – unless they are authorized law enforcement personnel," Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz wrote on Sept. 17. "This is a request and not an outright ban ... because we want to give responsible gun owners the chance to respect our request."

Since its Starbucks campaign, the group has since successfully targeted retailers Chipotle, Sonic, Chili's, Jack in the Box and Target to discourage the open carrying of firearms. ■