Schnucks stops solicitors from seeking donations outside its stores

Individuals and groups will no longer be allowed to solicit donations outside area Schnucks stores, the company said Tuesday.

According to a statement from the St. Louis-based grocer, “We have decided to end the solicitation of our customers or distribution of written or other materials at our stores.”

“Schnucks has always been and always will be committed to community service and supporting organizations, entities and individuals in their community activities,” Schnucks spokesman Paul Simon said in the statement. “However, our primary obligation is servicing our customers by providing the most pleasant and convenient shopping environment.”

Bell-ringing Salvation Army Santas and Girl Scouts selling cookies are among the most visible organizations seen outside stores.

According to Dan Jennings, a Salvation Army lieutenant colonel who serves as divisional commander for the St. Louis and metro-east area, the Salvation Army is grateful for having been allowed to solicit outside the stores.

“Most importantly, we are just grateful for the years we’ve been able to ring in front of the Schnucks stores,” Jennings said Tuesday. “Schnucks has been a wonderful partner to the SA for many, many years.”

Jennings said the new policy will be “a big blow” to the Salvation Army, which he said raised $478,000 last year in operations outside the Schnucks locations. That represented one-twelfth of the organization’s Christmas campaign in the St. Louis area last year.

Jennings said a combination of finding new revenue sources and cutting costs where possible was the best hope at making up the potential for lost revenues.

“It’s going to get harder on us to accomplish the good in the St. Louis area,” he said.

A spokeswoman with the Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois said the scouts had no official statement in reaction to the new policy.

Schnucks stores join other major retailers that don’t allow solicitors, including Target and Home Depot.

But Walmart leaves the decision whether to allow solicitors up to local stores, according to spokesman Charles Crowson.

“We value the relationships we share within each of our communities. We also understand that many local organizations want to set up booths outside our stores, seeking donations and support,” Crowson wrote in an email. “We leave the final approval of those requests up to store management.”

Dierbergs, which also operates stores in the St. Louis and metro-east area, has a policy similar to Walmart’s: Each location decides whether to allow solicitors from charitable organizations, though solicitors are only allowed two Saturdays each month.

Simon wrote that not permitting solicitors outside Schnucks stores would help “maintain and promote a safe, attractive, clutter-free shopping environment for our customers, minimize activities that could interfere with customer satisfaction, quality service and teamwork and provide a consistent and high-quality shopping experience to our customers at all of our stores.”

The grocery chain, which has stores in the metro-east, will still partner with community groups, Simon wrote, including by maintaining its My Schnucks Card program, which returns a portion of the store’s profits to schools and other non-profit groups, and by exploring other ideas.

This story was originally published August 23, 2016 at 4:26 PM with the headline "Schnucks stops solicitors from seeking donations outside its stores."