🛒 Stop & Shop scandal

Good morning. It's Thursday.

Today's weather: ☀️ Sunny in the low 70s.

🎵 Sounds like: Drivin' past the Stop & Shop.

Today's newsletter is 920 words — a 3.5 minute read.

Shoppers, consumer advocates and some top Massachusetts lawmakers want answers from Stop & Shop over allegations the grocery giant inflates prices for food in lower-income neighborhoods.

Why it matters: Shoppers already face rising food prices. If the company is charging less in richer areas and more where consumers are poorer, it could disproportionately burden households struggling to make ends meet.

• The controversy could also lead to price-gouging charges and severely damage the chain's reputation.

Driving the news: A 2023 study conducted by a Boston volunteer youth group found that Stop & Shop charged 18% more for groceries in working-class and largely non-white Jamaica Plain than in the more affluent Dedham suburb seven miles away.

• The Hyde Square Task Force's sample shopping cart cost $34 more in JP than in the suburb.
• Items like Bubba's turkey burgers were $11.49 in JP but $9.49 in Dedham. French fries were nearly a dollar more in the JP store and bacon cost two dollars more in JP.
• A Boston Globe report this week corroborated that the Dedham store has mostly cheaper prices.

Caveat: The youth group only surveyed the JP and Dedham Stop & Shop locations, so their sample is a bit limited.

The other side: Stop & Shop says it doesn't consider a neighborhood's socioeconomic makeup when setting prices.

• Factors like property costs, labor costs and the size of the store are the key factors that affect Stop & Shop prices, according to the company.
• Stop & Shop says it has a multiyear strategy to lower prices and has already done so for thousands of products in New England stores.

The intrigue: Now, U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, as well as U.S. Reps. Jim McGovern and Ayanna Pressley, are demanding that Stop & Shop's parent company's CEO explain how exactly prices are set location to location.

What's next: The Democrats gave Stop & Shop until Oct. 14 to clarify its pricing policies.

Between the lines: The letter from the Democrats comes over a year after the Hyde Square Task Force initially made its accusations and right as one of the nation's leading consumer advocates, Warren, is running for re-election.

• Warren has recently railed against another grocery giant, Kroger, for partnering with an artificial intelligence company to set dynamic prices for food.

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Attorney and cryptocurrency advocate John Deaton, the Republican challenging Sen. Elizabeth Warren, says he'd switch parties to become a Democrat if the GOP takes up national abortion ban legislation.

Why it matters: Deaton's stance highlights abortion's central role in federal elections this year and is a huge swing for the moderate unenrolled Massachusetts voters he'll need in November to unseat Warren.

Driving the news: At a State House press conference Tuesday, Deaton vowed to "single-handedly stop a federal abortion ban from entering the Senate floor," by breaking with Republicans, should he be elected.

• Deaton, who supports codifying Roe v. Wade, said Warren has been misrepresenting his pro-abortion rights position on the campaign trail.

The big picture: Republicans have largely embraced Donald Trump's state-focused message on abortion and avoided federal legislation since Roe was overturned.

• Warren has warned that GOP control of the Senate could cause Republicans to push for a national ban.

By the numbers: Deaton has a lot of ground to make up in his uphill race against Warren.

• She leads 58% to 32% in a recent UNH poll and 56% to 35% in last week's MassINC poll.

What's next: Warren and Deaton are set to debate Oct. 15 and 17.

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Summer's officially over at City Hall Plaza: the patches of green turf that are home to lawn games, lounge chairs and picnic tables were packed up yesterday.

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The Green Line extension between Lechmere and Medford is still shut down after a derailment Tuesday afternoon sent seven riders to the hospital. (Herald)

• Federal safety regulators are investigating how a Green Line car derailed outside Lechmere in Cambridge before 5pm Tuesday and blocked both branches of the $2.3 billion trolley extension.
• The line will remain out of service until further notice, MBTA general manager Phillip Eng said.

CVS will lay off 2,900 corporate workers. (BBJ)

• The cuts at the Rhode Island-based company won't affect stores.
• CVS already laid off 5,000 jobs, including 200 Rhode Island positions, last year.

Some intersections in Brighton now have automatic crossing signals from 7pm Friday to 7pm Saturday — the Jewish sabbath — so pedestrians won't have to hit the button. (UHub)

The West End could get a new 40-story tower near North Station.

Why it matters: The development would loom over the North Washington Street Bridge that connects Boston to Charlestown and bring even more density to the Bulfinch Triangle area.

Driving the news: Newton-based developer RMR Group plans a 300-room hotel, 420 residential units and retail space at the corner of Causeway and North Washington Streets.

Over at the other main transit hub, the shuttered WeWork location across the street from South Station is being taken over by another co-working operation, New York-based Industrious.

• It'll be a prime location across from the new hotel/residences/commuter hub at the new Atlantic Avenue South Station tower.
• WeWork shut down the site in April.
• Industrious has other locations downtown, in Cambridge and Dedham.

ICYMI: The iconic Fortress self-storage building along I-93 in Dorchester could get new neighbors.

• A developer wants to put a six-story, 59-unit building in the Boston Street storage place's parking lot.

The Boston area has 104.4 women for every 100 men, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Support your local reporting team by becoming a member.

• Plus plus plus: you'll receive exclusive messages and more.

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Deehan wonders if the 3+ hour train to Portland is that much better than the 2 hour drive.

Steph needs to stop their cat Coco from jumping around like a daredevil.

This newsletter was edited by Jeff Weiner.