SACRAMENTO – Raley’s, a family-owned company that operates Raley's Superstores, Bel Air Markets, Nob Hill Foods supermarkets and Food Source warehouse-format stores in Northern California and Nevada, is pulling tobacco from most of its store shelves.

The Sacramento Bee reports that the company’s recent announcement “may signal a trend toward a greater health focus among retail outlets.”

A Raley’s spokeswoman told the newspaper that the grocery chain will stop selling tobacco products by the end of February at 128 of its Raley’s, Bel Air Markets and Nob Hill Foods stores in Northern California and Nevada. The company will continue to sell tobacco products at its Food Source supermarkets and its Aisle1 convenience stores.

Company officials called the decision “our next big step in ongoing efforts to provide healthier options and to raise awareness about health and wellness.”

“This is not a decision that we’ve taken lightly,” Raley’s said in a press release. “There is a very strong correlation between tobacco use and many serious health issues … At this time, the evidence against tobacco usage is simply too strong to ignore.”

The Raley’s decision to pull tobacco from store shelves comes after CVS announced it is no longer selling tobacco products. The newspaper adds that Rite Aid also recently reduced tobacco sales and placed smoking cessation products in more prominent locations in stores.

Robert Reynolds of Reynolds Economics commented that tobacco sales have been declining in grocery stores for decades, as convenience stores and gas stations gain greater market control.

“It is unlikely given the size of a firm like Raley’s” that it will miss tobacco sales, Reynolds told the newspaper, adding, “It is not a big, big deal.” But from a public relations standpoint, “They also can hang up a sign and say, we care for you, we’re doing a favor for the community,” he said. “It’s a pretty good PR sort of thing.”

Said one customer interviewed by the Sacramento Bee: “First CVS, now Raley’s. Who’s next?”