Consumers

Staying the course
Raley’s grocery stores have been removing the “no card needed” signs from their checkstands and the fronts of their stores. And the slogan has been removed from Raley’s cash register receipts.

But the corporation’ Sacramento headquarters denies it is planning to begin a grocery club-card program.

Raley’s has in the past made a point of its lack of a card program. Such programs at some other stores have been targets of consumer activism (www.NoCards.org) and even legal actions by state attorneys general.

But Raley’s corporate spokesperson Nicole Townsend says the de-emphasis of the chain’s “no card needed” stance has no particular meaning. She says the company is removing “a lot of signage throughout the stores in order to highlight” another recently introduced program instead of the no-card policy. The company is sticking with its cards policy, just not promoting it.