Island Stop & Shop Supermarkets Reeling From Cyberattack On Corporate Owner

Nantucket's two Stop & Shop supermarkets are still reeling from a cyberattack on their corporate parent earlier this month. It has affected the distribution and inventory at the grocery chain's stores across New England, leaving some shelves bare and certain products unavailable. 

Island residents first began to notice the impacts of the cyberattack and lack of inventory around November 10th, particularly with chicken and certain produce absent from the Sparks Avenue store and the downtown Stop & Shop. Signs were taped to bare shelves in the two stores that stated product deliveries would be "slightly delayed" due to "IT system outages."

Stop & Shop's corporate parent, the Dutch company Ahold Delhaize, soon disclosed the true nature of the situation in a statement posted on its website.

"Ahold Delhaize USA recently detected a cybersecurity issue within its U.S. network," the company stated. "Immediately upon detecting the issue, our security teams began an investigation with the assistance of external cybersecurity experts. We also notified law enforcement. Our teams are taking steps to assess and mitigate the issue. This includes taking some systems offline to help protect them. This issue and subsequent mitigating actions have affected certain Ahold Delhaize USA brands and services, including a number of pharmacies and certain e-commerce operations."

Nantucket Stop & Shop management did not return a message seeking comment on the situation. Despite assurances to customers that the situation would soon be resolved, the lack of inventory was apparent on Sunday as the situation entered its second week.