Reader comments
Provo store drops alcohol, smokes

Thank you Mr. Ream. People can just go elsewhere.
But I hope you get more business for making this stand.

Congratulations to Mr. Ream for taking an ethical stand!!! Very few have the moral courage to lose money and simply be a good neighbor through their business practices. Whatever your beliefs, it really does make a lot of sense to avoid distribution of products that are known to destroy lives and families. Contrast this story to the Marriott hotels who now make a good portion of their profit by selling pornography. Thank you, thank you, Mr. Ream!

I will patronize the store and tell all my family, friends, and neighbors to do the same. Way to go Ream's Family Food...

And thank you to the DARE program for teaching the truth about these products.

Dear Reams,
I will now make it a practice to shop those stores who put their money where their mouth is. I think it will improve your business. It certainly will keep the shop-lifters out more. It's alwazs been a mystery to me why store owners sell substances that are harmful to their customers, even if it is a money making substance.

I do not live in Provo, but will ask my son to shop only at your Reams from now on; and when I am visiting, yours will be the only store where I will buy groceries. Thank you Mr. Ream!

Way to go Mr. Ream and his daughter! It's encouraging to see people act with integrity, even when it's hard to do. Thanks for your example.

This is a good story about our need to support family-friendly stores. As a resident of American Fork, we make it a practice to frequent businesses that share our values. Reams is not located closely, but I shop at nearly Macy's or Kohlers which is closed on Sunday. I appreciate knowing that as my children age, there are businesses they can still work at without having to work on Sunday. My son worked at Kohlers. We rent videos at Sunrise Video which doesn't have R-rated movies. Unlike Hollywood or Blockbuster, I can walk past the aisles with my family in search of a video without feeling too uncomfortable. If we can't should support these local store owners in Utah Counnty who struggle to survive, share our values, and who are competing against large, profitable national chains, then who will?

Hearing this story made my day! 'Proud' of you doesn't do justice to my feelings. If only gas stations would also drop alcohol from it's sales, think of the lives it would save in drinking and driving. The money made on drugs cannot compare to the misery it creates and certainly the cost to the family is too great.

Your decision was bold. If your store was in my area I would shop there to support your decision to limit distribution of these dangerous products. Smoking is universally bad. The only winners in this industry are the makers of the smoking and chewing products. The only way these companies may stay in business is to capture young people with new addiction. Very few start to smoke or chew after the age of 25. Responsible adults may purchase adult beverages at other places than a family grocery store. Thanks for following the advice of a wise daughter. Sal

Mr. Ream, you are to be congratulated!! I am thrilled that you have done this. It is wonderful to know that there are still business owners who do the right thing. You will be blessed for doing this. Thank you for protecting our community's young.

This is wonderful. I wish every store and place of business took this kind of stand.Yes, it is a persons own choice to damage and destroy their lives and those around them by consuming and using these products.But to have some one stand up and say that they will not be part of that process is great.I applaud this store for having the moral courage to tell people " yes, you can be an idiot, But I won't help you with it."

Now if we could get others to follow. I would support them 100% here in AZ. I would be your next customer if I lived there. But I will encourage my BYU Sr. daughter and her roomates who lives there to shop there even if it means driving more and using dads gas.
Thanks for taking the lead and following your 9 year olds request. Glad there are some that will do what is right and not what is politically correct or all about money. I think others will now shop there more as well.

THANK YOU

That sure is good new's Now if you don't
fly up to Lander, Wyoming to visit Mrs Jensen
you will be in clover....

Is this 'taking a stand' or caving in? Of course the mormons love it, this place is singin' their tune.
Taking a stand in that environment would be to expand the beer and smokes section. Sounds like he needs more secuity, though, because the mormon kids figured out how to swipe the stuff.

This is nothing more than a publicity stunt. Those of you who commented on how is should be congratulated for taking a stand should be asking yourselves: "If Mr. Ream is so "ethical" why just this one store?" He is continuing to sell in all his other stores, so I guess his "ethics" are somewhat limited.
I believe that it should be up to the individual, not the government or private entrepreuners, to censor themselves. However, don't give undue credit where it isn't due.

I agree with TrueBlue & up late. This decision may not be popular and will result in a drop in revenue (at least initially) but it is a step in the right direction. Far too many people compromise their beliefs in order to make a few extra bucks or save a few extra pennies. One of the most popular dishonest practices of which I'm aware is the illegal copying of music. Almost everyone I know has copies of music that they never purchased. They borrow a friend's MP3 player, copy all of the songs, and return the player to their friend. It is just like shoplifting and everyone that is doing it is a thief! If my comment is read by very many, surely it will become an open can of worms. I can already hear the justification galore, but in the end it is wrong no matter how you look at it!

Robert Johnson, I totally disagree with your comments. The closest stores to my house, not in Utah County, are Smith's. They sell beer and cigarettes, and are open Sundays. That is where I go. I wish they weren't but I haven't decided to drive somewhere else. I do think this guy has gutts, and I for one think he deserves praise.

As sited in the article... the other two Reams locations, Springville and Center Street Provo, are independantly owned and therefore are making their own decisions, good or bad. I congratulate Mr. Reams in his decision to follow the advice of his daughter. The irony comes into play when we see that it was the DARE program, sponsered by the state, which initiated this girl's question, which resulted in a private business man deciding to do something about it. I wish more people would DARE to do something about it.

This man was in an ethical delemma. It's ovbious this had little to do with his religious beliefs because his daughter had been taught for years that her family had committed not to take those things into their bodies. Others however had not made such a committment, hence there was no dilemma to sell these products.

When the dilemma accured is when the police at his daughters school taught the kids about the harmful effects these drugs have on individuals and families that this man chose to stop selling these drugs.

I think of the tragic stories of mother or entire families being killed by drunk drivers, jobs lost, or marriges broken due to alcohol abuse. When hearing these stories it would be horrendous to wonder if you were the one who sold them such products.

This has nothing to do with religon. I don't condemn others who sell alcohol or cigarrets. I do however praise this man who made a dumb buisness decision but a great decision as a father.