Rhode Island becomes second state to ban grocery clauses that lock rivals out

Rhode Island has banned restrictive covenants in grocery deeds and leases that prevent competitors from operating in a location—a practice used by chains like Stop & Shop and Walmart to lock out rivals. Woonsocket, a city of 45,000 where 37% are food insecure, had been reduced to a single full-service supermarket. The ban is the second state-level action against the practice.

The article does not detail how quickly the law takes effect or whether it applies retroactively to existing covenants already in place.