ST. LOUIS — The region’s dominant grocery chain, Schnuck Markets, will stop selling cigarettes and tobacco products next year.

Tobacco sales are still profitable for the Maryland Heights-based grocer, which operates 115 stores located mostly in the St. Louis region, but the move comes amid the company’s efforts to place more emphasis on wellness.

“I’m sure that we will disappoint some customers by discontinuing the sale of the product,” Schnucks Chairman and CEO Todd Schnuck said in an interview. “But when we look at the grand scheme of things well, what’s the right thing to do? And we believe discontinuing the sale of tobacco products is the right thing to do.”

Smoking rates have declined for years in the United States. Missouri, where the majority of Schnucks stores are located, has a higher smoking rate than most other states. But even in Missouri, the smoking rate among adults has fallen from about 25% in 2011 to 21% in 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Illinois, it has fallen from 21% to 15.5% in that same time period.