C-Town 'C-ing' hard times Owner says store to close, blames union picketing BY ERIN O. STATTEL Staff Writer It seems as if C-Town supermarket on Main Street in Matawan has seen better days. C-Town officials say pickets like these hurt business According to store owner Ricardo Hernandez, the small supermarket that has been open for less than a year will be forced to close its doors soon. "The store is not covering its overhead," said manager Jose Gonzalez last week. In an effort to keep the store open, Hernandez had planned on splitting the space in two sections, with C-Town occupying the smaller portion, and renting out the remaining space. But, according to Hernandez, there are no funds left for such endeavors. Hernandez is still not sure when the store will close, but said that it will be soon. "We have some walk-in traffic, but when the unions were picketing our store, people thought it was our own employees," Gonzalez explained. "This store can't afford to be in a union. It is hardly surviving as it is." Both Gonzalez and Hernandez allege that it was the picketing that turned customers away. "The union did a job on me," Hernandez said. "They were saying bad things about us to our customers and were harassing everyone on the street." According to Hernandez and Gonzalez, the picketers at one point passed out $5 vouchers for ShopRite supermarkets, which is located nearby and is unionized. A call to the Local 464A of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union went unanswered. "They haven't been here in a few days, but I never know when they are going to show up," Gonzalez said. According to Matawan Police Chief Robert McGowan, police were called to the Main Street supermarket a few times last year with complaints from the store owners about the picketers. "We may never be a Red Bank, but we have a lot to work with in our Main Street district," said Democratic Councilman Joseph "Bud" Mullaney. "It is a shame because this supermarket was ideal for residents of Minisink Village and other seniors." Mullaney was one of the council members in support of bringing the supermarket to Main Street. "I am not anti-union," Mullaney said. "However, there are good unions and there are bad unions just like there are good people and there are bad people." Members of the Local 464A of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union began picketing C-Town shortly after the store opened last July. The union began picketing the store to inform shoppers that the store was nonunion and that they were willing to stay as long as it took for the message to be heard. Picketers remained in front of the store even after the store owner and manager informed the union that it could not afford to join and that it needed time to establish itself in the community. The C-Town supermarket caters to a diverse clientele, including American and Spanish-speaking markets, carrying no-frills brands and traditionally Latino groceries. Ethnic cuts of meat and other products from Central and South America, as well as American brand names are available. According to C-Town Supermarkets' corporate Web site, the stores are independently owned and operated but are run under the common store banner of C-Town.