The checkout line for a Hubbard grocery store may be delayed. It was slated to close, but a last-second push may provide enough momentum to save it.
Tonight their was an outpouring of support for the Nemenz I-G-A grocery store in Hubbard. More than 100 residents flooded city council chambers tonight in an effort to save the store. Protesters have been picketing outside the store on a daily basis since last September.
The reason? Store employees say it's because the picketers want them to join the union. Henry Nemenz reopened the store last April after the former owners shut the grocery store down in February. Then in September picketers from the union that used to work in the store set up shop in front of the store, upset because the new store in not a union.
Once that happened Nemenz says he lost 40% of his business, forcing him to close the store after continued lost profits. But after tonight's rally at city council, Nemenz says he'll do what he can to keep the store open.
Hundreds of Hubbard residents showed up at tonight's city council meeting wondering if anything could be done to save the store. They don't want to have a longer drive to get groceries and feel the competition only helps with prices.
City council will also see if there is anything they can do legally to help save the store. In the meantime city council will call members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and invite them to their next meeting to ask them why they're trying to shut down the store. That meeting will be held Monday September 15th. None of the picketers showed up to speak tonight at the meeting.
