In September, tips began rolling in that Mattituck Marketplace was being sold. The Suffolk Times reached out several times to both the supermarket owner and the owner of the shopping center to get the scoop. “After weeks of speculation, Mattituck Marketplace sold ”broke online at the end of that month.
“We have no information really to give other than that the store was sold,” store manager Sheila Murphy said. According to Ms. Murphy, Monday, Oct. 9, would be the last day the Marketplace would operate under its then-current owner, Dan’s Supreme Supermarkets Inc., a member of Key Food Stores Co-op Inc.
Fast-forward to Oct. 9, the final day of operations as Mattituck Marketplace, and an updated article re- vealed that employees learned they were abruptly being dismissed.
The market was closed the next day, Oct. 10, and then reopened with a new owner, Miguel Quezada, Oct. 11. Mr. Quezada said the market was hiring, including former employees. He could not comment on whether or not the new store’s employees would be unionized.
Tracy Raynor of Cutchogue, who worked for multiple ownership groups at that spot for 37 years, shared her experience.
“Everything was kept very secret,” Ms. Raynor said. “We were hearing that [the new owner] was going to come down, he’s going to talk to everybody … you know when that happened? That happened [Monday] at 3:30 in the afternoon and he just told the store manager, I guess, to tell certain people to come back if they want to come for an interview and reapply for a job.”
Ms. Raynor said the public support she and other employees received was overwhelming. People she hadn’t seen in years were showing support.
“I am deeply touched,” she said. “I didn’t know that I could reach that many people.”
ORIGINAL REPORTING BY MELISSA AZOFEIFA