To the editor:
This is in response to “Shoppers won’t patronize Pennington Market.“
Gosh between that letter and the ridiculous opinion of The Star Ledger in The Times the Rothwells got some heat they sure do not deserve. I wonder where “shoppers“ will go to buy their groceries from now on.
The Rothwells were ringed by their competitors at the governor’s news conference in support of the same veto of the $15 per hour minumum wage law. These food markets all operate in much the same way, enduring the same low percentage of profit pressures the Rothwells do while also being good community partners, but I digress. This letter is in defense of the Rothwell family.
The Pennington Quality Market, known to the locals as PQM, is a long-time family owned and operated food store. My wife and I have shopped in this store almost daily for 24 years. It is difficult to fathom how the “shoppers“ who claim they are 20-year veterans themselves could have not observed the most salient reasons to patronize this store.
The PQM would not have the longevity and success they have if it were not for the fact they do treat their employees very well. Many of them have started out near minimum wage and then gone on to be promoted and to have a long career for themselves, including benefits. That is the intent of a conscientious employer in a retail food store.
“Shoppers“ also missed observing that high schoolers in the area consider employment at PQM as extremely desirable due in no small part to the support the Rothwell family gives them, in addition to their wages.
Finally, “shoppers“ must not have picked up on the fact that the Rothwell family has always employed a number of disabled people who may not have had a shot at a career elsewhere and that the Rothwells are one of the most generous business families anywhere in terms of giving back to the community.
Gary Coleman
Lambertville
