HEBRON | The rumor of Patz's Market's untimely demise is greatly exaggerated, the store owner said Wednesday.

Former town Clerk-Treasurer Jamie Uzelac said at Tuesday's council meeting the store was expected to close after Jan. 1 because of the lack of local support.

"It's not true that we are closing," owner Jeff Patz said Wednesday. "Business has been tough but we are doing our best to be here and to remain the local grocer."

The Patz family has been in the grocery business about 45 years and the store has been at its present location in the Country Square Plaza since 1980.

The Patzes were praised for their community support over the years, even staying open during power failures and telling customers to come back later to pay the bill. Council President Don Ensign asked Hebron residents to patronize the store and said the town doesn't want to lose any businesses.

"It would be a terrible loss," Ensign said. "Now that Main Street is done, we hope the harm done to the businesses will be turned around."

Uzelac placed part of the blame for problems at the plaza on the Hamstra Group. The Patzes own the market, but the adjacent stores and the parking lot are owned by Hamstra and are in poor shape, Uzelac said.

A Hamstra official defended the company.

"We have put hundreds of thousands of dollars into renovations of the Country Square Shopping Center over the past six years," John Fulkerson, director of leasing and development for Hamstra, said.

Fulkerson said they've been marketing the center.

"Retail has been one of the hardest hit sectors during this economic slowdown. Nationwide, retail vacancy rates are in the double digits, even in centers that have not had to struggle with the loss of traffic and access due to a three-year closure of the highway where they are located."

Town attorney Ted Fitzgerald said the town's Redevelopment Commission is working on the problem along with Ensign.