Non-Compete Agreement Sours Royal Fresh Grocery Store Deal

Mark Zaitona won’t be opening a grocery store in the former Hiller’s Market location after all.

That’s because Hiller’s declined to sign a non-compete agreement, leaving open the possibility that the company could return to Berkley, the Observer & Eccentric reported. Hiller’s had been a fixture in Berkley for more than a century before shuttering.

Zaitona, a Flint grocer, announced earlier this month that he planned to open Royal Fresh Market in Hiller’s Market space at 3052 12 Mile Road and had even hired a manager and employees.

Zaitona said the non-compete agreement, which would have prohibited Hiller’s from opening another store within a five-mile radius for a period of at least five years, was “a way to protect myself.”

He told the Observer & Eccentric that Hiller’s officials agreed to a 1.5 mile radius, but such proximity “would kill me.”

Now Berkley is without a grocery store and 18 people who expected to have jobs are unemployed.

“Having to call them and let them go was the worst part,” he said.

According to the report, Hiller’s may return if the building isn’t sold or leased.