The owners of White & Sons says their two supermarkets are not closing and they and their staff of 85 are working hard to turn things around after a difficult period.Gary White told The Royal Gazette that with “much hard work and difficult decisions, we are on our way back”.“To set the record straight, as of right now, White & Sons is not closing. If it was decided that White’s would be closing, we would inform our customers promptly and make no secret of it.”Mr White agreed to speak to us to put to rest widespread rumours about the future of White’s supermarkets at Southside, St David’s and in Warwick.He said he was concerned about the impact the negative publicity was having on business. And, admitting stock has not been what it should, he assured that management was working to change that and appealed for customers to stick by them for the sake of the company’s many long-serving staff.Several customers complained to this newspaper about “bare-looking shelves” at both supermarkets, declining cereal choices, and White’s running out of staples like bread at the Southside store. This newspaper was also told that some staff had been let go and others had their hours reduced in the past few months.Mr White explained: “With the economy the way it is, many Bermudian-owned businesses have felt the effects.“The last few months have been a struggle for much of Bermuda, and especially White & Sons. But with much hard work and difficult decisions, we are on our way back. We do understand the state of the store has not been at its best and we are now working towards restoring White’s to the quality our customers have come to know and expect from us.”He added: “We truly appreciate our customers who have stood with us during these tough times.”Mr White said he and management had been “overwhelmed with callers, questions and rumours”.“Our concern with these rumours and the publicity it brings is the negative impact it has on our 85 employees who depend on our business. The majority of our employees have worked for White & Sons for many years.“Over half at White’s Supermarket have between 15 to 45 years with us. Over two thirds of Southside Supermarket employees make up the original group when we opened in the East End.”He continued: “White & Sons is a family business; our employees and customers are part of this family and have grown with us over the years. Not only do we have second and third generations of employees we also have customers whose grandchildren are now regular customers. It is this type of commitment from our employees and customers that motivates all of us.”Mr White said the company has hired and appointed new department managers as it works to turn the corner.“White & Sons is entering an interesting transitional time, and we ask for our customers to stop in and see what we are changing.“We have some new faces; Mr Grant has joined as assistant store manager, and we have three new department managers in our Produce, Meat and Frozen & Dairy section. All of our employees our here to help make White & Sons a great place to shop.”Ms Jones, who did not want her full name used, said of White’s at Southside: “The shelves are extremely bare and have been for quite a while.”She added fridges and freezers have not been working at times. A longtime St David’s resident and businessman told us: “Quite often there is no bread and about three months ago one day it was no milk.”Another long-time St David’s islander and White’s customer added: “Shelves are looking more and more empty. They seem to have milk in stock consistently now but you never know what it is going to be. Because customers can’t rely on them having the goods, the number of customers has decreased dramatically.”