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Sal Saleh has always liked being around the ingredients of cooking, and as the owner of Ossining's Four Season's C-Town supermarket, his passion for food is fulfilled.
"I like to always bring new items from different countries. I like to buy products and food and display it," said Saleh, whose store is at at 100 Croton Avenue. "And one of the best things is that I don't have to go food shopping."
Saleh and his brother, Sam Saleh, opened their Ossining C-Town in 1995 after buying a former Grand Union supermarket. They updated, upgraded and expanded the supermarket in 2003 and renamed it Four Season's C-Town.
"We fell in love with the community, and the community fell in love with us," Saleh said.
Saleh is originally from Jordan but grew up and has lived most of his life in Westchester. While attending college, he began working in a supermarket, and in the late 1980s, he opened up his own gourmet mini-market in New York City.
"I always wanted to have my own business," he said, "and when an opportunity came up to open a supermarket in Ossining, I didn't have to think too hard before taking it.
"Ossining is a quiet town, people are very nice, and it's kind of a close community," Saleh said. For a while, Saleh lived in Ossining, but he now lives in Cortlandt with his family, including four kids in middle and elementary schools.
C-Town is a community store that caters to the needs of people in the neighborhood, Saleh said. C-Town supermarkets are owned by separate owners and are part of a coop, which allows them to buy large quantities at the same discount large chain stores do, he explained.
The Ossining C-Town has found its niche in providing the freshest produce, meat and fish. It also has its own bakery, and caters a lot to Ossining's Hispanic population, carrying a lot of spices and ingredients popular in Central and South America.
"We are a community store, not a chain store," Saleh said. "And we strive to be the cheapest in town in produce and meat."
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