Outside Zimmerman’s Discount is an aging sign that advises customers: “Zimmermans Fresh Mart, across the street has no association with our store.”

At Zimmerman’s Freshmart, two signs are posted in response.

“We at Freshmart believe customer loyalty is earned by offering quality and service not the name on the store.”

Another says: “We do not sell cigarettes. They can be purchased at my cousins store Zimmerman’s discount across the street.”

“It’s not like this is a war of the Zimmermans,” Martin Zimmerman, owner of Zimmerman’s Freshmart, says as he glances across Augusta Ave. at a store he has not visited in years.

Martin and Danny Zimmerman — second cousins and proprietors of businesses that bear the Zimmerman family name — have not spoken to each other in years.

The families used to be very close.

Cousins Leslie Zimmerman and Zoltan Zimmerman – the fathers of Martin and Danny — grew up four or five houses apart in a small village in Czechoslovakia. They survived the Holocaust, but when they returned to their homes, their property was gone. They moved to Canada within months of each other in 1951 and became business partners in the bustling Kensington Market.

As Zoltan Zimmerman brought more of his siblings into his grocery business, Leslie Zimmerman moved on to new business ventures across the street — a grocery store and later a clothing store, both named “Fairland.” In 2004, he and his son Martin went back to groceries, but this time, they had a new name: “Zimmerman’s Freshmart.”

That’s where it went wrong. Across the street, Zoltan’s son and business partner, Danny Zimmerman, was irked about the use of the family name.

“It’s the confusion and the reputation,” he says as he takes a moment away from bagging some groceries being scanned by his 86-year-old father, Zoltan, who stays out of these matters. “It’s intellectual. It’s not a tangible thing you can touch. You spend 60 years building up some reputation and it’s devastating to have people confuse you.”

Zimmerman’s Discount still offers groceries (aside from meat and produce), but now has more clothing, luggage and household goods. There is a cash register from the ’70s and small grocery carts older than most of the students who take advantage of the four-for-$10.99 boxer shorts.

“I’m not saying he’s bad, but everyone should stand up for their own merits,” he says, adding that there are often delivery mix-ups and confused visitors.

“That’s him there now,” he says, nodding toward Martin Zimmerman, fixing a sandwich board across the street on a sunny Kensington day.

Inside the more modern Freshmart, Martin Zimmerman says this whole thing is sad. “If someone were to broker peace, I’d be the first to jump on board,” he says. “He doesn’t want to hear about it.”

Martin Zimmerman had the family name painted on the window in a tribute to his father, and he’s not going to remove it. He says when his father operated the clothing and grocery stores, the Zimmerman name wasn’t on the sign, but it was implied. He believes the root of his second cousin’s problem is the competition his Loblaws-affiliated grocery store brought to the street. (Danny Zimmerman says that isn’t the case: “Competition is quite healthy.”)

“The average person doesn’t get mixed up.” Martin Zimmerman says.

Martin Zimmerman hasn’t been across the street in years. On a day in the middle of the week, he is talking to the owners of the recently closed European Quality Meats and Sausage; his store will soon be offering their products. Zimmerman talks about the need for camaraderie in the market, for unity in the face of potential big-box development on College and Bathurst.

A supplier comes into the store, gives Martin a pat on the back and says, “This is the nicest guy in Kensington.”

“What about my cousin, he’s a nice guy too,” Zimmerman says. The supplier agrees.

Both Zimmermans appear to be well-liked in the market. When Danny Zimmerman walks around, business owners shout hello and make small talk.

It’s just with each other that nothing comes easy.

“If you go back over there, tell him that we’ll get a rabbi to mediate,” Martin Zimmerman says.

Across the street, Danny Zimmerman shakes his head at this offer, and later elaborates.

“To be honest with you, I’m a very conservative, observant Jew. To make that remark, unfortunately he has to take more actions,” he says, saying his cousin needs to stop the use of the name before reconciliation can occur.

When told of his cousin’s response, Martin says that if the rabbi advised him that he should take down the Zimmerman name, even though it’s out of respect for his father’s legacy, he’d consider the opinions of a religious man.

But Danny Zimmerman says he needs goodwill first.

“I don’t need a third party to get involved, I don’t even need a newspaper to get involved, I just want to see more action.”