AG of Maine Gets Some Help

ELLIOT ZWIEBACH

GARDINER, Maine — Associated Grocers of Maine here told SN Tuesday it is continuing to supply customers with some products, though a spokeswoman there declined to indicate how much longer that would continue.

The company announced last week it had gone into receivership and would liquidate its operations, leaving its 300 members — mostly convenience stores, the spokeswoman told SN — to scramble to find alternative sources of supply.

Associated Grocers of New England, another cooperative wholesaler in the region, said last week it has begun supplying some AGM members and is attempting to supply others. It also said it has hired several employees of the Maine cooperative and is talking with others, including drivers, about job opportunities.

In a letter to customers and vendors posted on the AG of Maine website Monday, James C. Ebbert, the court-appointed receiver, said the company's collapse occurred after Savings Bank of Maine, one of AGM's two secured lenders, commenced litigation in Superior Court, prompting the court to appoint a receiver to oversee the assets pledged as collateral for the bank's loans to the company.

"Given the condition of the business at the time the receiver was appointed, the company's business is not viable," Ebbert said. "Neither of the two secured lenders is willing to advance additional funds, and the company's financial condition does not allow for any alternative financing.”

In the letter to vendors he said any checks from AGM prior to April 27 will not be paid at this time. "Vendors holding returned checks and/or open invoices will be treated as unsecured creditors" while an accounting firm keeps track of all of the company's obligations, Ebbert said.