ASSOCIATED GROCERS OF MAINE history

By 1952 the cooperative had 600 members, operating stores in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and the Hawaiian islands.

Following the completion of the warehouse complex, a new department was created to manage drugs and sundries, and in 1953 the cooperative recorded nearly $39.5 million in sales and returned $455,417 in patronage dividends.

A supermarket development subsidiary was formed in 1981 to manage the financing and development of stores for Associated Grocers members, tasks that had clogged the cooperative's administration operations, consuming as much as 60 percent of its time.

Largely due to the association with Pacific Gamble, revenues had increased by 20 percent since 1984 to reach approximately $900 million.

By 1990, Associated Grocers was the largest privately held company in Washington, and revenues surpassed the $1 billion mark.

The company planned to expand its network to support 220 customers by the end of 1995 and was already providing the service to non-member retailers.

Indeed, a 1996 research project conducted by Exvere Inc. found that though the Northwest held the highest concentration of independent retailers, the figure was on the decline.

By November 1997 the two companies had agreed to establish a joint venture rather than a merger.