River Ridge Food 4 Less, a northwest Spokane grocery store that opened a year ago, has closed its doors, and a member of the family who owns it says it suffered from poor business volume and undercapitalization.

Separately, an affiliated venture, longtime Spokane distributor Sunshine Dairy Inc., which closed last summer, has filed for Chapter 7 liquidation in U.S. Bankruptcy Court here.

The grocery store, located in the River Ridge Center, at 4507 W. Wellesley, was operated by River Ridge Food LLC, which is owned by Charles "Chuck" Redmon, Jr.; his wife, Michele; and other members of the Redmon family, who also have ownership interests in Sunshine Dairy.

Sunshine Dairy, located at 2011 W. Maxwell, closed in July after its 27-year relationship with its major dairy supplier broke down, says Redmon's father, Charles "Chuck" Redmon Sr., who is listed as a director of Sunshine Dairy. Sunshine Dairy distributed dairy products throughout Eastern Washington under the Dairy Mart brand and employed about 80 people, Redmon says.

"In this world, in this economy, if you're so completely dependent on a supplier and something happens to that," it can be devastating to a business, he says.

Redmon asserts that when Seattle-based Darigold Inc. acquired Inland Northwest Dairies LLC, of Spokane, it seized 60 vehicles and 40 trailers for which Sunshine Dairy had a security agreement with Inland Northwest Dairies. The cooperative that owns Darigold Inc. confirmed that it has enforced its secured rights on accounts receivables Sunshine Dairy owed to Inland Northwest Dairies after acquiring that company.

Sunshine Dairy filed its bankruptcy petition here Dec. 9, listing assets of $491,000 and liabilities of about $2.3 million.

The largest secured claim it listed in the petition was for $80,000, owed to SuperValu Foods LLC, of Minneapolis, for food and beverage inventory. The largest unsecured claim is for $1.04 million, owed to Inland Northwest Dairies, but Chuck Redmon Sr. says Sunshine disputes both amounts.

Inland Northwest Dairies is the plaintiff in a $2 million lawsuit against Sunshine Dairy in Spokane County Superior Court, which Darigold says has been stayed by the bankruptcy filing. Lawsuits filed against Sunshine Dairy by SuperValu Foods and United Salad, seeking $80,000 and $5,000, respectively, also are pending in Spokane County Superior Court, the filing says.

Bankruptcy Court documents say that Sunshine Dairy had sales of about $9.1 million in 2008 and $13.1 million in 2007. Its filing lists unexpired leases for the space the grocery store occupied at River Ridge, and for office space also in that shopping center.

Chuck Redmon Sr. says the store operated by his sons was undercapitalized and unable to get the volume of business it needed to be profitable. At the time it opened, Chuck Redmon Jr. said River Ridge Food had invested $1 million in the store, and the venture was intended to take the family business into a more retail-oriented direction as high fuel costs saddled its dairy distribution business.