Peck’s Market weighs options amid lawsuit over unpaid deliveries

This article was originally published in The New Pine Plains Herald and is reprinted here with permission.

PINE PLAINS — The shelves at Peck’s Market, Pine Plains’ only grocery store, appeared thinly stocked last week as the century-old family business confronts mounting financial and legal pressure. After failing to respond to a federal lawsuit seeking more than $77,000 for unpaid food deliveries, the store now risks a default judgment that could leave its owners liable.

The suit, filed in April by Connecticut distributor Bozzuto’s Inc., alleges Peck’s Market owes $77,959.49 for deliveries made between February 2024 and April 2025, plus $3,650 in legal fees. On Aug. 8, United States District Court Judge Jessica G. L. Clarke ordered owners Donald and Charlene Peck to show cause why a default judgment should not be entered. Court records show no response was submitted by the Aug. 18 deadline.

It is unclear when Clarke is expected to rule. A default judgment would mean the Pecks lose the case without a trial and could be ordered to pay the full amount. The attorney for Bozzuto’s declined to comment.

In a phone interview Wednesday, Aug. 20, Don Peck said the family is considering options, including raising money by selling or borrowing against property. “We’re very optimistic about the lawsuit,” he said. “We’ll take care of that. As far as the store itself, we’re trying to keep optimistic about it. We’re working at it.”

Still, Peck acknowledged the store’s shrinking inventory and the difficulties facing small, independent grocers. He said he loves the business but raised the possibility of closing or selling the store, noting that several potential buyers have expressed interest.

“We have a lot of options, just closing and selling, of course, is one,” he said.

”Hopefully if we did do that, people would come up with an idea that would work for a small town.”

For Pine Plains, the stakes are considerable. The nearest full-service supermarkets are more than 15 miles away — Hannaford in Red Hook, Tops in Rhinebeck, Freshtown in Amenia, or LaBonne’s in Salisbury, Conn. That distance poses a hardship for older residents and those without reliable transportation.

Peck said members of the community have offered support, but no clear path forward has emerged. “There’s no definite thing right now,” he said. “People are interested in supporting us in different ways. So I’m not sure which direction we’re going to go in.”

Peck also pointed to broader changes in the grocery industry that have left independent stores vulnerable. “A lot of our suppliers today are different than they were 40 years ago. They demand a certain amount of volume, because they’re taking care of bigger stores, so the volume that we have to get from them to get so many cases of grocery or dairy, or meat or frozen, has all gone up…. All these things have changed so much. It’s just unbelievable.”

Laura Strange, chief communications and engagement officer for the National Grocers Association, said many independents face similar pressures. “Independent grocers continue to navigate significant challenges in today’s marketplace,” she said. “Costs for goods, utilities, rent, and labor have all increased, yet independents have worked to compress margins to help consumers absorb rising prices and remain competitive. Even in this environment, their resilience, innovation, and commitment to their communities remain unmatched.”

Food sourcing has also dwindled, Peck said. “We used to have 57 suppliers of product coming here. You know, now we have 17. A lot of them are out of business … and a lot of them have been sucked up by other distributors.”

Brothers William and Robert Peck founded Peck’s Food Market in 1922, and Don represents the third generation of family ownership. Despite the uncertainty, he expressed hope the business will survive. “We’re working at it,” he said. “Thank God, we believe in God and Jesus. He’s with us, trying to figure out how to do this. So we’ll see what happens.”