Associated Grocers of New England, Inc., was organized in February 1946 by an enterprising group of 18 Independent Retailers who resolved to form a company with greater purchasing power than they could realize individually. It first operated as New Hampshire Wholesale Grocers in an 18,000-square-foot warehouse facility in Concord, New Hampshire. From the start, these retailers recognized an opportunity to build upon their own mutual strength. It wasn't long until they changed the operating structure of the company to form a purchasing and distribution cooperative known as Associated Grocers of New England, Inc. In 2006, a state–of–the–art, 380,000–square–foot Distribution Center – was constructed on 74 acres in Pembroke, New Hampshire – and became AG New England's home. The design of this new facility effectively doubled the capacity to expand and enhance product offerings. In April of 2014, AG New England broke ground for a 105,000 square foot expansion encompassing grocery, refrigerated, frozen and office areas. Included with this expansion is the installation of a Dematic Multi-shuttle automated product selection system. This system will allow AG New England to vastly increase the sku count, particularly in slower moving specialty, natural and organic items, and do so in an extremely compact footprint. This impressive facility offers retailers an expansive variety of products as well as retail support services such as advertising, marketing, merchandising, store design, equipment, bookkeeping and retail systems. A dedicated team of 300–plus employees services over 600 independent retailers in the states of New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, Upstate New York/Albany area, Northeast Maryland, and Eastern Pennsylvania.