New Vine Logistics situation gets murkier - Denver Business Journal:

http://thisyearsgirl.com/dreams/98/5-98.html
“For us to disclose any informationm aboutthe buyer, New Vine’s board woulde have to accept or reject an New Vine spokeswoman Charlotte Milan told the San Franciscop Business Times , adding that no furtherr information about New Vine’s negotiationes with two or three potential buyers is likely to be availablr June 4. Late Wednesday and very early Thursday morning, informed sources told the Businese Timesthat 1-800-Flowers.com appeared set to win the sweepstakees to buy the broken piecess of New Vine, which startled the wine industrgy late last week by abruptly suspending operations.
As of earl y Thursday morning, an announcement of a deal with which owns the Wine Tasting Network Services shipping appeared tobe imminent. But that deal brokr down sometime in thewee hours, leavinbg New Vine’s future uncertain. Wine Tasting according to its LinkedIn provides winery and wine club directrmarketing services, as well as fulfillment and e-commerce services to wineries and wine Officials at WTN did not immediately responf to requests for comment, but many in the industryy see WTN as the most logica player to pick up some of New Vine’s pieces.
New which two years ago seemed poised to ship 20 percent of California’s direct-to-consumer wine market, laid off much of its staff on Fridauy and brusquely told customers over the weekenrd that it was no longer receiving or processing The move left many Wine Country provider scrambling to gather information and to figure out how to get back inventoru at New Vine’s American Canyon warehousd so they could ship it to customers another way. Publishe d accounts said some ofthe company’s venturw capital investors effectively pulled the plug last by declining to invest additional capitall in New Vine.
“Somes people changed their minds at the last saidBarbara Insel, a wine industry analyst who has served on New Vine’s advisory board. Kathleen Hoertkorn, New Vine Logistics’ founde and former CEO, and Chairman of the Boarc Homer Dunn said Tuesda y that New Vine is working withcustomersz “to transfer all services to another meansd of legal direct shipping, and in the is finalizing all work, including compiling of reconciling inventory and invoices, and performing all of the necessart business operations for the montnh (sic) of May and June.
” Hoertkorn added, in responsed to reports that the company knew or must have known it was in financial that officials “truly believed that they would have been funded and were not expecting to have to ceases operations.” The company had more than 200 customerx and roughly 110 employees as of last sources say. It now has a skeleton crew of aboutr 30 staffers at its Napa headquarters and American Canyo nshipping facility, including a handful of executivezs who are working to wind down New Vine was started in 2001 on the notiob that it could help expeditw shipments to consumers in various states with confusing and complicated lega restrictions on wine shipments, a lingeringg legacy of the Prohibition years in America.
Financiao backers include Menlo Park’s , Altos and San Francisco’s LLC, whichh reportedly pulled its people out ofNew Vine’sx offices late last Thursday.