After nearly 120 years in the community, a local grocer recently plagued by distribution issues announced Friday that its three remaining stores in Butler County will be closing their doors.

Harold Friedman Inc., which operates stores under the name Friedman's Freshmarkets, issued a news release stating that the three stores — Greater Butler Mart, Saxonburg and Chicora — will close their doors for the final time at 6 p.m. Jan. 27.

Store closing sales will begin today, the release states.

Following a disruption in distribution, the stores were struggling to keep shelves stocked with dairy products, canned foods and nonfood items like detergents and trash bags after an issue with wholesale supplier Merchants Distributors.

After its former wholesaler — AWI — claimed bankruptcy in 2014, the supermarket contracted with MDI of Hickory, N.C., in May 2015 as its primary supplier.

“With the resulting disruption, cost and performance of MDI, it has been very difficult in the last 2½ years to run the type of stores we've always prided ourselves on operating. It's a tough business, but we've managed to do more things right than wrong to have survived 117 years,” Carole Bitter, president and CEO of the supermarket chain, said in a statement.

Bitter previously said the problems have not allowed Friedman's to run its business to its standards.

The company has been in the process of evaluating a variety of alternatives, including taking MDI to court for damaging behavior; the sale of the stores, or changing wholesalers, the release states.

“We feel badly that we've let our longtime associates, our customers and our community down but we made a bad decision and picked the wrong 'partner',” she said in the release. “We have tried everything we know, including using expert advice, to attempt to resolve our issues with MDI but they dragged out solutions to our problems for the last six months and we now believe that they were not negotiating in good faith.”

The release states that on Jan. 12, the supermarket filed a lawsuit against MDI.

A writ of summons was docketed with the Butler County Prothonotary's Office Jan. 16, against MDI and two other defendants, Capital Resources LLC and Lee Alex Inc.

Judge Marilyn Horan was assigned to the case Jan. 17.

“We plan to still interview with new wholesalers, although we are under legal contract to MDI. We have listed with financial advisers to consider selling the stores. And we will work very hard to get all associates placed in the new company, whoever that might be, if a sale occurs,” she said in the release.

This marks the end of an era of Friedman's 117-year history through four generations of family ownership, the release states.

Jacob Friedman, Bitter's grandfather, began selling groceries on a push cart after immigrating to the United States from Austria-Hungary in 1900. His early stores were in the West End (1900), Lyndora (1906) and on West Jefferson Street (June 25, 1918).

Over the years, store locations have been added or closed, depending on local conditions.

“It's been a pleasure serving you and your families over our 117-year history through four generations of Friedmans family ownership and management that collectively has hundreds of years of history with Friedman's. It's been rewarding to have served our communities in so many different ways to have tried to make our communities better, strong, safer and healthier,” she said in the release.

Stan Kosciuszko, president of the Butler County Chamber of Commerce, said the loss of the business will be “quite a blow to Saxonburg and Chicora.”

“Anytime a long-standing community partner closes, it is sad,” he said. “It's even more sad when it's somebody who has been active and productive in our chamber of commerce.”

He said Bitter is a past president of the chamber and is “extremely involved” and “phenomenally philanthropic,” sponsoring many events with the organization.

“They are going to be missed,” he said.

Josh Novotny, president of the Saxonburg Area Business Association, said while the closing is sad, he was optimistic that in the future “something good” will go into the Saxonburg location.

He said the effect on other businesses in town will be greatly felt.

“It is a big hit to the business community,” he said. “I was at Friedman's almost daily.”

Bitter said in a previous story that she is overwhelmed by the support that she has seen, despite losing many customers in recent months.

Bitter did not return messages for additional comment.