Twenty-three-year-old communications company ACR Nally has vacated its downtown office, and its husband-and-wife owners are being called to court by the firm's founders.
The advertising and marketing firm, owned by Lisa and Mike Nally since 2003, had leased the 509 W. Olive St. office space for roughly two years.
Citing "a downturn in business," landlord and downtown redeveloper Craig Wagoner said ACR Nally was no longer a tenant of his Olive Place building but declined further comment. Attempts to reach the Nallys, who are reportedly operating the business from their home, were unsuccessful.
ACR Nally founders Rosa Shockey (formerly Archibald), Diana Cowan and Paula Ringer have filed petitions in Greene County Circuit Court claiming the Nallys have failed to make payments as outlined in a stock purchase agreement for Archibald-Cowan-Ringer Inc. The stock sale was struck in 2003 after the Nallys' attempts to secure bank financing were denied, according to court records.
Each founder was to receive $40,000 plus interest, according to promissory notes signed by the Nallys. In the petitions, filed in March, each founder is seeking the principal amount due, or $19,000, on each note.
On behalf of the three founders, Ringer referred comment to attorney Stuart King, of Hosmer, King & Royce LLC. King said the suits were filed after the Nallys failed to respond to a letter regarding possible resolution outside of court.
The Nallys responded in April with a defense and counterclaim asserting that the former owners were partly responsible for the company's financial problems. In the counterclaim, the Nallys said Shockey, Cowan and Ringer made statements to employees and customers that led them to question the ability of the new owners and that the sellers misrepresented the condition of the company's assets, specifically that office equipment "required" more than $50,000 to upgrade to a level "sufficient to the continued conduct of business."
King subsequently filed for a dismissal of those claims, as well as a default judgment against Lisa Nally. In the motion, King writes that "the essence of the claim is that (Mike Nally) ... made a business decision to upgrade office technology" and that should not stand as the basis for failing to make payments.
A hearing is scheduled at 9 a.m. June 16 at the Greene County Judicial Facility, 1010 Boonville Ave.
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