Received this today:

Dear Market Force Independent Contractor:
SPAR Group, Inc. has acquired the assets of Market Force-Merchandising and Audit Division. SPAR Group, Inc. is a publicly listed company on the NASDAQ with operations in 10 countries covering 50% of the world’s population including the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, India and Japan.
SPAR Marketing Services, Inc. (“SMS”) provides 90% of the Independent Contractors to SPAR Group, Inc. and their clients using their proprietary software and administrative support programs for independent contractors who provide the in-store solutions for clients.
The new partnership therefore is a great opportunity for existing contractors with Market Force to work with the SPAR Marketing Services, Inc. team and gain access to our effective tools and potentially gain additional new assignments. As an independent contractor you have the ability to select the jobs you want to accept.
You will be contacted in the next few days with additional information about becoming an independent Contractor with SPAR Marketing Services, Inc. that will outline the conditions that will enable you to take on more assignments and continue the work you have been doing for Market Force. If you decide to become an independent contractor with SMS you will be eligible for work that you were doing for Market Force and potentially additional jobs for SMS. Until the transition takes place please continue to do the assignments you have for Market Force and you can be assured you will be paid for all the work you are doing. We will keep you informed of any upcoming changes.
We welcome the new partnership and encourage all independent contractors to look at additional projects with SPAR Marketing Services, Inc. We look forward to working with you.
Sincerely,
Robert G. Brown

Yes, and now the website is down. So how do I complete my jobs for this week with no paperwork? and will this mean an increase in their low pay???

I want to know when we will be paid for work already done, how this figures in and what to expect going forward.

And hopefully SPAR is in the US and no more calls from the 925 area code.

I just checked and the website was still up. The letter indicates business as usual for now.

I just tried again and both Chrome and Firefox can't find it.

No website is up- checked in Firefox and Chrome. This is what comes up.

[www1.dlinksearch.com]

All I can say is that I use my usual login page for Market Force CFA Associates and it comes right up on Chrome..

I emailed my contact in NY to find out what is going on; I'll let you guys know.

I also even tried IE and no go there as well.

[www.facebook.com]

Biweekly pay schedule - now THAT I can get behind!

OK Kids, go to www.criny.com, say OK to the "unsecure" and you can get through that way. I was trying to get in via www.certifiedfieldassociate.com or linking through the MFI site.

emccded Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Received this today:
>
> Dear Market Force Independent Contractor:
> SPAR Group, Inc. has acquired the assets of Market
> Force-Merchandising and Audit Division. SPAR
> Group, Inc. is a publicly listed company on the
> NASDAQ with operations in 10 countries covering
> 50% of the world’s population including,
> Inc. and their clients..................
> As an independent contractor you have the ability
> to select the jobs you want to accept.
> You will be contacted in the next few days with
> additional information about becoming an
> independent Contractor with SPAR Marketing
> Services, Inc. for
> Market Force. If you decide to become an
> independent ............ independent contractors to look at additional
> projects with SPAR Marketing Services, Inc. We
> look forward to working with you.
> Sincerely,
> Robert G. Brown



I checked my website and the press releases, the blue portal said NOTHING of the sort. But I don't belong to the purple (CFA) portal and that where is M and A are mostly done.

Shouldn't this ROBERT G. BROWN offer some credentials with his name? Do we even know who RGB is?

I did find their website and Facebook page. However I do have to admit that that email looked really shoddy. Call me picky but I've always been a "terrorist" when it comes to punctuation and spacing. You would also think that that email would be on some sort of "letterhead" with credentials. So yes, I agree with sojo on this.

I get emails from little stores in town that have links, artwork, etc on them; if it is such a big company you would expect something more.

Including spacing between paragraphs. :-)

Here is an article from Yahoo three hours ago. It is titled SPAR Group Acquires New York-Based Merchandising & Audit Business From Market Force Information.

[finance.yahoo.com]

Yesterday Reuters had the following: "Spar Group Inc Announces Acquisition Of U.S. Merchandising Services Company."
Not much info as this is the entire article, "Spar Group Inc announced that the Company has acquired 51% of a U.S. based company that provides merchandising services to multiple Fortune 500 companies. The company is currently generating approximately $3 million in annual revenue specializing primarily on in-store merchandising and new store opening and remodeling projects. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed."

I got this from a supervisor (it has put me at ease).

The brief synopsis of what is going on is that MFI has sold their auditing and merchandising business to a company called SPAR. There are still a lot of details that need to be ironed out, so unfortunately, I may not be able to answer all of your questions. However, I can assure you that this does not impact what you completed for us in the past. Your checks in the next coming weeks may not say MFI on them. But again, a lot of things are still not for certain. I’m sorry if this is an inconvenience for you. If you have any more questions, feel free to respond back. I will answer them as best as I can with the information I have.

suzieboz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I got this from a supervisor (it has put me at
> ease).
>
> The brief synopsis of what is going on is that MFI
> has sold their auditing and merchandising business
> to a company called SPAR. There are still a lot of
> details that need to be ironed out, so
> unfortunately, I may not be able to answer all of
> your questions. However, I can assure you that
> this does not impact what you completed for us in
> the past. Your checks in the next coming weeks may
> not say MFI on them. But again, a lot of things
> are still not for certain. I’m sorry if this is
> an inconvenience for you. If you have any more
> questions, feel free to respond back. I will
> answer them as best as I can with the information
> I have.


So is SUZIEBOX apart of MFI? or is she quoting something she saw or came across on the internet? or her supervisor? How does this put anybody at ease?

I feel a great disturbance in the Force.

But can we still call it the Purple Portal?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/19/2013 05:26PM by sportsed1.

No I'm not but having a supervisor email that directly to me after asking someone in the auditing department what was going on and then contacting me did go a long way putting me more at ease than the email that this other guy sent out this morning. And NO I don't work for Purple Portal, but still do believe in the power of talking with people directly to get an answer. You need to chill out.

sojo917 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> suzieboz Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I got this from a supervisor (it has put me at
> > ease).
> >
> > The brief synopsis of what is going on is that
> MFI
> > has sold their auditing and merchandising
> business
> > to a company called SPAR. There are still a lot
> of
> > details that need to be ironed out, so
> > unfortunately, I may not be able to answer all
> of
> > your questions. However, I can assure you that
> > this does not impact what you completed for us
> in
> > the past. Your checks in the next coming weeks
> may
> > not say MFI on them. But again, a lot of things
> > are still not for certain. I’m sorry if this
> is
> > an inconvenience for you. If you have any more
> > questions, feel free to respond back. I will
> > answer them as best as I can with the
> information
> > I have.
>
>
> So is SUZIEBOX apart of MFI? or is she quoting
> something she saw or came across on the
> internet? or her supervisor? How does this
> put anybody at ease?

Really wondering how this will affect us. I hope they are willing to stick to previously agreed upon bonuses.