Dallas ? Shares of Fleming Cos., the nation’s largest wholesale food distributor, fell again Thursday as the company faced questions about its relations with suppliers and sluggish sales at its own stores.

Officials said the company’s ability to meet earnings targets depends on a recovery in sales at Fleming’s supermarkets to earlier levels.

Shares of Fleming Cos., the nation's largest wholesale food distributor, continue to fall. The company, which has these corporate offices in Lewisville, Tex., faced questions Thursday about its relations with suppliers and sluggish sales.

In July, the company disclosed disappointing results in its more than 100 retail outlets and said it was evaluating what to do with the stores, which operate as Food4Less, Rainbow Foods and Yes!Less. Lawrence has one Food4Less located at 2525 Iowa. Fleming also operates a distribution center in Topeka.

Officials also tried to beat back suggestions that relations with suppliers are suffering because it often makes deductions in payments to the vendors.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that dozens of suppliers and former Fleming employees say the Lewisville, Tex.-based company was especially aggressive in making deductions.

Company officials said it is common for distributors to deduct from payments to suppliers and pass the savings on to retailers, which use the money to promote the vendors’ products. Chief executive Mark Hansen said the payments helped little guys the independent stores and supermarkets supplied by Fleming.

“We’re climbing into the ring and fighting on behalf of our customers,” he said.

Hansen and other officials said they have resolved disputes with some vendors, including Kellogg, and the remaining complaints involve less than one-tenth of 1 percent of Fleming’s revenue. They flatly denied analysts’ suggestions that Fleming might be forced to restate earnings because of the disputes.

Investors sent shares down 13.5 percent, or $1.08, to $6.92 in trading Thursday. The stock has lost about 70 percent of its value since May, slipping especially sharply in the past two weeks.

Fleming supplies food and other items to nearly 50,000 convenience stores, markets and other retailers.

The company is still dealing with the financial crisis facing its largest customer, Kmart, which filed for bankruptcy in January. Fleming had expected Kmart to provide $4.5 billion in revenue but has scaled that back to $3.6 billion, and analysts believe the figure could be less if Kmart closes more of its stores.

In the quarter ended July 13, Kmart business accounted for $786 million, or about 20 percent, of Fleming’s revenue of $3.93 billion.

On a positive note in July, Fleming reached a $300 million contract to supply candy, cookies and frozen foods to Target stores.

Fleming also finds itself under attack in court. Lawyers representing investors who bought Fleming stock earlier this year filed suit last month in federal district court in Texarkana, accusing the company of hiding weak performance at its retail stores to prop up the stock price. The company denies that.

Fleming’s stock has been battered in recent days by rumors that its debt would be downgraded.

Hansen said the company contacted Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s on Wednesday and was told neither plans to downgrade the debt.

Fleming officials said the company would reduce its debt, about $2 billion at the end of the second quarter, by $100 million at year end.