The owner of Bainbridge Bakery is pushing back against an online blogger’s report that the downtown Winslow business has not been paying its employees for months.

The blogging website Inside Bainbridge published a lengthy story Wednesday morning with accounts from former three employees of the business, including one who spoke anonymously, who claimed that Bainbridge Bakery owner Mike Loudon never made good on promises to pay employees for all of their work at the business.

The popular downtown Winslow coffee shop made headlines Tuesday after a manager at the bakery launched an online appeal late Monday night for donations to help cover employees’ paychecks.

Ben Goldsmith, a staff manager at the bakery since September, set up a GoFundMe account on April 13 and said $100,000 was needed to save the business.

Goldsmith said in his online appeal that the bakery was facing major financial problems that were mostly due to “massive theft.”

Bainbridge police, however, have said the department has not received any reports from the business about incidents of theft, except for a sole case in January that involved the loss of $159.

Goldsmith, in his online appeal for donations, also said the money raised would be given to employees to cover wages, and would be used to “directly to alleviate the current payroll problem.”

Goldsmith declined an interview request with the Review but did answer a few written questions submitted by email.

Attempts to reach Loudon this week have been unsuccessful. The voice mailbox at the bakery was full and not accepting messages this week, and an employee said Loudon was not at the business Wednesday when a reporter attempted to contact him.

The bakery has put a link to Goldsmith’s GoFundMe campaign on its Facebook page.

Loudon responded to the Inside Bainbridge story Wednesday morning on the bakery’s Facebook page.

He wrote:

“Many of you may have seen the article on the Inside Bainbridge website regarding the Bakery. The article has also been widely re-posted. Those of you who know me are aware of how rigorously I support and defend free speech and freedom of the press. You also know how I conduct my personal life and my interpersonal relationships with the community, with my friends and acquaintances, my family and with my employees. Much of the information in the article is false, biased, ‘spun,’ and is hear-say, collected from people who have little experience working with me or with my company. The article is neither fair nor balanced. I have tried hard for ten years to operate a business that delivers quality to our customers and value to our community, in an honest, straight-forward and professional manner. I have always tried to put humanity before profits and deliver tangible benefit to customers, guests, employees and friends. My deepest thanks and gratitude go out to those of you who have supported these endeavors. Watching ‘the bakery family’ build and grow over the past ten years has brought immense joy to my life. Thank you all.

Respectfully,

Mike Loudon”