Posted on 05/29/2025 8:46:36 AM PDT by billorites
The CEO and public figurehead of Market Basket, one of the region’s most popular grocery store chains, has been put on administrative leave, rekindling memories of a different intra-family squabble in 2014 that shook the company to its core.
Arthur T. Demoulas, as well as several other top employees, are being investigated for what the executive committee of the grocery chain’s board of directors is calling “credible allegations” that he was planning “a disruption of the business and operations of Market Basket with a work stoppage.”
The company’s board alleges that “Demoulas has also resisted an appropriate succession plan for Market Basket, asserting that he has the unilateral right to appoint his children to succeed him without any consideration of the view of the board or the majority owners of Market Basket.”
A spokesperson for Arthur T. Demoulas didn’t immediately respond to NHPR’s request for comment but told the Boston Globe that the board’s actions were a “farcical cover for a hostile takeover.” Market Basket operates 90 locations across Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, promising shoppers "more for your dollar." Dan Tuohy/NHPR Market Basket operates 90 locations across Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, promising shoppers "more for your dollar."
Operations at the company’s 90 stores will not be immediately affected by the actions, the board said, including wages and benefits for employees, as well as the company’s profit-sharing plan.
The board warned that any employee work stoppage would significantly harm the company’s operations and the lives of both employees and customers who rely on the low-cost grocer.
In 2014, a long-simmering fight between Arthur T. Demoulas and Arthur S. Demoulas, his cousin, devolved into a company-wide boycott and employee walkouts. Employees, delivery drivers and customers largely sided with Arthur T., who had a reputation as friendly to workers. Shelves in many Market Basket stores went empty as trucks wouldn’t unload and customers shopped elsewhere.
After negotiations that included the governors of both Massachusetts and New Hampshire, Arthur T. eventually retained a minority ownership stake, ending the power struggle. The company remains privately owned.
It isn’t clear if this latest family drama will again spill outside of the board room. On Thursday morning, customers appeared to still be getting more for their dollar as a parking lot in Portsmouth remained busy. Online, though, some fans of Arthur T. were already warning of the need to take action.
“I'm boycotting, starting now,” said a commenter on Reddit who uses the name Buddaycousin. “I can get everything I need at Costco and Aldi. It's an inconvenience, but its the right thing to do.”
Yep!
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