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[BronsonLee]

Get BURIED, Arthur S!

 

[DSKMan]

Sad when families feud over money. Money always destroys families.

 

[ActStriker]

Now to write the case study.

Happy for the workers' families.

 

[KHarvey16]

Statement released by Arthur T.:

Market Basket and its shareholders are pleased to announce today that the Market Basket shareholders have entered into a binding agreement pursuant to which the Class B shareholders will acquire the 50.5% ownership interest of Market Basket currently owned by the Class A shareholders.

Effective immediately, Arthur T. Demoulas is returning to Market Basket with day-to-day operational authority of the company. He and his management team will return to Market Basket during the interim period while the transaction to purchase the Company is completed. The current Co-CEO’s will remain in place pending the closing, which is expected to occur in the next several months.

All Associates are welcome back to work with the former management team to restore the Company back to normal operations.

The shareholders and the Company would like to thank Market Basket customers and partners for their strong support through the years. Our shared goal is to return Market Basket to the supermarket that its customers have come to rely on for service, quality and best prices. We look forward to seeing you at your local Market Basket.

 

[n64coder]

Great news. Glad that the striking workers and the shoppers who boycotted the stores made a difference. Looking forward to shopping there again.

 

[Im a Manatee]

I lived in New England this summer while this went on and I am glad it is resolved. Market basket was a fixture in my community and helped me survive my summer as an intern with low pay. Hannafords was way too expensive.

 

[Dicer]

I can stop going to Hannafords now, thank goodness.

It sucks that they dragged this on as long as they did, devaluing the company as a whole, but now Artie can work on lifting it back up....

 

[Maninthemirror]

images as it happened

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business...ubZdn7AhUameI/picture.html?p1=Article_Related

 

[KHarvey16]

Brockton store had big thank you signs for returning customers. Really wasn't busy at all and they still have a lot of empty shelves as you'd expect, but was able to do most of my shopping. Produce, meats and other perishables were mostly what was missing, but just about every aisle had things they were low on or out of still. Heard on the radio they should be fully stocked by next week some time.

Was good to go back. Heard lots of "I missed you guys!" and other comments...people definitely seemed glad.

 

[Deleted member 13876]

Arthur Sinister loses. Great. Hope they'll retain most of their customers.

 

[Edwardo]

Congrats!

Smoked a couple cigars with some friends who work for the company while we were on vacation and heard the good news.

 

[KHarvey16]

Interview with Arthur T. in the Boston Globe:

Sitting in the Tewksbury headquarters of the supermarket empire he had just reclaimed, Arthur T. Demoulas rattled off the statistics that have helped bring Market Basket back to life.

Some 2.3 million cases of beef, poultry, and seafood were shipped in seven days. An additional 1.65 million cases of nonperishables were processed. Last Friday alone, 88 tractor-trailers full of produce arrived at stores across New England.

Demoulas was exhausted and exhilarated by an around-the-clock re-stocking drive that followed his dramatic reinstatement to the company last month. Now, he said he is eager to return to the normal rhythms of running the company founded by his grandfather nearly a century ago.

“Look,” he said. “I’m happy just being a grocer.”

In his first interview since agreeing to buy the company from rival relatives, Demoulas said Market Basket has already accomplished a remarkable turnaround thanks to employees who worked day and night to replenish shelves stripped bare by the summer-long family standoff over the business.

"Sales are already at 100 percent of where they were last year,” he said in an interview with The Boston Globe. “Bakery, produce, and meat are mostly in. Everyone just got to it and worked as hard as they could.”

But even as the business turned a corner, Demoulas said his work was only beginning. Over the next few months, he must stabilize the company’s finances and complete a $1.6 billion purchase of shares owned by family members who have fought with him over Market Basket for 25 years. Then he must figure a way to manage the roughly $1.3 billion in debt that will be created by the transaction.

Demoulas acknowledged the new debt might slow expansion of the 71-store chain in coming years. But he insisted it will not change the discount pricing that has won the loyalty of customers across the region.

“Every retailer has to stand for something,” Demoulas said. “We’re very much grounded in the basic philosophy of driving the ‘more for your dollar’ business model. That’s really something we live by every day.”

The company’s operations nearly ground to a halt this summer after Demoulas was fired as president by a board controlled by his cousin, Arthur S. Demoulas. Many employees refused to work in solidarity with their ousted leader, shutting down the company’s distribution network in an extraordinary revolt that drew national attention.

Arthur T. was reinstated to the management ranks on Aug. 28, after reaching an agreement to buy the 50.5 percent of Market Basket owned by Arthur S. and other relatives.

Though he agreed to speak with a reporter about the effort to revitalize the company, Demoulas said he is not a man who enjoys the media spotlight. He knows it will bring questions about his family he won’t answer and financial questions he can’t answer (such as how many new stores will be built next year).

And while thousands of employees rallied on his behalf over the summer — plastering his face on placards and chanting his name — Demoulas said he hopes to return to a low profile soon. Right now, a simple visit to a store can become a three-hour event. He is often received like a celebrity, with employees and customers crowding around him to shake hands and snap selfies.

Demoulas said he appreciates the support but is more comfortable managing the nuts and bolts of Market Basket’s business. He is a fount of knowledge about the supermarket industry and passionate about his company’s place in the New England market. Off the top of his head, he can tick off the prices of specific products at Market Basket versus Stop & Shop, BJ’s, Whole Foods, and others.

He and his managers spend hours inside stores tracking prices, market penetration, and profit margins. But Demoulas eschews loyalty cards and other modern innovations used by his competitors. He prefers to stick to a formula learned from his late father, Telemachus, whose name he invokes repeatedly while explaining his business philosophy.

“We keep it as simple as possible for people,” he said. “We keep costs low and quality high. We keep the stores clean and offer service with a smile. And if at the end of the day you have some success, then you share that with the associates.”

In the wake of his agreement to buy Market Basket, many specialists have questioned whether the company will be able to maintain an employee profit sharing plan that costs tens of millions of dollars a year.

But Demoulas described his commitment to the plan as “unwavering.” He recounted a recent retirement party at which all four departing employees left the company with large nest eggs. Two store directors had more than $1 million; a produce supervisor had $800,000; and a truck driver was leaving with more than $700,000.

“We don’t anticipate that any of that will change,” he said. “We’re committed to the profit sharing plan that’s been in place now since 1963.”

The terms and exact sources of the $1.3 billion needed to complete the purchase of the company remain unclear. The private equity firm Blackstone Group serves in an advisory role to Demoulas and is arranging a financing package for the transaction. People familiar with the deal said Blackstone will not acquire an ownership stake in the company.

Demoulas declined to discuss the details of the company’s finances. But he said the additional debt could impede Market Basket’s ability to build new stores. In coming months, he said, the company intends to open five stores it has been building in Waltham, Revere, Attleboro, Athol, and Littleton.

After that, it is unclear when Market Basket will have the ability grow again.

Demoulas said the summer-long crisis created good and bad attention for the company. While it brought a focus on his family’s dysfunction, it also put a spotlight on Market Basket’s value to customers and employees who sacrificed to preserve it.

“I think so many people could relate to it because it affects everyone,” he said. “If everyone in the workplace is equal and treated with dignity, they work with a little extra passion, a little extra dedication. I think that’s a wonderful business message to the world.”

 

[KHarvey16]

Was down at the Brockton store earlier today and it was as busy as I've ever seen it. Good to hear they were back to 100% but it's really good to go and see it for yourself.

My wallet is glad it's back!

 

[TAJ]

Can you imagine a country where every CEO earned this much love and respect from their employees?

 

[BriareosGAF]

I'm in Portland so Biddeford isn't really sensible for food shopping but I"m tempted to head down tomorrow just to see how things are.

 

[mattiewheels]

Arthur Demoulas was a beloved CEO

I know nothing about any of this...but this sounds like an oxymoron. Was he really like one of the good guys?

 

[GoldenEye 007]

I know nothing about any of this...but this sounds like an oxymoron. Was he really like one of the good guys?

I think reading the updates posted answers that. Amazing to see.

 

[n64coder]

I went to the local store for the second time since the buyout happened. It's about 98% operational. There are still a few items here and there where they have little or no stock but it's pretty much normal now. Glad to have them back. It was cramping my style & wallet to be shopping at the other stores.

 

[andylsun]

Londonderry NH was back to normal last weekend pretty much. About as busy as normal too which is great to see.

Market Basket for low price essentials and Trader Joe's for the nicer items is a winning combo

 

[Cronox]

Interesting read this thread is. Sounds like Arthur T. is a classic "hero CEO" as defined in Ken Fisher's Ten Roads to Riches. If the board had read at book, they might have understood what they were dealing with... If you want to get rid of a hero CEO, you have to wait until they've made significant mistakes that make them and the company look bad. The sorts of mistakes he was making were only mistakes as perceived by some number of board members, and don't fall under that criteria.

 

[DrForester]

Born in Pittsfield, MA and I have never heard of this place. Apparently they never branched out to Western Massachusetts.

 

[Edwardo]

Word on the street is they'll be having about 4 new stores opening by the end of the year. A few friends have been working at different stores to get them ready.

I remember one being Littleton, MA

Can't remember the others.

 

[KHarvey16]

Word on the street is they'll be having about 4 new stores opening by the end of the year. A few friends have been working at different stores to get them ready.

I remember one being Littleton, MA

Can't remember the others.

Others will be in Waltham, Revere, Attleboro and Athol.

 

[Edwardo]

Others will be in Waltham, Revere, Attleboro and Athol.

Nice! Yea those are them

 

[terrisus]

Born in Pittsfield, MA and I have never heard of this place. Apparently they never branched out to Western Massachusetts.

Yeah, Northampton, MA for me. As you've probably noticed, Western MA is practically a separate state from Eastern MA (and even southern NH is often closer to being included in that)

 

[Discordian_taco]

I am glad this got resolved. My mom was really stressing. Apparently Market Basket's prices can't be beat.

 

[Vyrance]

That was an excellent read. Don't know the store since I'm down in Florida, but glad to see a company run like that.