A bitter internacine family food fight is fraying the nerves of drama-weary shoppers wondering whether their favorite supermarket is going to survive.
The latest boardroom crisis at Market Basket triggers the question: “will I have to move my ‘basket’ over to, say, Hannaford, or Walmart, or Shaw’s?”
But the Demoulas family, which owns Market Basket and offers the lowest grocery prices in Maine, is hoping that shoppers’ habits die hard.
Judging from a statement put out this week by company officials, it’s apparent they’re afraid that the seemingly never-ending boardroom fight may finally be getting near the point where their loyal shoppers begin to mutiny.
The CEO of Massachusetts-based chain, which has stores in Biddeford, Westbrook, and Topsham, just got ousted by his own sisters.
The board T-boned Arthur T. Demoulas, accusing him of being a “dictator” in what could be the ultimate corporate infight.
Directors of the family-run company fired him in wake of rumors he was planning a chainwide work stoppage and customer boycott.
“Mr. Demoulas forced the board to choose between accepting his autocratic control of Market Basket or terminating him in order to protect a vibrant and growing business that cannot flourish over the long-term under the leadership of a dictator,” directors said in a court filing related to a long-running boardroom power struggle.
Market Basket’s board voted Tuesday to remove Demoulas as president and CEO after a failed mediation, the board’s chair, Jay Hachigian, said in a statement to Business Insider on Wednesday.
“Despite extensive efforts by the board and Mr. Demoulas to come to terms, the mediation was not successful,” Hachigian said.
Demoulas is fighting to keep his job, legal filings show.
“We assure our valued associates and customers that, as we have demonstrated over the past several months, Market Basket will not change its operations, profit-sharing, bonuses or culture, and will continue to offer the best groceries at the lowest prices anywhere in New England – well into the future,” Hachigian said.
The Market Basket board placed Demoulas and two other executives on administrative leave back in May over allegations that Demoulas had started planning a work stoppage intended to disrupt the company’s business and operations.
The Demoulas family founded the grocery store in 1917, and it has been engulfed in family disputes and public power struggles for decades.
In 2014, Demoulas was fired from his CEO role following a family dispute.
The firing sparked a widespread workers’ protest and Demoulas was reinstated after he bought out part of the controlling company stock.
When Market Basket opened its first Maine store in Biddeford in 2012 Maine Biz reported it was “ushering in a new era of fierce competition between Maine supermarkets for the food-purchasing dollars of grocery shoppers.”
At the time the company described Biddeford as the largest supermarket in the state.
The Westbrook branch opened in 2020 and the Topsham store last year. Topsham’s claim to fame was it became the first Market Basket in Maine to offer daily freshly-made donuts.
Market Basket’s ultimate ace in the hole could end up being its competitive prices.
A Maine grocery-price survey last year of 16 common items showed the company coming in the lowest at $45.77, compared to Hannaford’s$46.55 and Walmart’s $47.06. Shaw’s came in the highest at $51.64.
