The never-ending boardroom battle at one of New England’s supermarkets is wearing well on Market Basket’s customers, from all accounts.
A new grocery survey rates the supermarket chain – which operates multiple locations in Maine, including Biddeford, Westbrook, and Topsham – as the second-best nationwide.
For the second year in a row, the Massachusetts-headquartered supermarket with nearly 100 stores in New England is runner-up on the list of best grocery retailers.
The survey data was compiled by customer data science company Dunnhumby.
Topping the ranking once again was H-E-B, a Texas-based chain.
Dunnhumby said the most important factor in a retailer’s long-term success is “saving customers money.”
“Another thing that really separates Market Basket is they don’t have self-checkout aisles,” Grant Welker of the Boston Business Journal told CBS News. “Market Basket feels like they want a person waiting on a person and that human connection is what really separates it from a lot of its competitors.”
The high ranking comes amid a long-running family power struggle at Market Basket.
The board of directors fired popular CEO Arthur T. Demoulas in September, months after suspending him for allegedly planning a work stoppage.
Both sides sued each other and went to trial in Delaware in December.
The court is expected to make a decision this year.
