Have you guys heard about the SuperMarket fued up here?

jbj said:
Heaven forbid the workforce organises to at least try and level the playing field against the fat cats :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

That's gotta be unconstitutional. No way this country can survive allowing citizens to peaceably assemble and collectively bargain!
 
Market Basket is not unionized.

This is a true "grass roots" movement....

While I don't know all the details, what I do think is important here is the absolute disgust and disdain the local population has for a local business being taken over/bought out/revamped.

From a consumer point of view,
I can tell you that it is the people out in the "sticks" who are seeing the local stores run out of food, because we don't have all the options of people who have several different grocery chain-stores to shop at.

It's a pretty neat story, though.

The latest is that all parties EXCEPT for Good Arthur T have pulled out of the bidding for Market Basket.

Either Good Arthur buys\takes it back, or it is going to go out of business!

Fascinating.
 
Last edited:
Coralkong said:
Market Basket is not unionized.

This is a true "grass roots" movement....

While I don't know all the details, what I do think is important here is the absolute disgust and disdain the local population has for a local business being taken over/bought out/revamped.

From a consumer point of view,
I can tell you that it is the people out in the "sticks" who are seeing the local stores run out of food, because we don't have all the options of people who have several different grocery chain-stores to shop at.

It's a pretty neat story, though.

The latest is that all parties EXCEPT for Good Arthur T have pulled out of the bidding for Market Basket.

Either Good Arthur buys\takes it back, or it is going to go out of business!

Fascinating.
Click to expand...

If I were evil Arthur, and I owned the land (not sure he does), I would sell it to developers and retire to the South of France.
 
The Demoulas family (the people who started the Demoulas chain that became Market Basket) have had problems like this for many, many years. The previous generation of ownership were two brothers who hated each other and were constantly battling for control of the empire. My dad owned a pharmacy next to their original store and knew both of them. My dad often would be talking to them in the parking lot and then come back into his store and say "crazy fucking greeks are going to kill each other again, fuckhead one invited his brother to a meeting at the store, then called and had his car towed during the meeting". Apparently, the current generation has continued the proud tradition of fighting. Sucks that it now seems to impact the entire community.
 
Last edited:
Here is a little bit of the family back story of the fights between Mike and George Demoulas, and the continued battles between their heirs. Source is from Wikipedia. If the current family is anything like Mike and George, this page is probably edited a thousand times a day to add and remove family dirt and accusations.

In 1916, Greek immigrants Athanasios ("Arthur") and Efrosini Demoulas opened a grocery store in Lowell, Massachusetts, specializing in fresh lamb. In 1954, they sold their store to two of their six children, the brothers Telemachus ("Mike") and George Demoulas. Within 15 years, the two brothers had transformed their parents' "mom and pop"-style store into a more modern supermarket chain consisting of 15 stores.

George Demoulas died of a heart attack in 1971 while vacationing in Greece, making Mike the sole head of the Demoulas supermarket chain. Although each brother had promised to provide for the other's family in the event of his death, a lawsuit filed in 1990 by the heirs of George Demoulas claimed that Mike had defrauded them out of all but 8% of company stock by moving assets into shell companies, such as 'Market Basket Inc.' and 'Seabrook Sales Inc.' and claiming that these were separate companies from DeMoulas itself. The ensuing legal cases threatened to require the sale of the chain, most likely to Royal Ahold's Stop & Shop. In 1994, Judge Maria Lopez ruled that Mike Demoulas had defrauded George's family out of nearly $500 million, transferring 51% of Demoulas' stock to George's family.[3]

Mike Demoulas died in 2003 at age 82 and is buried in Andover, Massachusetts.

In March 2006, Boston magazine rated the late George's son, Arthur S. Demoulas, as Boston's eighth wealthiest person, with assets of $1.6 billion.[4] He was not listed in the Forbes 2008 edition. In early 2008, the board of directors elected Mike's son Arthur T. Demoulas president of the corporation.

A separate company controlled by the Mike Demoulas side of the family operated the Lee Drug chain from 1983 until it was sold to Walgreens in 1990; these stores were usually located in the same shopping center as a DeMoulas Market Basket. The chain's corporate relationship to Mike Demoulas' family interest in DeMoulas Market Basket was cited in the 1990s litigation.
 
reverend1 said:
So what? Good for the other stores. I fail to see the problem. Nor did I insert political anything I'm just telling what is more than likely happening. You really think customers know or care who owns their grocery store? The only reason they would is if someone got their panties in a bunch over something the new opener did and is bitching to the press trying to force their desired outcome. That could only be the old owner, a union, or employees. If the customers don't want to shop there so what? More business for someone else or an opportunity to open a new store.
Click to expand...
This exactly. No one cares who owns a store unless they're coerced by someone wanting them to care. We call that brainwashing and it doesn't take much to get public opinion behind a campaign with proliferated rumors of better times ahead by the good Art. Once the media decides to paint heros and demons, the public usually aligns itself accordingly. Really silly human pet tricks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top