Market Basket Markets... Two Brothers fight and potentially destroy their company.

http://blog.aloftgroup.com/aloft-group-insights-blog/the-market-basket-effect-the-99-brand-loyalty?utm_content=6792684&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin

http://nhpr.org/post/nh-farmers-markets-see-spike-market-basket-protests-continue

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/07/25/statement-from-demoulas-super-markets-board/sQH3N9cFVTO1ojk7WIRh3I/story.html

http://wgbhnews.org/post/market-basket-boycott-enters-second-week

What a cool story. Ultimately it looks like the employees may win in the short run, but who knows if they will win in the long run.

Take care of your employees and they will take care of you.

Respect and living wages go a long way.

I can't imagine having that kind of loyalty were I work. I would welcome a stand up guy like Aurthur T.

Wow. I hope Arthur T. is able to buy the brand back. What a great movie this would make!

It's the age old story about the fight between those who worship short term profits and those who take a longer view.

http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2014/07/market_basket_protests_why_grocery_workers_are_rallying_around_their_ceo.html

https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/07/29/arthur-demoulas-offer-buy-market-basket-only-bid-under-negotiation-stockholders/FFYGFGZmDYXNbRXkG8TryO/story.html

Look at those empty shelves.

http://wearemarketbasket.com/

Their real mistake was hiring a guy named Jim Gooch.

Curmudgeon wrote: It's the age old story about the fight between those who worship short term profits and those who take a longer view.

with our ever decreasing attention spans.. a week is going to seem like the longer view

SnowMongoose wrote: Their real mistake was hiring a guy named Jim Gooch.

Mike Taint already got a job over at the Y

SnowMongoose wrote: Their real mistake was hiring a guy named Jim Gooch.

Any relation to Stephanie Gooch?

As a MA resident and regular shopper at Market Basket, let me tell you: this whole thing is unbelievable.

Market Basket is a New England institution. They have been around forever, and they have the best prices around. They have an extremely lean business model, and they can pass savings from their overhead on to the consumers. They are as old-school as you can get, but their stores are clean, the stuff is good, and the employees were always happy to be there... until the ousting of Arthur T. I commend them for standing up for what they believe in and essentially shutting the company down in the face of corporate greed. I really hope they succeed in their mission, and as a customer, I will not step foot in another Market Basket until they do. I'm not alone, either.

Also, apparently, the employees call the two bonehead CEO's "The Gooch and the Hooch". Well deserved.

Another tidbit of info: Jim Gooch (seriously, with that name???) was a former CEO of Radio Shack that rode that company into the dumpster. Not a smart business decision to hire that loser.

SilverFleet wrote: Another tidbit of info: Jim Gooch (seriously, with that name???) was a former CEO of Radio Shack that rode that company into the dumpster. Not a smart business decision to hire that loser.

A good CEO is worth his weight in gold.. but why would somebody hire a CEO with a record that bad?

In reply to mad_machine:

Probably because Arthur S. Demoulas wants to gut Market Basket to fatten the board members' wallets and sell off the husk to Albertson's, Royal Ahold (Stop & Shop), Big Y, etc. So why not go for a CEO who did the same thing to Radio Shack? So much of what is going on is because Arthur S. and his allies don't think they are being compensated enough and the employees are compensated too much, plus the prices are too low (MB has been running a 4% off everything promotion all summer long to help local families deal with the rough economy!).

Unfortunately, the Demoulas family feud has been going on for decades:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/07/14/the-saga-demoulas-market-basket/S1D7gi92dqfJYZzr9FIBCJ/story.html

I'm a lifelong MA resident and I was a regular Market Basket shopper too, until this whole kerfuffle went big time. I'm not shopping there again until Arthur T. is back at the helm.

My father spend ten years in Mass.. when I told him about this, he was shocked at what happened.. and not at all surprised at the employees' reaction. He said it was a cheap and good place to shop

mad_machine wrote:

SilverFleet wrote: Another tidbit of info: Jim Gooch (seriously, with that name???) was a former CEO of Radio Shack that rode that company into the dumpster. Not a smart business decision to hire that loser.

A good CEO is worth his weight in gold.. but why would somebody hire a CEO with a record that bad?

"After this many failures, this guy must know what NOT to do!"

My first job at 14.5 was there (in Salem N.H.) Got hooked as a shelf stocker since my Cousin was already employed. One of the busiest in the area is one that sits right in between two of the biggest hosing projects in Lawrence, where I grew up.... EMPTY now!

The local Bodegas are raking it in now.

Hope it gets resolved soon.. My Mom wants to get her stuff cheaper.

The Board of Directors just came out with a statement saying that if employees don't come back by Monday, they are fired for good. They are planning a job fair to try and make up for the massive loss of employees. That is not a smart move if you ask me. I don't think I will be shopping there ever again if that's what goes down.

LOL... "Gooch"

mad_machine wrote:

SilverFleet wrote: Another tidbit of info: Jim Gooch (seriously, with that name???) was a former CEO of Radio Shack that rode that company into the dumpster. Not a smart business decision to hire that loser.

A good CEO is worth his weight in gold.. but why would somebody hire a CEO with a record that bad?

My father and two other men started a company, one man insisted on being the CEO. Things were going very well, until he decided to flex his 'muscles' by hiring a general manager that was a kiss ass yes man, and they both proceeded to run that company into a downward spiral that we couldn't pull out of.

The general consensus is that the two of them could berkeley up a two car funeral...

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/08/28/happy-ending-for-market-basket-employees-customers/8DYrQ8orJYtvHM1BdYSEyK/story.html

Looks like the employees got what they want, but the damage done during the "lean times" might sink the company after all.

Interesting story..

Cool deal, good for them. I hope the company rebounds.

I'm pretty excited for them. I've never seen a modern company get taken hostage by its employees and actually win!

I think that they will be able to rebound. A lot of the vendors that cut off supplies made statements that they were doing so in step with the employees' demands to bring Arthur T back. Now that he is, they will likely return as well.

I'm giving them at least a month before I return to their stores so they can get going again and re-stock. I miss that place.

Modern version of http://www.uaw.org/story/gm-workers-1937-they-had-sit-down-stand ?

Minus the violence.