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Boston Globe
7 days ago
- Business
- Boston Globe
The Market Basket saga: This time, the family feud is over succession. Will employees and shoppers care?
Write to us at . To subscribe, . TODAY'S STARTING POINT Will this be another summer of protest for Market Basket employees and customers? Don't count on it, says Tom Kochan, the MIT Sloan School of Management professor who wrote a Here are the CliffsNotes: Demoulas ( Now Good Arthur is once again on the outs Advertisement 'It would be hard to envision a mass protest because this does come across as a Not only that, but pandemic-era inflation has driven up grocery prices and squeezed household budgets. Switching from the bargains at Market Basket to a pricier chain like Stop & Shop might be a tough sell these days. Advertisement The and daughter, Madeline, who both work at Market Basket, while it investigates whether Demoulas is orchestrating a work stoppage to retaliate against the board. 'The issues of succession are not a matter of one family or another, but about responsible stewardship of a large successful company so that it's around and remains the same great company for the next 100 years,' Jay Hachigian, chair of the Market Basket board, said in a statement. 'Despite repeated requests over an extended period of time, the 70-year-old CEO has not allowed the Board to discuss succession planning or to even meet the children he wants to put in charge.' Demoulas's sisters — Frances, Glorianne, and Caren — have sway since together they own about 60 percent of the company, while he controls just 28 percent. The sisters also have children who work at the company. It's easy to see why succession is important: The chain, Justine Griffin, a spokesperson for Arthur T. Demoulas, said he has not only discussed succession with the board 'on many occasions,' but has also recommended that his son and daughter succeed him. Advertisement 'The bottom line is — it is not that he has not offered a succession plan,' Griffin said. 'It is that other shareholders do not like it." So how will the latest Demoulas drama end? Kochan of MIT expects the warring factions to end up in court, which has become a 'We need fewer lawyers here,' he added. 🧩 5 Down: 77° POINTS OF INTEREST The Metfern Cemetery served the Metropolitan State Hospital and the Fernold School, with 310 burials from 1947 to 1979. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff Boston and Massachusetts 'A celebration of freedom and love': As an LGBTQ+ Pride flag flew above Boston City Hall, Mayor Michelle Wu Karen Read retrial: The defense called a forensic pathologist who testified that the scratches on John O'Keefe's arm Out of state: Pennsylvania's US senators debated in Dorchester as part of a forum meant to foster bipartisanship. 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Shirley Leung is a Business columnist. She can be reached at
Boston Globe
29-05-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
‘Did they not learn anything?' Another family feud threatens Market Basket.
The consolation prize? Good Arthur and his three sisters bought out Bad Arthur and his siblings in a deal worth But maybe Bad Arthur wasn't so bad after all. He's long gone from the family business his grandparents started in As my colleague to investigate whether he is orchestrating a plan to disrupt business operations to retaliate against the board — similar to what happened in 2014. Advertisement The executive committee, in a memo to Market Basket workers, explained that Demoulas was upset at the board 'for requiring that the CEO work collaboratively with the Board regarding basic company operations and plans.' That's not how Arthur T. sees it with his spokesperson telling the Globe: 'The company is currently operating at its peak performance and the notion that this board is going to conduct an investigation is a farcical cover for a hostile takeover.' Advertisement Market Basket CEO Arthur T. Demoulas arrives at a company board meeting in 2013. Wendy Maeda So what's Good Arthur's beef with the board this time? It's not the same board as Market Basket had a decade ago, but reading between the lines there seems to be tension between Good Arthur and his sisters and their allies on the board. Let me venture a guess: It's all about money, billions of it. And since it's a family business, succession has to be a hot button issue. Arthur T. Demoulas, after all, is 70, and the next generation is waiting in the wings. 'Did they not learn anything? ... It's reading like a soap opera,' observed Kimberly Eddleston, a professor of entrepreneurship at Northeastern University who studies family businesses. 'Family business lives and dies by the family … You never go to the press, and you never go to the lawyers.' Indeed, the scions of the Market Basket fortune have done all of the above. The power struggles date back to the 1970s, when the family of Arthur S. accused the Arthur T. side of cheating them out of company shares. One time, the cousins even got into a fist fight in court. Then they went to war in 2014 because Arthur S. and his faction allegedly wanted to take more profits out of the chain, while Arthur T. and his family wanted to continue generous employee benefits and keep low prices for customers. Related : After a six-week standoff, Arthur T. triumphed. Today, Advertisement But one thing is also apparent: Arthur T. doesn't like anyone to tell him what to do, and the Market Basket board doesn't like to be defied. So will Good Arthur prevail again? 2014 seemed like a different era. Employees walked out and held rallies, while customers shopped elsewhere and taped Stop & Shop receipts on Market Basket store windows in an act of solidarity with Arthur T. In July 2014, passersby looked into a window at a Market Basket location in Tewksbury as receipts from other stores piled up in window. Joanne Rathe Since then, we've gone through a pandemic, a racial reckoning, sky high inflation, and But perhaps the bigger question is this: When is a good fight still a good fight, and when does it start to feel like something else entirely? Shirley Leung is a Business columnist. She can be reached at
