SouthCoast Shoppers Could Get Hurt in Market Basket’s ‘Irresponsible’ Power Struggle

It appears that the parties battling over who should lead Market Basket's 95 grocery store locations, including our local locations in Fall River and New Bedford, have agreed to bring the case to a mediator.

However, don't let the fact that the case is going in front of a mediator trick you into thinking the Demoulas family rife is any more civil. In fact, new allegations from Arthur T. Demoulas have been tossed at the board of directors, Demoulas going as far as calling three members of the board "irresponsible" in their handling of the dispute.

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Justine Griffin, a spokesperson for Arthur T. Demoulas, confirmed that the parties have agreed to put the issues between them to a mediator on September 3 in hopes of avoiding litigation and reaching a quicker and amicable resolution that is in the best interest of Market Basket's associates, customers and the communities it serves.

Arthur T. Demoulas Calls Board "Irresponsible"

However, bitterness between the two factions of the Demoulas empire has emerged once again. Griffin continued, "The discussions about a mediation have been going on for more than 2 weeks. And that fact alone illustrates how irresponsible Directors Jay Hachigian, Steven Collins and Michael Keyes were early last week, when they fired Joe Schmidt and Tom Gordon and then promoted a series of employees to take their places. This was all done in a clear attempt to get out ahead of the mediation process in an effort to further silence the associates within the company who are demanding the return of the senior management team."

Not a great indication that these two sides will be able to mediate their way out of this, but here's hoping that they are able to figure this out without destroying what is special about the Market Basket brand.

Price Check Breakdown Across SouthCoast Stores Favors MB

In the price comparisons below, we checked prices on identical items across SouthCoast Market Basket, Stop & Shop and Shaw's locations. One store was far and away the most affordable. Take a look.