Market Basket fiasco ending

[Pete from Boston]

For those in New England, in case you haven't heard, they finally inked a deal.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/2014/08/27/deal-sell-market-basket-arthur-demoulas-has-been-signed/w9cj3I5GjanMthHzXGk11K/story.html

For those not in New England, I'm curious–how much coverage, if any, have you been exposed to about this story?  There seemed to be periodic national pieces, something that seemed surreal given Market Basket's status as a somewhat lowbrow local chain around here. 
 

[hbelkins]

If not for Facebook, I wouldn't have heard about this story at all.

[PHLBOS]

If I wasn't periodically checking The Boston Herald's website; I wouldn't have known about it.  My mother frequents the one along MA 107 in Salem; and during our last two telephone conversations, she never mentioned a thing about it to me. 

In contrast, when film crews were around filming Grown Ups 2 in Marblehead a few years back; she wouldn't stop talking about it.  The Ice Cream stand (fictitious in the sense that it was only erected for the film then taken down) in the film was located down the street where she lives.

[agentsteel53]

I had heard about it, but didn't probe much past "yeah, everyone's named Arthur Demoulas, ha ha that's a funny coincidence that seems to occupy three paragraphs in every story".

[roadman]

Even though I was a Market Basket shopper before this nonsense began six weeks ago, I lost interest in the story once the local media started issuing "Breaking News - Is a Deal Imminent?" headlines everytime Arthur T. would cough or Arthur S. would sneeze.

Thant having been said, I hope they (the chain, not the family members) are able to get back to the way they were prior to the dispute.  Very good prices, and the only place to get certain items (like Polish Loaf) in my area.

[Brandon]

Seems to have a much happier ending than Dominick's did.  They were bought by Safeway.  Ran into the ground by Safeway.  And subsequently closed by Safeway.

[briantroutman]

Seems to have a much happier ending than Dominick's did.  They were bought by Safeway.  Ran into the ground by Safeway.  And subsequently closed by Safeway.

Just replace "Dominick's"  with "Genuardi's" , and you have a carbon-copy story in southeast PA.

Safeway has a near-monopoly in much of the Bay Area and I truly hate them.

[Rainking75]

I read a lot about it as many friends and family from up north posted about it on Facebook. High drama indeed...

[cpzilliacus]

Safeway has a near-monopoly in much of the Bay Area and I truly hate them.

There are a lot of Safeways in the Maryland/Virginia/D.C. area (they have a massive warehouse that supplies these stores off of U.S. 301 in Upper Marlboro, Prince George's County, Maryland).

Not my favorite (there are Royal Ahold/Giant, Wegman's, Wal-Mart, Harris Teeter (to be bought out by Kroger, their first venture in this geographic market) and others to keep Safeway honest.

[Duke87]

This thread is the first time I have ever heard of Market Basket. We never had them in Connecticut and while I probably have driven past one in MA at some point, I don't specifically recall.

[realjd]

For those not in New England, I'm curious–how much coverage, if any, have you been exposed to about this story?  There seemed to be periodic national pieces, something that seemed surreal given Market Basket's status as a somewhat lowbrow local chain around here. 

As a non-New Englander, absolutely none. I've never heard of a Market Basket until your post.

[Brandon]

Seems to have a much happier ending than Dominick's did.  They were bought by Safeway.  Ran into the ground by Safeway.  And subsequently closed by Safeway.

Just replace "Dominick's"  with "Genuardi's" , and you have a carbon-copy story in southeast PA.

Safeway has a near-monopoly in much of the Bay Area and I truly hate them.

Thing is, the guy who ran Dominick's prior to their sale to Safeway (Suckway?) now works for Roundy's out of Wisconsin.  He created his own store based off what he wanted to turn Dominick's into - Mariano's.  And Mariano's is wildly successful with a mix of good service, higher-end products, very good produce, and good sales.

[KEVIN_224]

NECN (New England Cable News) was on this story constantly, even showing the overhead shots with the massive employee/customer rally a while back in Tewksbury, MA. WCSH-TV (NBC) channel 6 of Portland, ME had one of their reporters down there, since the chain has one lone store in their state (Biddeford, ME). I had heard of this chain over 20 years ago, but have never shopped at one (no need to head into New Hampshire back then).

I presently work for Stop & Shop, which pretty much dominates southern New England. They closed their 6 stores in New Hampshire last September. Their lone Maine location in Kennebunk closed long before that. Shaw's Supermarkets is still widely seen around the rest of New England...but closed all of their Connecticut locations several years ago. The A&P Super Foodmart chain is also long gone around here.

[The Nature Boy]

Shaw's is pretty dominant in Northern New England. Market Basket is in New Hampshire, in so much that it's in the southeastern portion of the state. North of Concord, there are only three (Warner, Tilton and Claremont).

Of course, one could joke that there's barely ANYTHING north of Concord.

[KEVIN_224]

Just don't forget Hannaford's, based in Scarborough, ME. I used to frequent their location along US Route 5 in Brattleboro, VT.

Here in Connecticut, we also have Big Y (which I worked at 13 years ago) and Price Chopper (which I never shop at).

[Pete from Boston]

I was surprised Price Chopper was never a potential suitor of Market Basket.  Both family-owned, territories abutting, similar market segment.

Shop-Rite bought a lot of the Shaw's locations when the latter withdrew from Connecticut (or rather, one or more member companies of the Shop-Rite collective did). With this Shop-Rite and Price Chopper territories more or less abut, with Market Basket less than 40 miles away.   No wonder Shaw's is contracting there and elsewhere.

[cjk374]

It seems like anytime a small family-owned business is enlarged (either by expansion or buy-out), the expanded business seems to always end up being sub-par when compared to the way the smaller business had been run.  It always ends up being a sad story.   

[Roadrunner75]

Never heard of Market Basket down here in NJ - As far as New England exports we only have to deal with Stop & Shop and its really high prices.

[Mr. Matté]

I guess I'm the only one here who watches CBS Sunday Morning. It was a report on that show where I first heard about the situation and except for this thread, a report this morning stating that it was over.

[SidS1045]

I guess I'm the only one here who watches CBS Sunday Morning. It was a report on that show where I first heard about the situation and except for this thread, a report this morning stating that it was over.

No, you're not the only one.  CBS MoneyWatch updates have also covered the story.

[Roadrunner75]

I guess I'm the only one here who watches CBS Sunday Morning. It was a report on that show where I first heard about the situation and except for this thread, a report this morning stating that it was over.

No, you're not the only one.  CBS MoneyWatch updates have also covered the story.

I used to watch it with my dad when Charles Kuralt hosted in the 80s, and recall the quiet nature scene closing segments (I think the Daily Show writers watched as well, as evident in the "Moment of Zen" closings....).