Market aisles were bare, customers and employees were happy.

As corners of the world go New England is not a bastion of earth shaking events. The area business community however has had a seismic event of staggering proportions in the past few weeks, the aftermath of which will linger for years to come.

Grocery shopping is usually a mundane task usually done weekly and not something that captures the headlines until……..

Last June the board of one of our local New England grocery chains, Market Basket, aka Demoulas, decided to remove its CEO and replace him with new CEOs (two of them). The long time upper echelon power struggle, often played out behind the scene, was thrust into the limelight. The termination made local newspaper headlines in effected cities and towns throughout New England. The termination turned out to be one BIG, BIG, MISTAKE……. In 71 stores across the area, employees in unison walked off the job, picket signs registered their displeasure with the decision. They asked the customers to boycott the stores and they did. Parking lots remained empty as the days melted into weeks. The CEOs fired managers and still everyone stayed away. Product spoilage took its toll, the lack of food purchase orders sent suppliers to other outlets. The CEOs threatened to fire workers if they did not return, the deadline came and went. The parking lots remained empty as customers siding with the employees and the ousted CEO stayed away. The few employees and managers that kept the lights on toiled doing unusual tasks like cleaning under aisle racks and painting empty grocery shelves. With few customers in the store, managers could not meet payroll needs. The weeks seemed endless, warring factions stood their ground. The chain lost more than $10 million a day, the signs remained up and the parking lots stayed empty. Governors of NH and MA entered the fray attempting to mediate the situation. Local media headlines were stuck, “No Solution yet”. Then…….then a glimmer of hope. Accords were being hammered out, lots of money moved behind the scenes, 1.5 billion dollars. Last night a solution was reached, this morning an announcement brought smiles to both employees and customers alike. After 6 weeks the old CEO was back and 25,000 employees and 2 million customers were invited to return.

List in hand my wife and I entered the store and true, many shelves were sparsely populated but the store brand dominated many of the selections so all was not lost.


Orange juice anybody? What
orange juice?

Cereal aisle.

Only store brand bread.

Meatless


The produce aisle (the infamous aisle 20) was empty…..really empty. Venders had no stop button on the veggies and so they found other outlets for their farm goodies. Area farmers markets did a banner business.

I did see some acorn squash somewhere. What? Nobody likes acorn squash?








All this had the market analysts shaking their heads. The scenario was unique in the business world and precedence setting to say the least. The employees did not walk out for higher wages or more benefits, they walked out because they wanted their CEO back. The analysts now have a new model to work with and other businesses have another set of circumstances to think about. Business schools will have to do a lot of thinking as they pick apart the outcome and analyze what happened. The nay sayers are not without their followers. The chain hemorrhaged over $10 million dollars a day for weeks and has yet to prove it can return to a solid footing, The CEO with his loyal following, a group willing to forgo work and pay for weeks are an asset to recon with. Time will tell who was right. If the smiles of customers and employees is any indication, my money is on them. My shopping list still says Market Basket. What will next week bring? Stay tuned.

To be continued......

Jerry

 

A member of another forum I'm on kept us all updated (she was one of the protesters) on this story. So glad the old owner is back! Justice finally prevails

 

An interesting family feud (I had to Google to ind out more) taken very public. The power of the people when aroused can be quite awe inspiring.

 

Good for the old CEO, good for the employees, and good for the public!
I read that the CEO knew employees names, showed up at different stores, and re-instated the health care program.
I guess the Market Basket employees and customers knew when they had a good thing, and wanted it back.

 

Great story! Like Jewell said 'power of the people'!

 

FINALLY!!! Something positive happened in this world that makes me think all in not lost - That there is still some hope out there after all... Otherwise, I swear I had given up on ever hearing anything positive!

Thanks Jerry for bring this to our attention! I wish there was more I could do aside from giving a seed and patch. So I for one would like this thread to become a Featured Topic, or a Super Post.

 

Jerry---Our daughter works as a supervisor for a competitor of Market Basket. It is a 2nd job for her. Prior to the strike, her food store (store X) had downsized because a Market Basket was moving into their town. Then the strike happened & her store has been SWAMPED. This happened when all the high school & college student cashiers, baggers, etc were going back to school. The store personnel have been overwhelmed, working long hours, etc. They are a bit frazzled. Our daughter among them. For her it is her second job, so she has been working 60+ hours a week. Add to this the Market Basket customers who are frustrated by the higher prices & lack of variety. It has been a tough 6 weeks. The personnel at the cashier, supervisor, bagger level will be so happy when Market Basket gets back on line!

Our daughter tells a funny story about MB customers at her store. There is one small door that does not have a automatic door opener on it. Why I don't know. Regular store customers know this & do not try to get their carriages through it. She has had to keep an eye on that door as MB customers come up to it with their carriages only to have the door not open. They back up & try it again & sometimes even a third time! Our daughter says it looks like the Harry Potter scene at the RR station when the Hogwarts students must race their baggage carts into a wall to get to track 13 1/2! She has had to keep an eye on that door & have a bagger race to open the door for them.

 

As Market Basket gets back to 'normal,' a goldmine of stories will entertain us for months to come. Area stores will breath a collective sigh of relief. Last Thursday was like old home week. Inconveniences seemed not to bother anyone, just smiles, laughter and lots of happy faces. I hear that a lot of produce has now made aisle 20 a respectable vegetarian paradise again.

Jerry