MANCHESTER, NH – Market Basket’s latest ownership dispute won’t affect operations at its stores, including 33 in New Hampshire, company officials have told employees and customers.
CEO Arthur T. Demoulas and other executives of the company were placed on paid leave Wednesday by the Tewksbury, Mass.-based company’s board.
The board alleges Demoulas hasn’t been cooperating on business matters for months, and was planning a “disruption of business and operations” at the company’s 95 stores. The company’s 33 New Hampshire stores include three Nashua and several in the Manchester area including one on Elm Street, as well as in Bedford and Hooksett. Aside from New Hampshire, Market Basket has stores in Massachusetts, Maine and Rhode Island and employs around 36,000 people.
A memo to employees from the board’s executive board Wednesday said that the stores will operate as usual and their jobs are safe.
“We can assure you that none of your jobs are in jeopardy, employment benefits and all benefits including bonuses, profit-sharing are completely secure,” the memo said. “This action and other has nothing to do with the way we operate: our business and nothing about our everyday values or the work that makes Market Basket’s culture so special will change.”
The memo added, “Market Basket is a place that our local communities consistently count on for their daily needs and their livelihoods — actions from the top that put that at risk would harm Market Basket and its customers, vendors, and you, our valued associates. We are seeking to avoid that and ensure our business and culture remain intact. During this time, the Board will rely on the existing dedicated management team to ensure that the operations of Market Basket will maintain superb service that customers expect and enjoy.”
The memo alleged that Demoulas’ planned disruption of operations was in retaliation for the board asking him to “work collaboratively…regarding basic operations and plans.”
Demoulas has responded that the allegations are groundless and he’s the victim of a hostile takeover by his sisters and their three representatives, who make up the executive committee of the four-member board. Demoulas and his representatives have told media outlets that he would not lead a walkout of employees, since that would hurt grocery operations.
“Under Mr. Demoulas’ leadership in December of 2024, the company paid off $1.6 billion in debt that financed the purchase of the company in 2014,” his spokesperson, Justine Griffin, said in a statement to the media. “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.”
Also put on paid leave were Demoulas’ son Telemachus, his daughter Madeline, Director of Operations Joe Schmidt and Grocery Supervisor Tom Gordon. The board’s executive committee also hired law firm Quinn Emanuel to investigate Demoulas, the Boston Globe reported.
It’s not the first time a family squabble has escalated to this level at Market Basket. Demoulas, CEO at the time, was fired in 2014 by his cousin Arthur S. Demoulas, who was chair of the company’s board. The move prompted a mass walkout by store employees loyal to Arther T., as well as boycotts and protests by customers.
Arther T. Demoulas, with the help of the three sisters behind his ouster now – Frances Kettenbach, Caren Pasquale, and Glorianne Farnham – was able to buy out his cousin for $1.6 billion and take control of the company. He now owns 28% of the company and controls one seat on the four-member board.
Demoulas hired back employees who were fired after the walkout and last summer, in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of those events, paid employees a bonus.
The Boston Globe reported that the current issues heated up after the company paid off that $1.6 billion buyout debt at the end of last year. A board member aligned with Demoulas was pushed out, leaving one Demoulas ally, who is not part of the executive committee, on the board. The other three members – Chair Jay Hachigian, Michael Keyes and Steven Collins – were appointed by Demoulas’ sisters.