Five, six, seven, eight...

Their's a problem in Houston.

Their's a problem in Houston.

Why are people boycotting this store?

There are multiple posts on DU and Greywarrior has been a damn near full-time correspondent (Thanks Grey!).

For a fast primer here is a facebook site put up by the workers:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Market-Basket/136649323208808

until now.

The chain is owned and operated by the Demoulas family. One brother has been CEO for many years and is very popular among employees and customers for his commitment to low prices and fair wages/working conditions. He was recently ousted by his brother and the corporate board. Customers and employees have waged a huge boycott, work stoppage and protest of all Market basket locations in a show of support for Artie Demoulas. This is very uncommon in that Market Basket employees are not members of a union, they have each individually taken it upon themselves to show solidarity because they feel that Market Basket removed the CEO in order to raise profits by squeezing employees, many of whom have worked for the company for decades.
Market Basket has been a profitable company for decades, while balancing fair wages and low prices and has gained the respect of employees and customers alike, because of the efforts of Artie demoulas.

Last edited Sat Aug 2, 2014, 11:57 AM - Edit history (1)

Their fathers were the brothers who started the chain * and it was Arthur T's father, Mike, who screwed over George's branch of the family after George died. That's why there is such animosity within the Demoulas clan.

None of that diminishes what Arthur T has accomplished during his time at the helm. It's remarkable how solid his support is among workers. That says a lot. I'm glad the customers are voting with their feet too.


*their father started the family market, the brothers made it into the supermarket chain.

falling out years ago--it's why "Demoulas" became "Market Basket."

Artie T. (who was involved in some of that acrimony) grew up in the intervening years, and focused his energies on being a good boss...and his loyalty to the workers was rewarded with loyalty. That's why the workers all went out when he got fired.

Customers are really making this happen. I am delighted -- and sort of pop-eyed. Photos show boycott is really effective. Congratulations to all.

of my faith in people has been restored… awesome!

We have to eat to live and have to work to afford to eat. Just make sure you can control the choices and they won't have any more of these unfortunate incidents. Can continue with business as usual and make a killing.

Bastards.

BOD accepts the inevitable.

There is so much personal animosity here though, it's hard to imagine that Artie S can put his pride on hold and do the right thing.

nothing organized, of people applying at the job-fairs so that MB thinks they've reached full-staff then either not showing up or joining the protests. They're an hour away for me but I might apply just so I can tell them to stick this job when they offer it to me.

This story has been fascinating to follow.

a district supervisor last night on his show. One of the few times I've seen Hayes almost speechless.

http://www.msnbc.com/all-in-with-chris-hayes/watch/a-picket-line-in-support-of-a-ceo-314152003663

it is worth the watch

Thank you for posting this video.

Take that, all you naysayers who think boycotts don't work. They damn sure do. And this is solid proof in real time that they do. Thanks for the pics, catnhatnh. Do you have a link to the local newspaper of this particular store?

We generally save about 20% over other chains by shopping there. My family has been boycotting them for over two weeks.
The customers fear is that if the new management continues to control the business, the prices will rise. The employees fear losing their good benefits and profit-sharing and raises. Hence the alignment of customers and employees interest in bringing back the former CEO. We have nothing to lose.

... but I didn't know it was 72 stores in all those states. Wow. Do you know how many of those other communities are supporting the boycott? If the boycott is region-wide, you have a very good chance of convincing the owners to bring back the CEO they had. But if it's only at your store, I don't know.

Especially on social media.

facebook; https://www.facebook.com/groups/SaveArtieTSaveMB/

web; http://wearemarketbasket.com/

I am anxious to see what's going to happen. Hope the other guy is reseated as the CEO and life goes back to normal for all effected, employees and communities.

Every single one of them is like the OP. We and everyone we know has stopped shopping there. Its like that at all of them. Its an amazing thing to see.

Stick it to 'em. Close them down!

To the employees, to the customers, to the citizens, this is the way to stick together and show united support. I hope they are successful, and I hope this catches on in other parts of the country.

It's long overdue that the American worker be reminded that if they stand together, they are a powerful force.

It is time that companies put customers and employees before shareholders!

Consumers can shut you down when they want to. Just be nice to your employees and fair to the people who shop in your stores and you'll be fine.

All it takes is for you to keep your greed in check.

Businesses think they can do whatever the fuck they want because they can buy politicians outright, which is true as far as it goes.

But we can still decide to withhold our business.

I don't get that, but I'm glad to see a boycott succeed.

I live in NE Ohio and have never heard of this company before this week. Maybe I never will again.

Receipts from purchases at other stores.

Awesome, Market Basket customers!

show the amount of money they are losing.

I think the customers who are boycotting the store put the receipts on the doors.

I also live in Ohio.

We do not have Market Basket in our area either.

Thank you.

rather than cave in to mere employees and customers.

Assholes.

They literally LOVE standing over an employee and reminding them that their life is in their hands

Want vacation? then kiss my rightwing ass or I will make you HOMELESS!

I am NOT exaggerating, I know from firsthand experience and this applies to ALL rightwing business owners.

is in town--maybe she'll switch her vote back again...?

Slow-downs, strikes and boycotts are the next phase after protesting is ignored and ridiculed by the press.

The Limbaugh boycott has cost them millions. He's being propped up by outside money from the likes of the Kochs, but some in the industry are saying he's getting by "on fumes."

It's like they think they're above the law...they'd best think again.

I am freaking impressed!!!

We can make a difference!! This just shows it.

Go Market Basket employees!!!!!!


Cher

WalMart needs to be on the list. We don't need their hearts and minds, we don't need their balls in a vise, all we need to do is cut off their cash. Their strength is their weakness.

ass but I won't cross the line.

The store has nice employees who are friendly and helpful, really good prices, a wonderful selection of groceries (they cater to a wide variety of ethnic tastes)--it's just a great place to shop for groceries. It's not glamorous looking, but it's not spartan, either. It's got a kind of retro feel to it; the old school linoleum, the "functional" shelves, the generous delis--it's a great store (all 71 of them). Some of them have in-store bakeries, and the bread is wonderful.

Walmart doesn't have the same dynamic. See, these MB workers aren't fighting against a shitty boss, they are fighting to KEEP a GREAT boss. The great boss was fired, and the shitty board wants to take away all their benefits. They are well compensated, as grocery workers go--they get bonuses, leave, educational stipends--it's a good place to work. The workers don't want the Stop and Shop paradigm, where workers are devalued and scolded--they want a place where the managers care about them and they have an opportunity to move up within the system. That is what they are fighting to keep.

The customers have a personal relationship with the workers at the stores. At the one I usually go to, the manager knows me, I know him. I know a lot of the cashiers too, by face if not by name. You can tell if someone likes their job or not--these people like their jobs. It shows. Even the customers in the stores are friendly to one another--it's like an odd club.

your solidarity with the employees.

I used to patronize the franchise when it was called "Demoulas" (before the big dust-up between the family factions that resulted in the creation of Market Basket).

I wouldn't think of crossing that line--it would be like betraying family, and that is what all the workers are like--they're friends, people we see a couple of times a week. I can't turn my back on 'em.

That, I think, is what these corporate nitwits who haven't been involved in the day-to-day management of the business do not understand. Before the workers even went out, customers were aware of what was going on, the discontent brewing, and were going up to the manager in the store where I shop and telling him they've got his back. I joined that queue. I said the same to the cashiers I know.

I'll only go there to put my shitty Stop and Shop receipt on the door! I may do that tomorrow!

M/B employees actually seem to LIKE each other, and their jobs, and the customers. Wal-Mart prefers it's help poor, frightened, and a paycheck away from a spot under the bridge.

I've been in towns where if you want something, it's mail order or Wallyworld.

And Wally doesn't overcharge, really--they just treat their employees like shit.

The Market Basket dynamic was very different. There IS grocery choice in the region, but MB is way cheaper. The employees there are NICE and happy to be on the job, and it shows. The products that MB sells are wonderful and varied, if you want food choice/ethnic items, they're there. Their "house" brands are real quality products, many better than national brands. The Corporate bosses want to jack up the prices, fire workers so there's less customer service, increase the part time workers, reduce the benefits, limit the whole promotion from within aspect, and penny pinch to get more dough to the already very profitable board.

We're just not putting up with it as customers. They can't get away with this, because we like the place the way it is, and we like the happy, well-compensated workers. We like the good prices. We like the varied foods that appeal to all of us. They're trying to take all that away from us, and we aren't standing for it.

Walmart: 'Going to a very dark place'
Walmart may not go the way of RadioShack (RSH) any time soon. But Goldman Sachs says that customers are abandoning the big-box pioneer in droves.
On Tuesday, the investment bank downgraded Walmart (WMT)'s stock to 'Neutral,' saying that big-box stores are losing out to online retailers and stores with more focused inventories.

With $469 billion in annual sales, Walmart isn't quite going out of business, but the retailer has seen sales slip for five straight quarters. Online shopping is clearly hurting the store, as more customers turn to Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) and other merchants for everyday items such as hardware and groceries.
E-commerce is making Walmart's vast breadth of merchandise less appealing to shoppers. Instead, customers are looking for better deals on a more narrow assortment of goods available at stores like Costco (COST) and dollar stores The bank upgraded Costco's stock to Buy.
Goldman noted that Amazon's move into grocery sales is the biggest threat facing Walmart and a risk to Costco.
Despite the bank's pessimism about big-box retailers, maintained a 'Buy" rating on Target (TGT).
Related story: Walmart seizes on Amazon's move against publisher
Walmart grew to be the world's largest retailer by promising the lowest prices and getting shoppers to pick up things like screwdrivers or towels on a whim when they came in for cold medicine. Today, though, Walmart's customers are "rationing" purchases and checking the store's prices against Web-based stores, according to Brian Sozzi, CEO of Belus Capital Advisors.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/07/30/news/companies/goldman-walmart-downgrade/index.html?hpt=ob_articleallcontentsidebar&iid=obnetwork

employees are treated (which is similar to the Artie T. Demoulas' model) is the way to go.

People like to go to places where it's obvious people like their jobs. I can't understand why all these CEOs with their stupid, penny pinching MBAs can't "get" this. One part of the whole profit equation involves a satisfied customer parting with his or her cash.

That said, there are some "deserts" in the landscape where, if you can't wait a couple of days for Amazon to get it to you, you've got no choice but to head to Wallyworld.

inbred WalMart heirs.

That customers are taking part in the boycott, not just the employees who are not union. The reason this is happening is because MB pays decent wages, instead of succumbing to the latest trend to drop wages and bennies in all jobs in the US (except management and CEO's). The citizens of this country need to start standing up all over to this trend, and start boycotting all the places that don't pay living wages. It's just a start, but it's a beautiful start and should give us all a nudge in the right direction.

Support your local employees when they picket their stores for living wages.

because truckers and warehouse workers have supported the boycott. I believe MB CEO's have hired some scab truckers and warehouse people, but customers aren't buying so the store managers are donating almost-dated fresh food to local shelters.
I've also read that many deliveries from vendors are COD only as they are having difficulties paying their bills

You have to understand that finding a parking spot at most of these stores is hard most of the time (open 7 - 7). The parking lots really DO look like this now. Competition chains have had to bring in workers from Maine to deal with the up-tick in customers and to keep their shelves stocked.

The customers are not going in. And nothing is being stocked in those sections because there are no customers, so workers are not being called in to work because there's nothing to do because people are not buying.

I just drove by my local one again, lots of employees on their off hours with signs. Parking lot empty on a Friday night. Usually packed in there because of what people get (dinner, cafe stuff, weekend shopping, etc).

They're losing $10 million a day because the customers have walked off in support of the employees who are in support of their fired boss.

This has been going on for two weeks.

it's not staged. It's happening right now.

(I usually prefer to go midday on a middle-of-the-week day) I would see the "divorced parent" trailed by a few kids, filling the cart with goodies for the rugrats! Even during the "slow times" the place was always busy.

I think the ten million a day might be a conservative estimate.

Damn, I'm missing MB, though--I've had to go to Stop-n-Shit twice already...buying the minimum. We've even ordered take out a few times which is not our normal routine. We may go out to dinner tonight!

I won't cross their doorway if they don't restore Artie T., as the workers have asked.

They'll have lost a customer, permanently.

I'm back at Hannaford as our MB only opened just over a year ago. And it's a shocker just how much less I'm getting and how much more I'm paying.

I think the little diner-ish restaurant nearby is going to benefit tonight or tomorrow!

I deliberately shot around them-I had no idea what the policy was on cameras in the store and feared that even if he approved a manager might have had to eject me if he saw me or a customer reported me. There is a clock in one photo showing it to be about 4:25 in the afternoon. The shots were taken yesterday.

My Market Basket never looks deserted even at 7AM! Kudos to the brave employees that are leading this boycott and to the customers that support them.

what are the cuts? Cuts always come from the bottom, i.e., employee benefits, store maintenance, quality of goods, and hourly wage. Mitt Romney would be so proud of Market Basket!!

Oops, they forgot one thing. Employees and customers don't appreciate being shat upon. Employees strike and customers take their business elsewhere. Maybe earning profits from a going business isn't really the plan at all. That could be why they got rid of a successful manager -- think of all they are saving not paying his salary.

The standard plan (Bain Capital) is to run it out of business, sell the assets (inventory and equipment), sell the retail lease and pocket the cash. The owners can then do whatever with all that money and not have to worry about paying employees or actually running a business. Do we know if Bain has had a hand in this?

Seems customers are showing that they are shopping elsewhere. This store historically started in Lowell, MA. Original union town from the 1830's mill days.

I was in California during the grocery union strike there. All they wanted was to keep the health plan they already HAD but the local RW Talk Radio (KFI) was railing against the strikers as if they were all a bunch of Commies out to destroy "free market capitalism".

Some of the big chains tracked which neighborhoods honored the strike and after the strike was over those particular stores were shut down. It's sad to see your local grocery store that can trace its history all the way back to the Kennedy Era become a discount furniture store with an empty parking lot.

Doesn't anybody else think that this might be before the store was open? I always take pictures from the internet with a grain of salt and I kind of want to call BS on this.

My son reports totally empty parking lots all day long. No one is breaking the boycott. Lowell, Ma. Union town.

Apologies to them.

cynicism is a basic tool on the net....I took the photos and it's hard to believe. This is the most healthy labor action I've ever seen.

All of the parking lots are essentially empty.

The corporate office is in Tewksbury, MA. I had to meet with a potential client there two weeks ago, and at the time, the initial tally was happening, and there were thousands of people in the parking lot. Police had to direct traffic coming off the highway. It was amazing!!

This is really what's happening. All the market baskets around my area all look like this. If you need to see the proof go to the local news websites. Myfoxboston.com , thebostonchannel.com, whdh.com, or the local paper lowellsun.com. The receipts on the doors are from hannaford, shaws, stop n shops etc. to show the customers are spending their money elsewhere. There are numerous pictures, videos etc.

I am a loyal Market Basket customer and have not set foot in the store since the boycott started. The pictures are real. I have driven past our store to give a thumbs up to the employees and believe me, the parking lot is empty and Market Basket's parking lot is always packed.

The people aren't giving up or giving in. I love it.

K&R

...to their brokers: ''MOVE THIS MONEY OVER THERE!!! AND PUT THE BONDS IN THAT SECRET OFF-SHORE ACCOUNT THAT MY WIFE KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT!!! AND THEN CASHOUT MY ACCOUNTS IN JAMAICA!!! NOW!!! -- and such like so they can try to keep their lifestyles afloat while they wait-out the commoners.

- Suck it 1%ers!!! YES!

I have a dream...

I also have a dream. We can fight the corporations.

I have been posting, from time to time, that we have to sow these cads that we won't take their sh*t and we won't give them our $$. If we have to we should show them that their $$ is worthless to us.

It will take nearly all of us to turn things around but we can do it if we do it together.

Great OP, thanks!!

To try to hang on to the Market Basket customers that are flocking to their stores. I have no idea what Shaw's is up to, and really don't care - they're THAT MUCH more expensive.

They picket on their own time.

Some of them bring water and wave a sign!

warehouse and delivery guys walked out and store personnel stayed in. So you've got stores without meat bread and dairy and produce (basically worthless for one stop shopping) with full staffing. throw in a strong customer boycott and some stores can't even make payroll...

Thanks for the post and pictures.

to take all power from them.

And nothing infuriates the wealthy more than us not caring about or desiring what they have.