After six weeks of passive aggressive public statements from shareholders, CEOs and even governors, The Market Basket saga has finally come to an end.
Arthur T. Demoulas, the former Market Basket CEO who was fired at the end of June this year, will be purchasing majority shares of the beleaguered grocery store chain and resume day-to-day operational management of the company. Demoulas has reportedly bought majority shares of the company for $1.5 billion.
The deal was reached in a Board of Directors meeting late Wednesday night.
Current Co-CEOs Felicia Thornton and James Gooch will remain in their positions throughout the closing of the buyout deal, however, Demoulas and his management team will have full operational authority over the company.
According to Wednesday’s announcement on the Save Market Basket Facebook page, “The entire management team including those fired and those who resigned will be back as well to start the process of rebuilding.”
Market Basket workers are thrilled at the news and grateful to get back to work. They have a long road ahead of them in order to turn the company back around quickly; customer sales during the six-week ordeal plummeted down 90%.
On the Save Market Basket Facebook page, the news was was celebratory, but practical and forward-looking:
“Tonight we raise a glass to Artie T and each other as we have achieved the most improbable of upsets. Tomorrow we go to work and never, in the history of people going to work, will so many people be so happy to punch the clock.”
It’s been an impressive six weeks to watch a non-unionized workforce rally around it’s CEO as the Market Basket workers have with such passion and commitment. Even more impressive is the fact that it worked.
Whether or not Market Basket will be able to recover the massive amount of lost business over the last six weeks still remains to be seen.
But by all indications, with a customer base as loyal as that of Market Baskets, it will be a welcome change to see shoppers back in the stores once again.
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