Market Basket protests stymie Maine growth
Market Basket’s plan to open more stores in southern Maine are on hold as a result of ongoing protests by employees seeking to reverse the firing of the grocery chain’s CEO.
Micum McIntire, store director for Market Basket’s Biddeford location, told the Portland Press Herald the company was previously planning to open more stores in Maine because of strong sales in Biddeford. But now its future plans for Maine are uncertain.
McIntire told the newspaper that stores under various stages of construction have been halted in Massachusetts as a result of the protests, making chances for a bigger push into Maine very slim.
The Massachusetts-based chain's board voted in June to fire company President Arthur T. Demoulas over a long dispute between two families vying for control of the company. The company's board said he was fired because Demoulas had been ignoring directives from the board and was responsible for overspending.
Demoulas' ouster prompted protests by many employees, who said Demoulas had committed to keeping the company family-owned and wouldn't support pay cuts for employees.
Besides impeding growth plans, the protests also have interrupted deliveries and, as a result, prevented the Biddeford store and others from re-stocking some shelves.
Market Basket, which owns 70 supermarkets between New Hampshire and Massachusetts, opened its first Maine store in Biddeford last August. The grocery chain's entry into Maine had been projected to drive down prices in competing stores as more non-traditional stores vie for the food-purchasing dollars of grocery shoppers, as reported by Mainebiz.
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