Shoppers are returning to local Market Basket supermarkets as store, warehouse and corporate employees followed in the return Thursday of company president and CEO Arthur T. Demoulas.
This comes after the company shareholders and board of directors agreed to a $1.5 billion deal from Arthur T. and two sisters to buy out the 50.5 percent share of the business held by rival and cousin, Arthur S. Demoulas and his side of the family. Yesterday, Demoulas addressed jubilant workers at an impromptu rally.
“Because of you, I stand here with a renewed vigor and a sense of purpose. May we always remember this past summer—first as a time where our collective values of loyalty, courage and kindness for one another really prevailed. In that process, we just happened to save our company,” Demoulas said.
Workers fired by the management team of Felicia Thornton and James Gooch are among those who returned to their jobs. Tom Trainor, Tom Gordon, Joe Garon, Steve Paulenka, Jim Lacourse, Joe Schmidt, Dean Joyce and Mike Kettenbach rung up legal costs. It is not known whether Market Basket–back under Demoulas’ helm–will reimburse them.