Dive Brief:
- Arthur T. Demoulas has completed his takeover of the Market Basket supermarket chain, ending a family feud that mesmerized workers, shoppers, and the rest of New England.
- Demoulas, known as Artie T., had been an enormously popular leader. When he was ousted as CEO this summer in a coup led by his cousin, the grocery chain's workers walked off the job and consumers boycotted the operation. By August, his enemies had surrendered and agreed to sell the chain to Artie T.
- That sale was completed last week, and Artie T. showed his gratitude to his staff by spending some $49 million on holiday bonuses.
Dive Insight:
In today's era of private equity, shareholders-not-stakeholders attitudes, and cost-cutting management styles, the fact that the world still has an Artie T. is arguably a miracle. The workers at Market Basket have apparently known that, and over the summer, the rest of the food industry learned it as well.