Market Basket protests

On June 23, 2014, the Board of Directors of DeMoulas Super Markets, Inc. (led by Arthur S. Demoulas), the company that runs the Market Basket chain of supermarkets, fired President and CEO Arthur T. Demoulas. Demoulas's dismissal resulted in protests from the company's employees and customers. The protests ended on August 27, 2014, when the company's shareholders, including Arthur S. Demoulas, agreed to sell their shares to Arthur T. Demoulas.

In 1954, brothers Telemachus "Mike" Demoulas and George A. Demoulas purchased Demoulas Market, their parents' mom and pop-style store in Lowell, Massachusetts, for $15,000 and converted it into a modern supermarket. The brothers eventually expanded their business into a chain of supermarkets, with locations through Massachusetts and New Hampshire in the northeastern United States. George Demoulas died in 1971. In 1990, the widow and children of George Demoulas (including his son, Arthur S. Demoulas) sued Telemachus Demoulas, alleging that they had been defrauded out of their shares in the company. Arthur S. Demoulas later filed a second suit, this time alleging that Telemachus Demoulas had diverted assets from the jointly-owned family company to ones controlled by him and his children. Both cases were decided in favor of the plaintiffs. Judge Maria Lopez awarded George's family about $206 million and 50.5% of the company. She also ordered that Telemachus Demoulas be removed as president of the company.

In 2008, Telemachus's son Arthur T. Demoulas was named President and CEO of DeMoulas Super Markets, Inc. During his tenure as CEO, sales grew from $3 billion a year to over $4 billion, and the number of employees increased from 14,000 to 25,000. During the same time, competitors Stop & Shop and Shaw's closed many of their stores due to financial troubles. Market Basket also faced new competition from discount-grocer Wegmans. Demoulas was known for his ability to remember his employees' names, birthdays, and milestones, attending many of their weddings and funerals, checking in on ill employees, and asking about the spouses and children of his workers. He was seen as a father figure by a number of his employees and compared to It's a Wonderful Life protagonist George Bailey for his willingness to put people over profit. However, Demoulas's opponents criticized him for being "openly defiant" of the board of directors and having a "dictatorial" management style.

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