It’s Been a Decade Since the Market Basket Ownership War Rocked New England

New England Rivalries

For decades, there have been massive rivalries fought within the borders of New England. Red Sox vs. Yankees. Celtics vs. Lakers. Bruins vs. Habs. The dress is blue vs. the dress is gold.

And in 2014, one of the biggest battles to ever be fought in the region went down, legitimately captivating every single New Englander and keeping us all on the edge of our seats.

Market Basket Ownership Battle

Even though it was happening in the background for years, the actual public battle between Market Basket owners seemed to come on out of nowhere back in 2014, but let's rewind back to 2009 when it actually began happening behind the scenes.

Artie T vs Arthur S

According to The Guardian, back in 2009, Arthur S. filed a lawsuit based on the then-Market Basket CEO, Artie T., making some investments that apparently went against the company's investment policy.

The battles continued behind the scenes for a while, and along the way, allegiances changed on the Board of Directors level, which eventually led to Artie T. and a couple of other trustees being outright fired from the company altogether.

And that's when all the public action began.

Market Basket Protests

As a result of the Artie T. firing, multiple protests broke out at various Market Basket locations, including the corporate headquarters in Tewksbury, Massachusetts.

What followed was quite possibly the biggest definition of a good versus evil battle that New England itself has ever internally experienced, with Artie T. being positioned as the good, man-of-the-people leader looking out for both employees and customers, and Arthur S. being painted as the evil, greedy, corporate overlord that just wanted his massive payday and would step on anyone to get it.

And even though the power struggle was technically happening within the Demoulas family, almost the entirety of New England -- in what may have been the last real example of people being unified, unlike the massive divide we live with everyday currently -- became its own family.

The Artie T. family.

After months of protesting, job withdrawals both at the corporate and "regular people" level within the Market Basket organization, and store shelves becoming relatively bare at all locations, state officials from both Massachusetts and New Hampshire stepped in, according to WGBH, and a massive offer was made.

Artie T. dropped a massive offer to buy out his other family members and take 100% ownership control of Market Basket -- a deal that was eventually accepted, and the rest is history.

Artie T. was back in charge, employees felt protected and respected again, and customers celebrated feeling like they once again were being looked out for instead of price gauged. It truly felt like good had prevailed over evil.

Arthur S. got his big payday, and the Market Basket train, under Artie T.'s leadership, has been rolling and thriving since, including expanding its geographical footprint, with its latest store in Topsham -- Maine's third location -- set to open this summer.