The long-running Demoulas family squabble, in which two branches of a Lowell family (one of them originally headed by a man named Telemachus, who disappointingly preferred to be called Mike) battle for control of a supermarket empire, has been appealed to the Supreme Court. That gives Bostonist a good opportunity to wax poetic about the actual subject matter of the dispute, Market Basket grocery stores. Bostonist loves Market Basket above all other supermarkets and wants nothing more than to win converts, no matter the outcome of the lawsuit. Why? Because a trip to our local Somerville store never fails to entertain and excite. The place is always impossibly full of people, abuzz with happy family energy and inexplicably harmonious: although shopping cart gridlock regularly makes the checkout lanes look like the Sagamore Bridge rotary on a Friday afternoon, tempers rarely heat up; Haitian grandmas coo in Creole at Brazilian babies while their parents ask questions in Portuguese and the employees respond in Spanish; old ladies speaking languages Bostonist can't even recognize ask for help retrieving products from high shelves. It is one of the few places where the jolly, no-big-deal multiculturalism of public television cartoons is a reality, proving what Woodrow Wilson said when he first proposed the League of Nations: All peoples can come together in peace for low prices and good produce. (OK, maybe he didn't say that, but he would have if he'd been to Somerville.)
And the prices really are good. Bostonist routinely gets double the amount of food for the same price we might spend at our local Shaw's, and we don't even have to remember that card. (And don't even get us started on the prices at Whole Foods!) Add to that the good selection, including the availability of many strange and exciting fruits and roots, and a Goya products section bigger than some towns in New Hampshire, and we can understand why someone might wage one of the longest legal battles in Massachusetts history to control this place ($1.5 billion doesn't hurt either).
Contributed by Josh Michtom
Photo courtesy of flickr.com/Jason Brackins
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My wife and I always shop at Market Basket... either the one on Endicott Street in Danvers or the one on Highland Ave in Salem. Their prices truly are the best... as the slogan goes, "Why pay more?" Even at their newer Danvers location, the store still has an unpretentious, non-glossy feel to it. And their staff generally seems to be much friendlier than the people at Shaw's and Stop-and-Shop.
Yeah, I loves the Somerville MB. It get's a little too crazy on Sundays and there are a few things for which I still go to TJoes or WFoods, but MB saves me much money indeed. The diverse clientele is a nice thing, and I needs my regular fix of Goya guanabana nectar. Last time I went a few days without, I woke up strapped to the lightning rod atop the Pru with the silhouette of a chupacabra carved into my forehead.
I LOVE the Market Basket and I am lucky enough to shop at the original Market Basket here in Lowell.
It is always nice to see a good Market Basket shout-out, especially since most people like 'fancier' supermarkets.
MB + MG = True luv 4 eva!
MarketBasket sells rotten foods just look what the FDA writes about there foods.And poeple who have complaints managerment rejects them and tell customers scew off that they lie. Shop some place eles and mark you to employees as a trouble marker so they can harass you.I called headquaters about there employees doing this than they set me up with police and had me arrested. Thats thier proplem solving.Rotten food and managers. One day soon I well get my justice. This store in Rochester NH will pay for humiliation they did to me.The puplic is not safe in there stores I can not believe our state lets these poeple get away with feeding posion food to the poeple this is unsafe.
As if you didn't know Market Basket is a dangerous place to shop. Managers are train to harass customers who complain about their employees who attack customers. This type of complaint well get you arrested on faults charges.They lie to police make faults reports to police just to prevent lawsuits.People have no rigths and are treated with no respect on their property.The manager in Rochester NH has had people say bad things about his store and some rotten things he's done to people yet the head manager in Mass keeps this asso.This guys wife even steels from the kids baseball teams in this town and was arrested for it.The manager steels food from this store but as every body that steels from his store prosercuted in court for do the same.High school kids that try to work for this store tell other kids the manager at MarketBasket is a moron.In Derry NH an Market Basket employee smashed someones face in and managerment say they are not resposible for employees actions.This is what they said in court.Customers are not safe on their property.Plus the FDA says their fish and meats are poison not fit to sell but they keep selling garbage.Cheap prices you get what you pay for. smarten up people. Don't shop at these's stores managers don't now how to deal with the public.These's people are drity rotten basdards!
Yes its me again I just found out MarketBaskets managermant at the Portsmouth NH store would not take rolled up coins from a customer so he unrolled them for employees to see.The head manager kick the customer out of the store and called him in pubic a terrorist.What kind of traning did this manager have none hes a moron just like the manager in Rochester NH rotten to the core I would say.MarketBasket has no training program the evidence is clear for the public to see. Somethings ROTTEN in NH's MB's You have not heard the last of me I well be back with more good news about this store.
Hey! Whats going on with MB lately is that all you people got to say about this store is good things? Tell the truth we all know why you shop there because its cheap in every way possible even managers. I just hope you continue to be customers and not a victim like some of us innocent folk. Have you seen or read anything about this stores doing unjustly things to people. Its not like them to be this innocent for this long of a preiod. Managers retrained I doubt it. Something is keeping them in check or its just our luck. Have a Happy Easter!
Funny how the same person posted 5 straight entries.