Offer to bring back Artie T. seen as ploy, PR stunt

Arthur T. Demoulas ... has had little comment since protests began

In a ploy dismissed immediately as disingenuous the three independent directors of the Market Basket Board of Directors unveiled a proposal Friday to bring Arthur T. Demoulas back to the beleaguered company - but not as CEO.
Under the proposal, Demoulas, known as Artie T. by employees, would be allowed to return with his entire management team, including all those who resigned or were dismissed, according to a statement from the independent directors, however current co-CEOs Felicia Thornton and Jim Gooch would remain in power.
"There is no reason to not meet in the middle," the independent directors said in the statement. "Mr. Demoulas gets his management team back in place, associates can get back to doing their job, customers can get back to shopping and the company gets the breathing room needed to create an orderly and productive way forward."
A spokeswoman for Artie T. dismissed the offer as disingenuous.
The ploy is seen by most as an attempt by the current Market Basket management team to shore up the sagging supermarket giant to make it more attractive to potential buyers, using the expertise and cache of Artie T, who ironically has made three separate offers, the most recent on Thursday, to return as CEO to do the very same thing.
Each of Artie T.’s written offers have been quickly rejected.
The three independent board of directors members were appointed by Arthur S. Demoulas, who has been feuding with Artie T. over the direction of the company for more than 20 years.
Artie T., who has championed lower prices for consumers and better pay for workers, was ousted from his CEO position earlier this summer, leading to more than three weeks of picketing by angry employees and store boycotts by customers who have joined in the protests.
Store revenues have dropped by more than 95 percent and Market Basket execs are now ratcheting up the pressure on store managers to make revenue or reduce staff, which led to Black Thursday, when thousands of part timers were told that come Sunday they need not report to work.
Governors from Massachusetts and New Hampshire on Friday, staring at huge numbers of unemployment applications from laid off workers, pleaded with the company to resolve their internal dispute.