DeMoulas Market Basket protest (Boston, Springfield: 2015, income tax, town)

[Allharv]

Originally Posted by Amontillado

Incidentally, I stopped in at the great ballyhooed Wegman's in Burlington a while ago, and I thought it was nothing great. Maybe I missed all the fun somehow.

Wegmans got noticeably worse in terms of prices several months after they opened--probably just had intro deals to generate interest. I previously went there at least once a week but almost never go nowadays. The only things that I regularly buy for which they are still competitive price-wise still is bananas, which you can also get at Stop & Shop for $0.39/pound and sometimes potatoes. Customer service was good sometimes, and disturbingly bad at other times.

[Cloudship]

Originally Posted by Allharv

Wegmans got noticeably worse in terms of prices several months after they opened--probably just had intro deals to generate interest. I previously went there at least once a week but almost never go nowadays. The only things that I regularly buy for which they are still competitive price-wise still is bananas, which you can also get at Stop & Shop for $0.39/pound and sometimes potatoes. Customer service was good sometimes, and disturbingly bad at other times.

I agree. The only items I go there for now are the bread (I think they do have a good bakery) and their cheese selection. Although i am not convinced their cheese prices are any good. unfortunately their meat seems to have slid downhill on quality, and I was never a big fan of their produce. They also have a decent alternative food section. But nothing enough to make it worth going out of my way.

My problem with MB is that they have become SO busy and they just cant seem to keep up with stock. If anything the whole showdown drove more people there, now on a Saturday you can't move.

[G1..]

Originally Posted by xo_kizzy_xo

Which was the point I was trying to make a page or two back. It's akin to the old Stop & Shops or the old Star Markets concentrated in the Greater Boston area because that's where their owners and their families lived. Neither started expanding on a huge scale until they were bought out by conglomerates.

Incorrect . Stop and Shop and Bradleys were expanding out to different areas back in the 70's, I mean NY ,NJ and Maryland .

[Amontillado]

Originally Posted by Cloudship

My problem with MB is that they have become SO busy and they just cant seem to keep up with stock. If anything the whole showdown drove more people there, now on a Saturday you can't move.

I'm familiar with 3 Market Basket stores, in Chelsea, Somerville and Woburn. Somerville is so small and serves such a large clientele that it is indeed a permanent mob scene. The parking lot matches--sometimes there's no space to be found. On the other hand, I heard the Chelsea Market Basket was the biggest supermarket in New England when it was built, and buying a range of stuff there involves major exercise just getting around the store. You can look down the line of registers (I think there are 38) and see them tapering off to nothing in the distance. Yet that place is also crowded, I imagine because it offers cheap stuff in an area that's generally not wealthy. The Woburn store is nice. It's tolerably compact, and it always seems to have a comfortable number of people in it, enough that you don't feel isolated, but it's rarely uncomfortably crowded.

Retail stores are sometimes rated commercially according to how much turnover they generate per square foot of space. Measured that way, the Somerville Market Basket must be doing incredible business.

[timberline742]

I shop at the Somerville one and it is rarely bad when I go. I go in the evening or at 7 or 8am on the weekend. Never a crowd during mornings on the weekends.

[robr2]

The Somerville store is over 30 years old. It was built in the days when the competition was Foodmaster, Star, and Stop&Shop - all of which were small footprint stores. I'm guessing MB won't upgrade it to one of their new stores because the cost would be too great.

The Chelsea store is enormous and it draws from Chelsea, Everett, Saugus and previously Revere. With the new store in the Revere, they can now draw from East Boston and Lynn.

The Woburn store is a pain in the neck. I refuse to shop there as it's small compared to their newer stores and the parking lot is a nightmare.

[495neighbor]

In my area Acton, I have Market Baskets in Littleton and Westford. The are only 3.5 miles apart and serve most of the same towns. The Westford one is still packed all the time, while the Littleton one has low to moderate traffic when I shop there.

[johngolf]

Mike (Telemachus) DeMoulas, Artie's father always said a full parking lot is a happy parking lot..........LOL
Artie was called ditto as he was so much like his father and as he ages he even looks more like him.

[robr2]

I was down in Rhode Island last week and stopped at a Market Basket in Attleboro. I would say about half the cars in the lot had RI plates. I wonder when Artie T will stretch into RI itself.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by robr2

I was down in Rhode Island last week and stopped at a Market Basket in Attleboro. I would say about half the cars in the lot had RI plates. I wonder when Artie T will stretch into RI itself.

That store is inches from the state line so it's not surprising. Bourne and New Bedford are both about 90 miles from Tewksbury. 90 miles would get you to Warwick. I'd think that is the practical limit. There might be corporate tax/employment law reasons why Market Basket might opt for Seekonk instead. That's within the 90 mile perimeter of Tewksbury.