Area Market Basket plans poised for revival |
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“The Market Basket opportunity is now alive and well,” Swampscott developer Charles Patsios, who was poised to build Lynn’s first Market Basket on the former GE Factory of the Future site, said Monday. Demoulas was fired in June by a board controlled by his cousin Arthur S. Demoulas. Employees of the supermarket chain walked off their jobs in protest, and hundreds of warehouse workers and drivers refused to deliver fresh produce to the chain’s 71 stores, leaving shelves depleted. Customers soon began shopping elsewhere; some because they could not find fresh food at Market Basket, while others stayed away in to show support for the workers and Arthur T. Demoulas. The usually crowded stores turned into ghost towns, with only a trickle of customers. The chain’s owners finally signed off on a plan to sell the majority of the company’s shares Wednesday night to Arthur T. for a reported financing package of $1.5 billion, including cash and a $500-million loan from a private equity firm. The chain, known for its low prices, lost tens of millions of dollars during the standoff. The dispute also put plans for new locations in Revere and Lynn in limbo. Rizzo said the 80,000-square-foot Squire Road location is physically ready to open, and officials were originally planning a ribbon-cutting ceremony for this September. But the turmoil kept the store from opening, and supermarket management has not begun the hiring process for an expected 400 employees. “It’s going to take some time to go through the entire process of hiring and training all those employees,” Rizzo said. “I imagine in three or four months, they should be able to make some good headway.” Rizzo said he had not spoken directly with Arthur T. since the CEO’s reinstatement. But Rizzo said he has been in contact with other company representatives who said the company remains committed to Revere. Demoulas told reporters outside a Chelsea store Monday that he hoped to open the Revere location by the end of the year, according to a report. Meanwhile, Patsios said he “expects everything to move ahead” with his effort to bring a Market Basket to Lynn. Patsios bought the former GE manufacturing site in May 2013 under an agreement calling for Market Basket to renovate the building for use as a store. Patsios would provide parking and other site improvements. Patsios said he is scheduled to meet with Market Basket officials this week. He said he anticipates that store officials will “have a little bit of catch-up” and that the timeline for a proposed store is obviously delayed. However, Patsios expressed hope that the Federal Street property would house a Market Basket soon. “We remain optimistic,” Patsios said. Cyrus Moulton can be reached at cmoulton@itemlive.com
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