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August 19, 2014 
Allen Lund Company Newsletter
Written by your perishable experts 

In This Issue
Can Artie T. Save Market Basket?
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Natasha Belou, Editor
4529 Angeles Crest Hwy., Suite 101
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Kenny Lund, V.P.
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Boston
Lenny Sciarappa, Mgr.
800.381.LUND (5863) 

 

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Tracey Lewin, Mgr.
Joe Brindle, Asst. Mgr.
Matt Christ, Freight Broker 
800.300.LUND (5863)

 

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Shaun Leiker, Mgr.
800.290.LUND (5863)

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Matt Minthorn, Mgr.
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Steve Hull, Mgr.
800.999.LUND (5863)

 

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Paul Brunelli, Mgr.
Fred Huberlie, Natl. Accts. Mgr.
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Troy Magers, Mgr.
800.456.LUND (5863)

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Bob Rose, Mgr.  
Chris Raihl, Asst. Mgr.  
800.876.LUND (5863)
 
 
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Chris Wozniak, Mgr.
413.247.8355

Carrier Development
Bill Bess, Director
877.915.LUND (5863)

Can Artie T. Save Market Basket? 

 

About the Company:

Market Basket is a grocery retail chain of 71 stores with several plans for expansions stretching from southeastern Massachusetts to central New Hampshire and southern Maine.   Corporate headquarters is located in Tewksbury, MA and as a company they employ over 25,000 people. Local competitors in the industry include; Hannaford, Shaw's, Whole Foods Market, Stop & Shop, Trader Joe's and a few other small market shops.

 

What's all the feuding about?

As a result of an ongoing family feud between Arthur S. Demoulas and Arthur T. Demoulas, Arthur T. who served as the President of the company was fired by the board of directors along with two other top executives on June 23, 2014. Immediately following, two consultants were brought on the board to run the company. Taking it to desperate measures to help reinstate Arthur T. many corporate office workers, store associates, delivery truck drivers and warehouse management have gone on strike causing store level deliveries of fresh product to be absent and store shelves to be bare. Employees and customers have been leading an ongoing protest and boycott of the supermarkets demanding reinstatement of their loyal leader Arthur T. Demoulas.

 

Several different motives for boycotters exist. There are: those who put their jobs on the line to stand up for top executives who have fought for them and their employee benefits, some who fear change and question the vision and business practice of new leadership, and the loyal customers who rely on inexpensive goods and worry that raised prices will impact their livelihoods. One thing is certain, and that is protesting employees and boycotting customers have stuck to their guns and left Market Basket aisles empty for weeks. According to an article in the Boston Globe, "the chain is losing as much as $10 million a day in sales and spoiled products because of the walkout and boycott."  

Can the brand be restored?

Turning back to where they were before the protest will be a difficult transition from many angles. For those estimated 2 million Market Basket customers who have all been going elsewhere to stock their fridge, it will remain a question as to what percentage will be lost. If nothing else, it has at least opened eyes to see what other shopping options are out there; whether it be convenience, low prices, or high quality that shoppers are looking for. A Bentley University Professor in Marketing and Branding, Ian Cross said "It's the Demoulas Market Basket Brand that's losing the war against marketing communications."  It also goes without saying that respective competitors are reaping the benefits from the Market Basket feud seeing both increased publicity and lines at the registers.

 

It has been rumored that Arthur T. Demoulas, the former President and 49.5% stake holder in the company, has been negotiating a deal to buy out the 50.5% stake owned by cousin and rival Arthur S. Demoulas and family. Arthur T's goal would be to take over ownership and restore the face of the company returning the fight in which so many employees did on his behalf. No news has been reported that a deal has been met, just rumor of some back and forth in the negotiation process.

 

Disruption in the Supply chain!

If and when Market Basket's 71 stores begin to get volume through the registers again, it will test the transportation industry in a big way. It will also put some extra stress on the shippers and the rate at which they produce orders. Manufacturing and distribution centers are managed to handle a certain amount of volume and its complicated enough.  Add the twist of 71 stores all restocking from nothing back to full force at the same time, and it becomes even more complex. The restocking process will require several thousand truckloads of food including meat, seafood, dairy and produce being shipped from suppliers all funneling into the company's two warehouses. This will put a high demand on available transportation in produce alone and it could take hundreds of loads just to get the shelves stocked and the warehouse back to capacity. The recovery process could take weeks to get back to normal and will impact the supply chain on many different levels for several weeks.

 

 

 

Brett Cooley
Transportation Broker, Boston Office

[email protected] 

Brett Cooley is a Transportation Broker in the Allen Lund Company Boston office and has been employed with the company since March 2013.  Prior to joining the Boston team, he had three years of industry experience working for the produce procurement team at C&S Wholesale Grocers.  Cooley is a graduate from the American International College in Springfield, MA where he earned a Masters Degree in Business Administration. 

 

About Allen Lund Company: Specializing as a national third-party transportation broker with nationwide offices, the Allen Lund Company works with shippers and carriers across the nation to transport dry, refrigerated (specializing in produce), and flatbed freight; additionally, the Allen Lund Company has an international division, which is licensed by the FMC as an OTI-NVOCC #019872NF, and a logistics and software division, ALC Logistics. 
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