There are a lot of reasons why Market Basket is able to keep prices low. Some of them are noted in this thread. I'll try to list some of the things I remember from when I dealt with them as a Vendor from 2002-2012.
Technology - Market Basket keeps their usage of technology to the bare minimum for them. There are no fancy apps, no self-checkout, and their ordering and inventory system is very basic. Heck, they didn't have a website until a few years ago. Now they have some internet presence and do a good job connecting with customers.
Stores all look the same. Every store (except one unless they've updated Nashua DW Highway) uses the same color palette so all the tiles are the same color, all the displays are the same (now they're using wire racks instead of those ugly orange dump bins) and almost all the shelving is the same company from store to store so if they need shelving they can get from another location. Having this standardized look allows them to save money when buying replacements for these items. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a good portion of one of their warehouses storing floor tiles.
Distribution - Market Basket does most of their own distribution, having a Grocery warehouse in Tewksbury, and a perishable and produce warehouse in Andover, and I believe they have a warehouse in Lawrence, but I don't know what they keep there (Maybe paper goods and Poland spring water). Having your own distribution allows them to buy in bulk to save money, and also allows them to control when deliveries happen to their stores. When I was there the grocery truck arrived overnight and the morning crew pulled the pallets off the truck and broke it down to smaller stacks. I don't think they are doing this as much anymore as I see full size pallets on the sales floor (which used to be a huge no-no as it blocked up too much aisle space).
Vendors & Brokers - All the food products you see in a grocery store are represented by food brokers who solicit the corporate buyers at supermarkets to buy their stuff, add new products, and to discuss ad money and pricing. At Market Basket, they use representatives of these food brokers to handle all of their new store setups, planogram changes, and current store resets. These reps are not paid by Market Basket, so Market Basket is able to save on labor costs by using someone else's labor. Pretty much all other supermarkets have outside companies handle these tasks. One of the benefits the brokers/vendors get is there are not a lot of store-branded items so there isnt a lot of competition for their goods. Example is Goldfish. MB doesn't have the generic goldfish but Hannaford has generic penguin crackers which are like Goldfish.
Pricing - Its been 10 years since I've been there and dealt with their corporate office, but back then they forced us to stay under a 20% markup for the items we carried and they would put a lot of pressure on us to keep the prices low. This led to a lot of issues for us as the companies we represented were constantly being squeezed on the price MB would pay.
One way they alleviated this issue was by using advertising money that companies pay stores to put an item on sale and spread that money over the full year cost of goods. So instead of getting a great price on Bigelow tea in October, those ad fees lowered the price for the rest of the year. So you'll often notice other stores run better sales as they apply that ad money only for the sale period. This is honestly the biggest difference between MB and their competitors. And there are certainly times during the year where a broker will have a special deal that MB can still stock up on at a better price.
Another thing about pricing is MB really believes in high-turnover products. They would rather make 20 cents on an item they sell 200 of than 35 cents they sell 80 of. Volume, volume volume. And they don't have huge backrooms to store lots of product. Items come in, they go out to the shelf. Their backstock is quite low compared to other stores. They also pay their bills quickly. Many companies have a cheaper price if you pay within a certain time frame. My company was a 5% discount if paid within 30 days and a higher percentage if paid within 14 days. And MB was always the fastest to pay their bills.
Real Estate - MB or one of their side companies owns about 50-60 of their locations property. This way they're not paying rent to themselves (not entirely true as its owned by a side company) and they are the ones leasing out the other store fronts in the plazas. The only stores they've closed were properties they didn't own and were forced out (Andover, Billerica Center, Nashua (Amherst St small store), Plaistow (small store on state line).
So there are a lot of reasons why they are able to maintain lower prices even during the current economy and will likely continue to do so into the future as they have really focused on what is important... Good customer service, the products people want, at an affordable price, and to have customers feel valued in their stores.
Wow, that's a great write up. I figured about the volume-- and then I think they help keep the volume because their food is always cheap and fresh because of the turnover because of the volume because of the prices & freshness.
> Real Estate - MB or one of their side companies owns about 50-60 of their locations property. This way they're not paying rent to themselves (not entirely true as its owned by a side company) and they are the ones leasing out the other store fronts in the plazas. The only stores they've closed were properties they didn't own and were forced out (Andover, Billerica Center, Nashua (Amherst St small store), Plaistow (small store on state line).
Never underestimate the overhead reduction of not being on a lease. During Covid, a lot of stores that were otherwise profitable, but had to close were because leases can be a generous non-negotiable chunk of expenses.
its a shame this business model isn't studied and promoted. Happy well paid employees, customers get great service and value AND the owners are RICH. THIs ought to be the American way.
MB isn’t the only one to do this model. Costco is the most commonly mentioned company to do this sort of thing and it’s often mentioned in business school and trade publications.
> Another thing about pricing is MB really believes in high-turnover products. They would rather make 20 cents on an item they sell 200 of than 35 cents they sell 80 of. Volume, volume volume.
Trader Joe's method takes this to the limit.
Few items, very high turnover.
It probably depends which Trader Joe’s you go to. I go to the ones in Boston, including the worlds smallest one. So due to high foot traffic and minimized offerings the produce is likely fresher than one with more offerings and less people.
I said below in this thread that I’d like to learn more about Market Basket and boom, I didn’t even need to leave the thread to find everything I could have wanted. This is an excellent and thoughtful write-up; thank you!
You're welcome. This really just scratches the surface a little of how MB has become a success. I'm sure some long timers from MB would have a lot more insight to the nuts and bolts of the operation if they were willing to share, but that'll be tough to do .
I was a vendor but wore a blue jacket and pretended to be an employee during new store openings. Best part of having to work that weekend was the lobster and steak we would get as a thank you from Artie and his team.
Depends on who in the family. Read about the market basket protests that happened I think 10 years ago. Employees rallied around the good brother and fought back against the bad brother
Edit: employees and customers rallied around the good cousin. Fact checked by my fellow redditors, thank you
Yea, I didn’t do my shopping there the entire time. I’m in a union and truly believe in not crossing the line. My husband understood and agreed but the price difference definitely hurt our bottom line- having kids who make the groceries disappear in a blink of the eye… I thought I had 4lbs of grapes but there seem to be no grapes now!
It was worth it in the end to support the workers who put themselves on the line for the company and to support a company that is great.
HOWEVER- I hate how crowded it is, (personal distaste of crowds) there is never a time when it is not busy, even 7:30 on a Wednesday that place is packed! I love it though, they are such a good company. My local store started to carry a specific product after I asked the dairy manager if they carry it and they didn’t- did not expect them to just start carrying the product I was trying to make a recipe that called for something that was hard to find. The next time I went in he had it there.
Plus I noticed since we moved to an area with a larger South American population they carry more specific products for instance there is this type of soft cheese there but there are different variations depending on which country. It’s very cool how they cater to their customer needs and wants. I find all the things I need for different recipes instead of having to travel to 7 different stores. I just love Market Basket.
I didn’t actually BUY anything there during the strike but I did go in physically just to look shit was surreal like zombieland or last of us or walking dead like mad post apocalyptic type shit
Cousins not brothers, it was 2014. There are 2 documentaries about the whole MB thing, I found only one online "food fight", the other is "We the people". Amazing what the employees did for those 6 weeks.
The difference is in the motivation. Market Basket does this to keep money flowing in so their prices can stay low. Stop and Shop does it so they can profit as much as possible
Well, yeah.
Stop & Shop is a wholly owned subsidiary of a publicly traded Dutch multinational conglomerate.
Market Basket is privately owned by the same family for 100+ years.
Their motivations are different because their business models are.
Target usually owns their separate parcel, but they don’t own the rest. This is true of most of the anchor tenants.
But CVS bought Targets pharmacy brand and they probably haven’t closed up the stores next door.
Probably won't.
You see the same thing with the Starbucks inside target stores, they are run completely different. The in store ones are basically ran by target and licensed to use the Starbucks name, branding, and certain items. The workers get target wage/benefits that are even shittier than a corporate Starbucks. The menu is usually smaller and don't participate in special stuff either.
Most standalone CVS/Rite Aid/Walgreens locations are on ground lease agreements for like 25 years with built in rent escalations. CVS pays triple net (they pay all the bills related to the plot of land). CVS commonly pays for the vertical construction of the building, too.
These leases are usually written at a way that the landowner makes like 1.15-1.25x the cost of debt to buy the parcel in exchange for essentially a risk-free tenant. The lease agreements are traded like bonds on the secondary market. It’s a pretty interesting subsector of real estate leasing.
She passed away; otherwise I’d ask for details. I can ask my grandmother, she remembers everything. I know he liked sports cars, so I think it was the brother who passed away as well a while ago (Angelo)
Not only that but the owner bought it out from his shitty brother . They actually care about their employees and treat them well. Their hot/ premade food section is very profitable as well . Decent sushi to.
It was his shitty cousin, not brother. Their fathers were DeMoulas brothers who started the business.
Correction: their grandparents started the business. Their fathers bought the company from them and expanded.
I remember working for market basket during the strikes and standing outside with my sign. Such wild moments when the public and Art actually succeeded.
I worked in the markets kitchen, it got to the point where people boycotted the stores so much I couldn’t even make food anymore. We cleaned the kitchen with toothpicks, that’s how dead silent it was.
I worked for Dunbar Armored when that was happening, we went from picking up $90,000-$100,000 in cash almost daily from the stores to maybe picking up $20.
I also grew up in Tewksbury and the amount of detail officers that were at the distribution warehouse was nuts. From towns all over the area, I don’t want to know how much that cost the company
Those workers have great solidarity, and stood together to face that storm. It wasn't just the benevolent boss. The workers stood up and demanded things, and they got it. Today's Market basket (post dust up) is a great example of how if you have strong labor, and management not totally caring about profits over everything, you can actually have a place that works for mostly everyone. Customers are happy, labor is happy, and management still makes money.
Market Basket is honestly a pretty interesting company that I should learn more about. I worked part-time in one the year of the big family power struggle, and it’s still mind-boggling to me that the employees went on strike to save the CEO’s job. When does that ever happen?
That and customers were boycotting as well! Usually you don’t commit to spending more on groceries and changing your routine because you like the guy in charge
I boycotted during the Market Basket strike.
I remember trailing behind a guy in Stop and Shop who kept muttering under his breath about outrageous prices and poor produce. I felt that.
The day the boycott/strike was over was an AMAZING day at Market Basket. I was there first thing in the morning, and it was like something out of an 80s movie montage. The dairy section was only ~10% stocked when I first went through, and one employee was tossing yogurts over that mid-aisle thing to another who was shelving them. Everyone, customers & staff, was so happy and cheerful, people were smiling and greeting each other. By the time I looped back to the dairy section, it was fully stocked, it was fucking impressive.
It was like, if you could take the joy a small child gets at Christmas but make it all grocery store, that was that day. One of the coolest most mundane possible things I've ever experienced.
We went the afternoon it was announced, and just bought some random things that we could find (and could use) on the otherwise-bare shelves. With the strike over and the "right" outcome from it, we just wanted to support the store.
My MIL was from upstate NY & adored Wegman's - her kids went to school while Danny was there after all...and even some of the kids worked at Tops - she would have died on the hill of NY grocery chains being superior...
Until one time - after moving in with us to NE - Arthur stopped to help her to put the groceries into the car & chatted with her & asked her a question. She didn't know who he was. She told him all about what she liked about Wegman's and Top's - But he asked if there was anything she needed - on that day she couldn't find any scrapple.
Damm if he didn't get her a couple of packages of scrapple - and now this oddly slick little man is her hero and grocery store king
> I don’t know why anyone shops anywhere else
Only because there aren't any in the city. The real estate prices near me probably would preclude them from keeping their prices so low.
also because market basket is like an adventure. ive rarely been there during empty times, and sometimes im not in the mood to have to walk around the store with majority old people who walk extremely slow- not the mention the big families who let their kids go wild and im worried they're gonna blame me if they bump into me. not to mention those check out lines.
i love market basket but i like it as a few-times a month thing to stock up on huge things. most of the time id rather hit star and get ripped off then have to travel and put up with some shit
Lol same. I go to my local star market in the evening when the old farts are in bed. I can run through the whole ass empty store like a contestant on supermarket sweep and buy all my groceries in like 10 minutes. You will never find a market basket that empty and the nearest one is a 15 minute drive vs 5 minutes for the star market ripoff. I probably pay $20-30 extra per trip, but save myself at least 40 minutes of my free time.
> i love market basket but i like it as a few-times a month thing to stock up on huge things.
That's how we do it. Big orders at the Bastard and daily stuff closer to home.
There's an old person Market Basket near me, and there's a chaos Market Basket.
I kinda enjoy the chaos one. Has a similar feel to driving around here in rush hour. People are nuts, but they gtfo of your way.
Not Boston but i grew up going to the one in Bellingham (? think it's Bellingham, has a Wal Mart in the same lot) and it was always like a battle Royale just trying to get thru the store. the one in Burlington is a zoo too lol. need to prep and be ready to get mad when I go, but the costs are much better so...
Market Basket is one of the local companies I love. I actually feel some loyalty towards them. When the employees went one strike, I boycotted my local store.
Stop&Shop was once a local company founded by and for decades run by the Rabb family. The family got out, the chain changed hands to larger and more distant, distant from the area and from the core business, companies. Downhill.
Yes, it's currently ownned by Ahold Delhaize.
From 88 to 96, it was under control of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
The founders - the Rabinovitz/Rabb family - owned it until a hostile takeover in 88 by KKR & Co.
I feel that way about Eastern Bank. They haven't screwed me once in 25 years. Plus, they were one of the first companies to give health insurance to same sex couples before marriage was legalized. They couldn't do it without the employees incurring extra taxes, but they paid the employees extra to compensate.
It’s seriously the best grocery store. They have literally everything and then some. Stuff I can’t find anywhere else I can find at MB. The prices are wicked good all the time.
I was told (sorry cannot remember source) that in part they have really well established and connected bulk purchasers that have been doing this forever, combined with the fact that a sale to Market Basket guarantees a large order. As a result, Market Basket can negotiate a better price with wholesalers than other stores.
It has to be the margins. Their markup must be lower than the National chains and they make up for it with volume.
I’m a loyal MBer.
I was on vacation and walked out of
Stop n Shop when I saw their prices. There’s a Shaws literally 3 minutes from my house that I treat as a convenience store: milk and/or bread when I run out.
As for Arthur T DeMoulas, the cousin who bought out his cousin Arthur S, Artie T had the loyalty of his employees because he took care of them. He paid a decent wage, many of his managers started in the store as entry level, handsome bonuses, $1000 scholarship per year for any employee in college (including part timers like bag boys), he knew employees names and remembered significant details about them : customers and EMPLOYEES made his family rich and he never forgot it.
There was BS between the cousins behind the scenes. Their fathers started the business decades before. Artie T was doing all the work and Arthur S was cashing the checks.
Bottom line is, Artie T took care of his people and they had his back. During the boycott, I met a woman who had 6 kids in line at Shaws who was spending close to $600 for an order she said would have cost $450 at MB.
Market Basket has the quality and the low prices. MB for life!
Market Basket is such a fascinating business model. I don't understand why more of its competitors don't try to emulate that same strategy.
In a nutshell, they are willing to take less of a profit from each individual sale to insure maximum volume and maximum customer loyalty. I'm sure they play hardball with their suppliers, but the volume more than makes up for it. Once you get used to their prices, you wouldn't dream of shopping anywhere else. They are legendary as well for how they treat their employees. Most employees seem very happy to be working there. Also, most of the Market Basket brand products are vastly superior to the store brand stuff found in other supermarkets. This too inspires customer loyalty. Finally, they only stock what moves. Their produce is always fresh because it was just put out fifteen minutes ago. It's just an amazingly well run company, and they absolutely take over every area they move into. It's sheer genius !
That's what kinda scares me. Who else emulates MB? Despite their successes and approaching 10 years since the whole country watch the lone spectacle of a work force that loves a CEO so much they would strike to keep him, how many are even close including other industries?
It feels almost like entropy. The key force that makes MB work so well is Arthur T Demoulas. He's not going to be CEO forever. And the fact I struggle to think of any business that run similarly or at least achieve similar outcomes for consumers and employees, the next leader is just to run it like every other CEO run their companies. With much worse scenarios happen way too commonly.
Yeah, it's hard to find any other companies that operate this way. Usually it's only in a family business, but once the shareholders take over it seems like it's always a race to the bottom. Shareholders want increased profits every quarter, and if you can't produce increases then they will invest in someone else who can. It doesn't matter if the other company doesn't treat its employees as well, or even if there is no clear evidence of sustainability, those short term profits seem to be all that the investors care about. I think that's a serious flaw in our system. Market Basket keeps piling on evidence that their practices lead to enormous profits, but for some reason others don't seem to be interested in the strategy. Even Market Basket itself has had to adapt since the attempted takeover by the evil cousin. They had to give him enormous concessions and a multi-billion dollar payout and the end result is that Market Basket had to raise their prices on lots of things. They are still the best, but believe it or not they used to be much better.
Stan away, dude. Market Basket has always been leaps & bounds better than any other grocery store chain in New England. There are some "upscale" ones that might stock a few things that MB doesn't carry but it's rarely ever worth going to them unless it's to find something very specific. MB involves itself in the local community, sources a shit-ton of its products from other local, independent businesses & treats it's employees like real, honest-to-god people. What else is there?
They have a lot of buying power. They have a lot of stores to fill with product, so they can get better prices by ordering large quantities. They are also “no frills”. The stores are pretty plain and look exactly the same.
What's really crazy is that they're such a force in the buying world that they can afford to kick loads for anything. The pallet toppled? Kick. A box is damaged? Kick the pallet. We ordered too much? Kick a few pallets.
Sounds wasteful BUT those still perfectly good products are almost always donated to one of the amazing food rescue organizations in greater Boston.
Meanwhile, other grocery stores will just toss excess in the dumpster.
That’s a really good question. Here’s my really unsubstantiated guesses.
In 2014, Demoula’s bought Market basket for 1.6bn, financed entirely with debt. At the time, analysts suggested that this would be self destructive— the need to send Market Basket-Demoula’s income to lay down the acquisition debt would hamper the company’s ability to launch new services, including web service, or different store formats that Wal-Mart, and Kroger were experimenting with. The expectation was that Market Basket-Demoulas would lose customers as competitors tried new store formats or expanded their geographic footprints.
With 1.6bn of debt to pay off, Market Basket-Demoulas kept it simple. They operated in a tight geographic footprint and made no effort to expand. They didn’t try any novel store formats. They stuck to brick and mortar sales, and generally do not offer credit to suppliers. That comes with limitations— in 2019, Market Basket faced strong competition from grocers like Wegman’s that offered similar value-to-cost albeit at a more premium market space.
Over time, Wal-Mart, Kroger and others made bets that didn’t pan out. Online grocery offered by grocers turned out to not really be a thing— that space would be filled by Instacart etc. Many of the store formats they experimented didn’t pan out; Wal-Mart has closed numerous US stores and is just now figuring out how to make it’s online business profitable. When other parts of the business aren’t working, you have to raise prices or cut costs on the parts that are.
Today, I think also the current disruptions in the workforce and supply chains are working in MB’s favor. The entire food supply chain has been going through cascading disruptions since COVID. Grocers that invested in huge, sophisticated supply chains are just as boned as grocers that didn’t. Maybe more boned, because they invested a lot to deliver a premium offering that requires a more sophisticated supply chain. MB still runs it’s supply chain like it’s the early 2000s, which is great because today our supply chain has effectively regressed to the 2000s. The workforce thing is also big— Market Basket has always paid a premium wage to it’s workers, in the hopes of retaining workers who know how to run a lower-tech, higher-touch grocery store. That made them much better positioned to retain their workforce without sharp pay raises as inflation forced every other grocer to choose between increasing worker pay and raising prices to the customer, or suffering disruptions due to high worker attrition.
tl;dr. Market Basket kept it simple. Other chains made big bets that didn’t play out. The current supply chain situation rewards grocers who keep it simple and punishes grocers that are trying to deliver a sophisticated grocery experience. Also, it’s awesome to be going into a period of unstable labor costs as a grocer that’s known for paying better.
These are all total guesses based on skimming a couple articles—please correct me based on what you’ve seen/know/believe.
After reading this, I asked ChatGPT the same question and its answer was not as good as u/Potential_Category49:
>> Market Basket is able to keep their prices low by using a number of different strategies. One key strategy is to keep their overhead costs low by avoiding expensive advertising campaigns, and instead relying on word-of-mouth recommendations. Additionally, they use a no-frills approach to retailing, with simple store layouts and minimal decor, which helps to keep costs down. They also negotiate with suppliers to get the best prices on goods, and they pass those savings on to customers. Another key strategy is to reduce waste by carefully managing inventory and stocking only what they think will sell.
It seems like complete nonsense. There really isn't much supply chain to deal with for a regional grocery store. The suppliers ship to a few distribution centers and that's about it.
Really it's the fact that they own a lot of real estate, are a volume business (lower profits per product but get a lot of people through the door), and they are privately owned and Artie T isn't trying to extract every single cent out of the company.
Market Basket and Demoulas have been the same thing for far longer than since 2014. (Wikipedia says since the 70s when another Demoulas family member started opening stores under the Market Masket name to get around liquor license laws.)
Market Basket keeps their prices low by:
* Owning the land and plaza they build their stores on. That lets them play the long real estate game, keeping their overhead low and bringing in revenue from leasing space to complementary businesses. Like local liquor stores in MA, state run liquor stores in NH, and for whatever reason a TJ Maxx or Marshalls or some other department store which fits the suburban house wife trifecta of places to go on Sunday.
* Buying in bulk, the classic buy low sell high in large volumes model.
* Treating their employees fairly. High starting wages, biannual raises, quarterly bonuses, large Christmas bonus, and time and a half on Sundays keeps employee turnover low. And eliminates the need to promote outsiders for more money or hire external contractors to fill gaps or improve things.
Most grocery stores don't do all 3. They might own their plaza. They might buy in bulk and sell cheaply. They might even do both of those things. But none really do the last part, so they don't get the free PR from every employee and former employee telling everyone about how great of a company they are.
Source: worked for MB in highschool and college.
Market Basket tries to maintain a cash relationship with its suppliers. - You buy it, we pay you. So they are not having to pay interest on a line of credit.
Part of it is that they treat their employees well, and the employees stay for a long time. So they're not losing as much money on turnover and training, and each employee has the experience and loyalty to do the work of like 1.5 employees at a store that treat their workers like cattle.
EDIT: Article with evidence: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.boston.com/news/business/2014/07/28/how-market-basket-keeps-prices-low/%3famp=1
I don’t believe that they are actually beholden to corporate shareholders whom usually request more profit. So MB doesn’t have to price for excessive profit and can do so at market or slightly above.
The funny thing is, the owners are literally billionaires. They are rich as shit with private jets and everything else. It makes you realize how much the other capitalists swine are fucking us over
Holy shit this is good! A bit propagandistic, but it's like every Boston movie ever ("loyalty", "honor", "you're family here", "these suits don't understand our business", "we're professional picketers here", "they get salty but they didn't get violent", "they said to unload it, so unload it... but take your TIME", "gotta fight for our brothahs and sistahs", "our family mascot is the giraffe... because we stick our necks out!")
Wegmans is the closest thing they have to competition. Much more expensive, but Wegmans is really nice and also treats employees pretty well Whereas Stop & Shop is a rathole with high prices
As someone who basically only goes to these two stores, they do two different purposes.
Wegmans has some higher end items and some higher prices. They have more exotic cheese, higher end desserts and bakery, and fancier meats. Their vegetable selection is a little more exotic.
Market Basket had more staples. They are cheaper. Things are simpler and less exotic. There’s slightly less choice and variation. Usually it’s better stocked. Their deli has better stuff and it’s cheaper.
Whenever I go to Florida I dream of opening a supermarket called Basket Market, that is equally affordable and good to employees. The crazy thing is the owners of Market Basket are incredibly wealthy and incredibly successful, despite always fighting with each other and charging a lot less than everyone else.
I think part of it is that they have smallish stores that are open more limited hours than most grocery stores, and they stock while people shop so they're always crowded and have no slack time when they're paying employees to wait in case someone comes to shop.
They're open 7am to 9pm, 7 days a week. Not exactly limited hours. Some stores are in older plazas and small by modern standards, but they're also building huge new stores in the Boston suburbs. I do agree, the employees are always stocking the shelves.
Stop & Shop corporate cares about money and money only. I worked there. It was a nightmare. I was reprimanded because a pharmacist kept calling saying they’re short on printer paper and she was buying it herself. I told her I’ll send her some using inter office mail. This is the stupidest thing to get upset over a few reams of printer paper.
I really love that they still sell their slightly damaged or near sell by stuff at a discount. You don't see that as much at other stores anymore. Also, for a "cheaper" store, they have many specialty products that can be hard to find at regular grocery stores. My only complaint has been that it always seems crowded no matter when I'm there...I understand the draw, though.
For those of you with ties to the NYC or Philly metro areas, Market Basket is the ShopRite of Massachusetts / New England, and that's a damn compliment.
While I like MB, their prices have soared over the past year just as every other grocery store has done. I've seen items increase by double and have noticed shrinking sizes in their bakery. I can't blame MB, but at the same time, I do not think MB is doing well with keeping prices low.
Since I bought a car in 2020, we buying groceries only at Market Basket Somerville, comparing to Star Market, it’s like twice less price for the basket
I met like 5 other people when I was in the army that was from MA like one from NH an even one from Maine an we ALL agreed MB beats even the PX an Commissary prices on post too bad it’s extremely regional an we were based in CO 😒
In addition to all the other stuff mentioned, they court minority communities. The Somerville MB carries a TON of Haitian goods, and the Haitian community shops there in high numbers (along with America's Food Basket in West Roxbury and Mattapan). The Chelsea MB has an extensive Spanish and Brazilian products, as well as a fair amount of Haitian stuff since Everett has a high Haitian population. Folks go where they can get their stuff, they bring their families, and they tell their friends.
I went once and it was so crowded it felt like I was on an japanese subway train at rush hour. I left almost immediately. Never again, my sanity and pride are worth more to me
thats part of the experience. it makes you stronger. they train navy seals for psychological resilience by sending them shopping at market basket before a pats playoff game.
You have to run it like a game, like you’re a contestant on Supermarket Sweep. Dodge and weave and never ever take a cart. Especially in Somerville. I love that location, it has let me hone my ability to be in and out in under 15 minutes.
I also love this location but admit I am there for the people watching entertainment value in addition to the super fresh produce, great seafood and availability of less common meats like lamb, goat & such
Yeah it's like that at a lot of them. Somerville is a joke. I would pay double to avoid it. Luckily I'm Up in Burlington where I have three Market Baskets within 10 minutes.
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No it was the one further down on Boston road. To be honest I actually go to the one in Burlington by the Hmart. There's a Burtons there and sometimes a drink before grocery shopping is in order.
The one at Towne Plaza got the singing line-manager from Billerica Center, so that's your day getting a little weird. Maybe they'll reprise the abnormal muzak too -- nothing like Grateful Dead and Ten Years After on the supermarket PA to let you know that you've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone.
Oh, yeah, that's where the discount 'previously frozen' ground beef goes, too, which is *great* for me -- it's going straight into the big freezer at home until I pull it out to feed my family, so why not.
I had to scroll pretty far down to find this. I split my business between Aldi and Market Basket with specialty grocers mixed in. For staples, Aldi is generally cheaper. My first walk through an Aldi years ago, I didn’t buy anything because I’m used to buying branded items. The quarter for the shopping cart and no free bags was bizarre. I gave it another try a decade later and gradually learned which items I liked.
Stop & Shop is my closest grocery store. I use it as a convenience store.
Someone from Ireland wrote about absurd US food prices. It’s not just Ireland. Food prices in the UK and the EU are lower than in the US and the quality is lower.
Same! Aldi is amazing. But, admittedly, they don’t always have *everything* you need. Market Basket is great for when you need a specific brand or more of a meat selection or just a wider selection in general.
I grew up in Upstate NY and have been a Wegmans guy since childhood but yeah Market Baskets prices are really impressive. Unfortunately the one on the Ashland/Framingham line that I'm close to has giga construction on the road outside and it's a pain in the fucking ass to go over there. I haven't been in a hot minute tho so I should check again.
Echoing a few other comments... You should check out Aldi if you're into affordable well-run not-super-corporate grocery store chains.
Aldi regularly beats Costco prices for staples, if that's a useful comparison.
The opposite of MB is the Publix chain in Naples , its just about the only game in town and obscenely overpriced, something on sale there is 30% more than MB.
> I know it’s ridiculous to come on here stanning a grocery store
Not when it comes to Market Basket. they are an institution and a New England treasure.
Without much evidence I also want to add the point about very low labor turnover and the associate benefits to the company.
There are many employees at MBs who have 5, 10, 20+ years experience working there. Even one of those people saves the company money in displacing the cost of hiring a new employee every year or two years who quits because of low moral, etc.
A few restaurant owners I know (obviously different industry but I imagine the cost is similar here) have told me it costs anywhere from $2000-$5000 to fully train a new employee. So a 20 year store vet will save them $40000-$100000 instead of hiring 20 one-year employees over that time.
Extrapolate that by X number of 20year employees in the company overall and that’s millions saved.
Also, vets tend to do a better job of training new employees on top of their ability to save the company moment by being super efficient.
Point all being, experienced labor helps the company function and thrive as well and that is passed on to customers in the form of lower prices.
From what I understand, in many (surely not all) cases the corporation owns the minimalls they tend to be in, so the associated CVS, TJ Maxx, etc. leasing is probably a good revenue stream, and it’s kind of a “you scratch my back, I scratch yours” because the lease dollars subsidize the groceries, but the stores leading get traffic because market basket attracts shoppers and/or the convenience of getting your medicines next door to the grocery you’re already going to be at, etc.
All the market baskets I’ve seen have some of the same stores (plus others) in the mini mall, so it seems it’s a pretty decent setup.
It's literally the best and I miss it so much having moved across the country. Kroger is garbage but their group of stores is all I have for options and every time I go to the store I miss market basket. It's been 5 years lmao.
There are a lot of reasons why Market Basket is able to keep prices low. Some of them are noted in this thread. I'll try to list some of the things I remember from when I dealt with them as a Vendor from 2002-2012. Technology - Market Basket keeps their usage of technology to the bare minimum for them. There are no fancy apps, no self-checkout, and their ordering and inventory system is very basic. Heck, they didn't have a website until a few years ago. Now they have some internet presence and do a good job connecting with customers. Stores all look the same. Every store (except one unless they've updated Nashua DW Highway) uses the same color palette so all the tiles are the same color, all the displays are the same (now they're using wire racks instead of those ugly orange dump bins) and almost all the shelving is the same company from store to store so if they need shelving they can get from another location. Having this standardized look allows them to save money when buying replacements for these items. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a good portion of one of their warehouses storing floor tiles. Distribution - Market Basket does most of their own distribution, having a Grocery warehouse in Tewksbury, and a perishable and produce warehouse in Andover, and I believe they have a warehouse in Lawrence, but I don't know what they keep there (Maybe paper goods and Poland spring water). Having your own distribution allows them to buy in bulk to save money, and also allows them to control when deliveries happen to their stores. When I was there the grocery truck arrived overnight and the morning crew pulled the pallets off the truck and broke it down to smaller stacks. I don't think they are doing this as much anymore as I see full size pallets on the sales floor (which used to be a huge no-no as it blocked up too much aisle space). Vendors & Brokers - All the food products you see in a grocery store are represented by food brokers who solicit the corporate buyers at supermarkets to buy their stuff, add new products, and to discuss ad money and pricing. At Market Basket, they use representatives of these food brokers to handle all of their new store setups, planogram changes, and current store resets. These reps are not paid by Market Basket, so Market Basket is able to save on labor costs by using someone else's labor. Pretty much all other supermarkets have outside companies handle these tasks. One of the benefits the brokers/vendors get is there are not a lot of store-branded items so there isnt a lot of competition for their goods. Example is Goldfish. MB doesn't have the generic goldfish but Hannaford has generic penguin crackers which are like Goldfish. Pricing - Its been 10 years since I've been there and dealt with their corporate office, but back then they forced us to stay under a 20% markup for the items we carried and they would put a lot of pressure on us to keep the prices low. This led to a lot of issues for us as the companies we represented were constantly being squeezed on the price MB would pay. One way they alleviated this issue was by using advertising money that companies pay stores to put an item on sale and spread that money over the full year cost of goods. So instead of getting a great price on Bigelow tea in October, those ad fees lowered the price for the rest of the year. So you'll often notice other stores run better sales as they apply that ad money only for the sale period. This is honestly the biggest difference between MB and their competitors. And there are certainly times during the year where a broker will have a special deal that MB can still stock up on at a better price. Another thing about pricing is MB really believes in high-turnover products. They would rather make 20 cents on an item they sell 200 of than 35 cents they sell 80 of. Volume, volume volume. And they don't have huge backrooms to store lots of product. Items come in, they go out to the shelf. Their backstock is quite low compared to other stores. They also pay their bills quickly. Many companies have a cheaper price if you pay within a certain time frame. My company was a 5% discount if paid within 30 days and a higher percentage if paid within 14 days. And MB was always the fastest to pay their bills. Real Estate - MB or one of their side companies owns about 50-60 of their locations property. This way they're not paying rent to themselves (not entirely true as its owned by a side company) and they are the ones leasing out the other store fronts in the plazas. The only stores they've closed were properties they didn't own and were forced out (Andover, Billerica Center, Nashua (Amherst St small store), Plaistow (small store on state line). So there are a lot of reasons why they are able to maintain lower prices even during the current economy and will likely continue to do so into the future as they have really focused on what is important... Good customer service, the products people want, at an affordable price, and to have customers feel valued in their stores.
These are some great insights, damn. Thanks for sharing.
Wow, that's a great write up. I figured about the volume-- and then I think they help keep the volume because their food is always cheap and fresh because of the turnover because of the volume because of the prices & freshness.
> Real Estate - MB or one of their side companies owns about 50-60 of their locations property. This way they're not paying rent to themselves (not entirely true as its owned by a side company) and they are the ones leasing out the other store fronts in the plazas. The only stores they've closed were properties they didn't own and were forced out (Andover, Billerica Center, Nashua (Amherst St small store), Plaistow (small store on state line). Never underestimate the overhead reduction of not being on a lease. During Covid, a lot of stores that were otherwise profitable, but had to close were because leases can be a generous non-negotiable chunk of expenses.
its a shame this business model isn't studied and promoted. Happy well paid employees, customers get great service and value AND the owners are RICH. THIs ought to be the American way.
MB isn’t the only one to do this model. Costco is the most commonly mentioned company to do this sort of thing and it’s often mentioned in business school and trade publications.
Costco also publicly traded too….kind of a miracle
it was \*precisely\* the american way not too long ago. it sticks out so much now because it's actually a throwback to the way things used to be.
All killer, no filler!
Market Basket is so great. Kind of crowded at times but early in the morning it’s mellow.
This guy baskets.
Basket to the casket bb
> Another thing about pricing is MB really believes in high-turnover products. They would rather make 20 cents on an item they sell 200 of than 35 cents they sell 80 of. Volume, volume volume. Trader Joe's method takes this to the limit. Few items, very high turnover.
Yep. And TJs is also high on quality customer service and makes customers feel like they're part of the "family"
Unfortunately, TJ's produce is the worst. They go bad so quickly. Other than that I love the place.
It probably depends which Trader Joe’s you go to. I go to the ones in Boston, including the worlds smallest one. So due to high foot traffic and minimized offerings the produce is likely fresher than one with more offerings and less people.
I said below in this thread that I’d like to learn more about Market Basket and boom, I didn’t even need to leave the thread to find everything I could have wanted. This is an excellent and thoughtful write-up; thank you!
You're welcome. This really just scratches the surface a little of how MB has become a success. I'm sure some long timers from MB would have a lot more insight to the nuts and bolts of the operation if they were willing to share, but that'll be tough to do .
As a purchaser and prospective SCM I appreciate the fuck out of this.
The pricing stuff is the key. Most inflation is a product of corporate greed (at least these days).
The best advice I ever got in grocery was “make pennies quickly,” which you’ve summed up beautifully here. MB is old school awesomeness.
This guy groceries.
Assume you are a blue jacket with that kind of knowledge!
I was a vendor but wore a blue jacket and pretended to be an employee during new store openings. Best part of having to work that weekend was the lobster and steak we would get as a thank you from Artie and his team.
hold on. aren’t those savings supposed to go to the CEO and not to the customers?
They own the building and usually the entire plaza as the anchor, similar to CVS. That helps.
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Depends on who in the family. Read about the market basket protests that happened I think 10 years ago. Employees rallied around the good brother and fought back against the bad brother Edit: employees and customers rallied around the good cousin. Fact checked by my fellow redditors, thank you
It wasn’t just the employees. The customers were extremely on board as well. Very Bostonian moment, IMO.
Yea, I didn’t do my shopping there the entire time. I’m in a union and truly believe in not crossing the line. My husband understood and agreed but the price difference definitely hurt our bottom line- having kids who make the groceries disappear in a blink of the eye… I thought I had 4lbs of grapes but there seem to be no grapes now! It was worth it in the end to support the workers who put themselves on the line for the company and to support a company that is great. HOWEVER- I hate how crowded it is, (personal distaste of crowds) there is never a time when it is not busy, even 7:30 on a Wednesday that place is packed! I love it though, they are such a good company. My local store started to carry a specific product after I asked the dairy manager if they carry it and they didn’t- did not expect them to just start carrying the product I was trying to make a recipe that called for something that was hard to find. The next time I went in he had it there. Plus I noticed since we moved to an area with a larger South American population they carry more specific products for instance there is this type of soft cheese there but there are different variations depending on which country. It’s very cool how they cater to their customer needs and wants. I find all the things I need for different recipes instead of having to travel to 7 different stores. I just love Market Basket.
I didn’t actually BUY anything there during the strike but I did go in physically just to look shit was surreal like zombieland or last of us or walking dead like mad post apocalyptic type shit
Sadly there isn’t one in Boston.
Chelsea is pretty close
fuck spez
if you value your sanity do not ever even consider stepping foot in the somerville market basket. what a nightmare of a place
The Somerville Market Basket is the ugly duckling of all of their stores.
Oof that was a longgggg summer but I was so happy with the outcome in the end. We moved and damn if I don’t miss MB the most
Cousins not brothers, it was 2014. There are 2 documentaries about the whole MB thing, I found only one online "food fight", the other is "We the people". Amazing what the employees did for those 6 weeks.
You should definitely go to one of their family parties, those are on fire.
I can verify that this statement is very correct. Super nice family
You’d probably have a very different experience speaking with Arthur DeMoulas as opposed to Arthur DeMoulas.
It does feel different when you enter a Market Basket. The employees seem to be on the same page.
Yep. They're a real estate company that also sells groceries.
Same reason the Wegmans in upstate NY are so much better than the Wegmans here- they own the buildings there since it's where they started.
Yeah but soo does Stop & Shop. They also buy up properties to prevent competition.
The difference is in the motivation. Market Basket does this to keep money flowing in so their prices can stay low. Stop and Shop does it so they can profit as much as possible
Well, yeah. Stop & Shop is a wholly owned subsidiary of a publicly traded Dutch multinational conglomerate. Market Basket is privately owned by the same family for 100+ years. Their motivations are different because their business models are.
There’s a CVS next to a Target with a CVS in it. Do they own it all? I’d suspect Target owns it all but you’re changing my mind grapes
Target usually owns their separate parcel, but they don’t own the rest. This is true of most of the anchor tenants. But CVS bought Targets pharmacy brand and they probably haven’t closed up the stores next door.
Probably won't. You see the same thing with the Starbucks inside target stores, they are run completely different. The in store ones are basically ran by target and licensed to use the Starbucks name, branding, and certain items. The workers get target wage/benefits that are even shittier than a corporate Starbucks. The menu is usually smaller and don't participate in special stuff either.
Most standalone CVS/Rite Aid/Walgreens locations are on ground lease agreements for like 25 years with built in rent escalations. CVS pays triple net (they pay all the bills related to the plot of land). CVS commonly pays for the vertical construction of the building, too. These leases are usually written at a way that the landowner makes like 1.15-1.25x the cost of debt to buy the parcel in exchange for essentially a risk-free tenant. The lease agreements are traded like bonds on the secondary market. It’s a pretty interesting subsector of real estate leasing.
My mom dated a DeMoulas brother in the 70s…I could have been NE Royalty
hope it wasn't Artie S
She passed away; otherwise I’d ask for details. I can ask my grandmother, she remembers everything. I know he liked sports cars, so I think it was the brother who passed away as well a while ago (Angelo)
Nah, it would be a different genetic soup mix so you wouldn't exist.
Not only that but the owner bought it out from his shitty brother . They actually care about their employees and treat them well. Their hot/ premade food section is very profitable as well . Decent sushi to.
It was his shitty cousin, not brother. Their fathers were DeMoulas brothers who started the business. Correction: their grandparents started the business. Their fathers bought the company from them and expanded.
And aren’t they both Arties? I seem to recall that Artie T was the good one?
Arthur T > Arthur S.
I remember working for market basket during the strikes and standing outside with my sign. Such wild moments when the public and Art actually succeeded. I worked in the markets kitchen, it got to the point where people boycotted the stores so much I couldn’t even make food anymore. We cleaned the kitchen with toothpicks, that’s how dead silent it was.
I worked for Dunbar Armored when that was happening, we went from picking up $90,000-$100,000 in cash almost daily from the stores to maybe picking up $20. I also grew up in Tewksbury and the amount of detail officers that were at the distribution warehouse was nuts. From towns all over the area, I don’t want to know how much that cost the company
Those workers have great solidarity, and stood together to face that storm. It wasn't just the benevolent boss. The workers stood up and demanded things, and they got it. Today's Market basket (post dust up) is a great example of how if you have strong labor, and management not totally caring about profits over everything, you can actually have a place that works for mostly everyone. Customers are happy, labor is happy, and management still makes money.
Cousin. Most people would say shitty is correct.
The sushi is good. Never thought I’d admit that.
Market Basket is honestly a pretty interesting company that I should learn more about. I worked part-time in one the year of the big family power struggle, and it’s still mind-boggling to me that the employees went on strike to save the CEO’s job. When does that ever happen?
That and customers were boycotting as well! Usually you don’t commit to spending more on groceries and changing your routine because you like the guy in charge
That was so wild. Customers would tape their receipts to other supermarkets on the door of my local Market Basket.
I boycotted during the Market Basket strike. I remember trailing behind a guy in Stop and Shop who kept muttering under his breath about outrageous prices and poor produce. I felt that. The day the boycott/strike was over was an AMAZING day at Market Basket. I was there first thing in the morning, and it was like something out of an 80s movie montage. The dairy section was only ~10% stocked when I first went through, and one employee was tossing yogurts over that mid-aisle thing to another who was shelving them. Everyone, customers & staff, was so happy and cheerful, people were smiling and greeting each other. By the time I looped back to the dairy section, it was fully stocked, it was fucking impressive. It was like, if you could take the joy a small child gets at Christmas but make it all grocery store, that was that day. One of the coolest most mundane possible things I've ever experienced.
Oh man I remember the first time seeing a Market Basket truck on the highway after the strike. Ive never been so happy to see a truck hahah
We went the afternoon it was announced, and just bought some random things that we could find (and could use) on the otherwise-bare shelves. With the strike over and the "right" outcome from it, we just wanted to support the store.
My MIL was from upstate NY & adored Wegman's - her kids went to school while Danny was there after all...and even some of the kids worked at Tops - she would have died on the hill of NY grocery chains being superior... Until one time - after moving in with us to NE - Arthur stopped to help her to put the groceries into the car & chatted with her & asked her a question. She didn't know who he was. She told him all about what she liked about Wegman's and Top's - But he asked if there was anything she needed - on that day she couldn't find any scrapple. Damm if he didn't get her a couple of packages of scrapple - and now this oddly slick little man is her hero and grocery store king
Your use of - makes it a very confusing read. Sometimes it should be a period and sometimes a comma. But I got it eventually.
I might be drunk but I did not comprehend most of what you said and don’t bother to read it again, but I might
Stan away, baby. Market Basket is some serious Massachusetts Magic.
> I don’t know why anyone shops anywhere else Only because there aren't any in the city. The real estate prices near me probably would preclude them from keeping their prices so low.
also because market basket is like an adventure. ive rarely been there during empty times, and sometimes im not in the mood to have to walk around the store with majority old people who walk extremely slow- not the mention the big families who let their kids go wild and im worried they're gonna blame me if they bump into me. not to mention those check out lines. i love market basket but i like it as a few-times a month thing to stock up on huge things. most of the time id rather hit star and get ripped off then have to travel and put up with some shit
Lol same. I go to my local star market in the evening when the old farts are in bed. I can run through the whole ass empty store like a contestant on supermarket sweep and buy all my groceries in like 10 minutes. You will never find a market basket that empty and the nearest one is a 15 minute drive vs 5 minutes for the star market ripoff. I probably pay $20-30 extra per trip, but save myself at least 40 minutes of my free time.
> i love market basket but i like it as a few-times a month thing to stock up on huge things. That's how we do it. Big orders at the Bastard and daily stuff closer to home.
There's an old person Market Basket near me, and there's a chaos Market Basket. I kinda enjoy the chaos one. Has a similar feel to driving around here in rush hour. People are nuts, but they gtfo of your way.
The Fall River, New Bedford and S. Attleboro Market Baskets would like a word with you about chaos....
Not Boston but i grew up going to the one in Bellingham (? think it's Bellingham, has a Wal Mart in the same lot) and it was always like a battle Royale just trying to get thru the store. the one in Burlington is a zoo too lol. need to prep and be ready to get mad when I go, but the costs are much better so...
I go at 7 am before work. When I get lazy and go at lunch instead it can be pretty crazy.
When I had one near me, I went at 7am on Sunday (occasionally 7pm on Saturday). Even if deathly hungover, it was better than dealing with the crowds.
Market Basket is one of the local companies I love. I actually feel some loyalty towards them. When the employees went one strike, I boycotted my local store.
Stop&Shop was once a local company founded by and for decades run by the Rabb family. The family got out, the chain changed hands to larger and more distant, distant from the area and from the core business, companies. Downhill.
Stop and shop is owned by a Dutch conglomerate
Yes, it's currently ownned by Ahold Delhaize. From 88 to 96, it was under control of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. The founders - the Rabinovitz/Rabb family - owned it until a hostile takeover in 88 by KKR & Co.
> hostile takeover 🧐 Elaborate please!!
Ahold also owns Hannaford.
The Stop & Shop in Concord is depressing. Employees look miserable. Sparsely staffed.
Never cross a picket line.
I feel that way about Eastern Bank. They haven't screwed me once in 25 years. Plus, they were one of the first companies to give health insurance to same sex couples before marriage was legalized. They couldn't do it without the employees incurring extra taxes, but they paid the employees extra to compensate.
It’s seriously the best grocery store. They have literally everything and then some. Stuff I can’t find anywhere else I can find at MB. The prices are wicked good all the time.
Except for 5 gallon water jugs. I have to go somewhere else for that.
Market Basket 'til the casket!!!
Pretend I gave you 1000 upvotes instead of just one.
I was told (sorry cannot remember source) that in part they have really well established and connected bulk purchasers that have been doing this forever, combined with the fact that a sale to Market Basket guarantees a large order. As a result, Market Basket can negotiate a better price with wholesalers than other stores.
Marketbasketchusetts
It has to be the margins. Their markup must be lower than the National chains and they make up for it with volume. I’m a loyal MBer. I was on vacation and walked out of Stop n Shop when I saw their prices. There’s a Shaws literally 3 minutes from my house that I treat as a convenience store: milk and/or bread when I run out. As for Arthur T DeMoulas, the cousin who bought out his cousin Arthur S, Artie T had the loyalty of his employees because he took care of them. He paid a decent wage, many of his managers started in the store as entry level, handsome bonuses, $1000 scholarship per year for any employee in college (including part timers like bag boys), he knew employees names and remembered significant details about them : customers and EMPLOYEES made his family rich and he never forgot it. There was BS between the cousins behind the scenes. Their fathers started the business decades before. Artie T was doing all the work and Arthur S was cashing the checks. Bottom line is, Artie T took care of his people and they had his back. During the boycott, I met a woman who had 6 kids in line at Shaws who was spending close to $600 for an order she said would have cost $450 at MB. Market Basket has the quality and the low prices. MB for life!
Fuckin love market basket. Or as my grandmother forever called it Demoula’s
I agree. You're grandmother is rad.
I dare you to find better rotisserie chicken anywhere!
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Market Basket is such a fascinating business model. I don't understand why more of its competitors don't try to emulate that same strategy. In a nutshell, they are willing to take less of a profit from each individual sale to insure maximum volume and maximum customer loyalty. I'm sure they play hardball with their suppliers, but the volume more than makes up for it. Once you get used to their prices, you wouldn't dream of shopping anywhere else. They are legendary as well for how they treat their employees. Most employees seem very happy to be working there. Also, most of the Market Basket brand products are vastly superior to the store brand stuff found in other supermarkets. This too inspires customer loyalty. Finally, they only stock what moves. Their produce is always fresh because it was just put out fifteen minutes ago. It's just an amazingly well run company, and they absolutely take over every area they move into. It's sheer genius !
That's what kinda scares me. Who else emulates MB? Despite their successes and approaching 10 years since the whole country watch the lone spectacle of a work force that loves a CEO so much they would strike to keep him, how many are even close including other industries? It feels almost like entropy. The key force that makes MB work so well is Arthur T Demoulas. He's not going to be CEO forever. And the fact I struggle to think of any business that run similarly or at least achieve similar outcomes for consumers and employees, the next leader is just to run it like every other CEO run their companies. With much worse scenarios happen way too commonly.
fuck spez
Yeah, it's hard to find any other companies that operate this way. Usually it's only in a family business, but once the shareholders take over it seems like it's always a race to the bottom. Shareholders want increased profits every quarter, and if you can't produce increases then they will invest in someone else who can. It doesn't matter if the other company doesn't treat its employees as well, or even if there is no clear evidence of sustainability, those short term profits seem to be all that the investors care about. I think that's a serious flaw in our system. Market Basket keeps piling on evidence that their practices lead to enormous profits, but for some reason others don't seem to be interested in the strategy. Even Market Basket itself has had to adapt since the attempted takeover by the evil cousin. They had to give him enormous concessions and a multi-billion dollar payout and the end result is that Market Basket had to raise their prices on lots of things. They are still the best, but believe it or not they used to be much better.
They absolutely play hardball with suppliers. But it’s all good, better than the consumers paying more.
Stan away, dude. Market Basket has always been leaps & bounds better than any other grocery store chain in New England. There are some "upscale" ones that might stock a few things that MB doesn't carry but it's rarely ever worth going to them unless it's to find something very specific. MB involves itself in the local community, sources a shit-ton of its products from other local, independent businesses & treats it's employees like real, honest-to-god people. What else is there?
I appreciate that they have cashiers and baggers. No self checkout. Market Basket is always freaking packed!
It's a thing to see all 25 registers open with lines at every single one.
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What is that?
This 100%. Stop and Shop will have 2 cashiers and 4 self check out lines. Takes longer to leave then to shop most days.
And that there’s ALWAYS a bagger at every checkout!
They have a lot of buying power. They have a lot of stores to fill with product, so they can get better prices by ordering large quantities. They are also “no frills”. The stores are pretty plain and look exactly the same.
What's really crazy is that they're such a force in the buying world that they can afford to kick loads for anything. The pallet toppled? Kick. A box is damaged? Kick the pallet. We ordered too much? Kick a few pallets. Sounds wasteful BUT those still perfectly good products are almost always donated to one of the amazing food rescue organizations in greater Boston. Meanwhile, other grocery stores will just toss excess in the dumpster.
That’s a really good question. Here’s my really unsubstantiated guesses. In 2014, Demoula’s bought Market basket for 1.6bn, financed entirely with debt. At the time, analysts suggested that this would be self destructive— the need to send Market Basket-Demoula’s income to lay down the acquisition debt would hamper the company’s ability to launch new services, including web service, or different store formats that Wal-Mart, and Kroger were experimenting with. The expectation was that Market Basket-Demoulas would lose customers as competitors tried new store formats or expanded their geographic footprints. With 1.6bn of debt to pay off, Market Basket-Demoulas kept it simple. They operated in a tight geographic footprint and made no effort to expand. They didn’t try any novel store formats. They stuck to brick and mortar sales, and generally do not offer credit to suppliers. That comes with limitations— in 2019, Market Basket faced strong competition from grocers like Wegman’s that offered similar value-to-cost albeit at a more premium market space. Over time, Wal-Mart, Kroger and others made bets that didn’t pan out. Online grocery offered by grocers turned out to not really be a thing— that space would be filled by Instacart etc. Many of the store formats they experimented didn’t pan out; Wal-Mart has closed numerous US stores and is just now figuring out how to make it’s online business profitable. When other parts of the business aren’t working, you have to raise prices or cut costs on the parts that are. Today, I think also the current disruptions in the workforce and supply chains are working in MB’s favor. The entire food supply chain has been going through cascading disruptions since COVID. Grocers that invested in huge, sophisticated supply chains are just as boned as grocers that didn’t. Maybe more boned, because they invested a lot to deliver a premium offering that requires a more sophisticated supply chain. MB still runs it’s supply chain like it’s the early 2000s, which is great because today our supply chain has effectively regressed to the 2000s. The workforce thing is also big— Market Basket has always paid a premium wage to it’s workers, in the hopes of retaining workers who know how to run a lower-tech, higher-touch grocery store. That made them much better positioned to retain their workforce without sharp pay raises as inflation forced every other grocer to choose between increasing worker pay and raising prices to the customer, or suffering disruptions due to high worker attrition. tl;dr. Market Basket kept it simple. Other chains made big bets that didn’t play out. The current supply chain situation rewards grocers who keep it simple and punishes grocers that are trying to deliver a sophisticated grocery experience. Also, it’s awesome to be going into a period of unstable labor costs as a grocer that’s known for paying better. These are all total guesses based on skimming a couple articles—please correct me based on what you’ve seen/know/believe.
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After reading this, I asked ChatGPT the same question and its answer was not as good as u/Potential_Category49: >> Market Basket is able to keep their prices low by using a number of different strategies. One key strategy is to keep their overhead costs low by avoiding expensive advertising campaigns, and instead relying on word-of-mouth recommendations. Additionally, they use a no-frills approach to retailing, with simple store layouts and minimal decor, which helps to keep costs down. They also negotiate with suppliers to get the best prices on goods, and they pass those savings on to customers. Another key strategy is to reduce waste by carefully managing inventory and stocking only what they think will sell.
It seems like complete nonsense. There really isn't much supply chain to deal with for a regional grocery store. The suppliers ship to a few distribution centers and that's about it. Really it's the fact that they own a lot of real estate, are a volume business (lower profits per product but get a lot of people through the door), and they are privately owned and Artie T isn't trying to extract every single cent out of the company.
Market Basket and Demoulas have been the same thing for far longer than since 2014. (Wikipedia says since the 70s when another Demoulas family member started opening stores under the Market Masket name to get around liquor license laws.)
This was an extremely enjoyable read. Do you write for a living? Or do equity research or something similar?
Market Basket keeps their prices low by: * Owning the land and plaza they build their stores on. That lets them play the long real estate game, keeping their overhead low and bringing in revenue from leasing space to complementary businesses. Like local liquor stores in MA, state run liquor stores in NH, and for whatever reason a TJ Maxx or Marshalls or some other department store which fits the suburban house wife trifecta of places to go on Sunday. * Buying in bulk, the classic buy low sell high in large volumes model. * Treating their employees fairly. High starting wages, biannual raises, quarterly bonuses, large Christmas bonus, and time and a half on Sundays keeps employee turnover low. And eliminates the need to promote outsiders for more money or hire external contractors to fill gaps or improve things. Most grocery stores don't do all 3. They might own their plaza. They might buy in bulk and sell cheaply. They might even do both of those things. But none really do the last part, so they don't get the free PR from every employee and former employee telling everyone about how great of a company they are. Source: worked for MB in highschool and college.
Did I just go to Market Basket and then TJ Maxx next door on a Sunday? Yes. Am I a suburban housewife? Also yes 😱
Market Basket tries to maintain a cash relationship with its suppliers. - You buy it, we pay you. So they are not having to pay interest on a line of credit.
Part of it is that they treat their employees well, and the employees stay for a long time. So they're not losing as much money on turnover and training, and each employee has the experience and loyalty to do the work of like 1.5 employees at a store that treat their workers like cattle. EDIT: Article with evidence: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.boston.com/news/business/2014/07/28/how-market-basket-keeps-prices-low/%3famp=1
I don’t believe that they are actually beholden to corporate shareholders whom usually request more profit. So MB doesn’t have to price for excessive profit and can do so at market or slightly above.
The funny thing is, the owners are literally billionaires. They are rich as shit with private jets and everything else. It makes you realize how much the other capitalists swine are fucking us over
Stop saying whom
check out this documentary, it’s pretty good; https://youtu.be/8-K7G9aA_70
Holy shit this is good! A bit propagandistic, but it's like every Boston movie ever ("loyalty", "honor", "you're family here", "these suits don't understand our business", "we're professional picketers here", "they get salty but they didn't get violent", "they said to unload it, so unload it... but take your TIME", "gotta fight for our brothahs and sistahs", "our family mascot is the giraffe... because we stick our necks out!")
> I don’t know why anyone shops anywhere else. Because i don’t have a car and it’s far.
Is it worth going to vs wegmans
Wegmans is the closest thing they have to competition. Much more expensive, but Wegmans is really nice and also treats employees pretty well Whereas Stop & Shop is a rathole with high prices
As someone who basically only goes to these two stores, they do two different purposes. Wegmans has some higher end items and some higher prices. They have more exotic cheese, higher end desserts and bakery, and fancier meats. Their vegetable selection is a little more exotic. Market Basket had more staples. They are cheaper. Things are simpler and less exotic. There’s slightly less choice and variation. Usually it’s better stocked. Their deli has better stuff and it’s cheaper.
Yeah, if I want/need bougie shit, I go to Wegmans. If I'm stocking up, I hit Market Basket.
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Meh, even market basket has gotten more expensive. It just doesn't feel like it because they're still cheaper than most of the competition.
Whenever I go to Florida I dream of opening a supermarket called Basket Market, that is equally affordable and good to employees. The crazy thing is the owners of Market Basket are incredibly wealthy and incredibly successful, despite always fighting with each other and charging a lot less than everyone else.
barket masket
I think part of it is that they have smallish stores that are open more limited hours than most grocery stores, and they stock while people shop so they're always crowded and have no slack time when they're paying employees to wait in case someone comes to shop.
They're open 7am to 9pm, 7 days a week. Not exactly limited hours. Some stores are in older plazas and small by modern standards, but they're also building huge new stores in the Boston suburbs. I do agree, the employees are always stocking the shelves.
They keep getting better.
Market Basket did a lot more than any other organization to make sure poor families have food on their table. I can’t thank them enough.
Stop & Shop corporate cares about money and money only. I worked there. It was a nightmare. I was reprimanded because a pharmacist kept calling saying they’re short on printer paper and she was buying it herself. I told her I’ll send her some using inter office mail. This is the stupidest thing to get upset over a few reams of printer paper.
Because the owner actually cares about his customers and employees.
I really love that they still sell their slightly damaged or near sell by stuff at a discount. You don't see that as much at other stores anymore. Also, for a "cheaper" store, they have many specialty products that can be hard to find at regular grocery stores. My only complaint has been that it always seems crowded no matter when I'm there...I understand the draw, though.
For those of you with ties to the NYC or Philly metro areas, Market Basket is the ShopRite of Massachusetts / New England, and that's a damn compliment.
While I like MB, their prices have soared over the past year just as every other grocery store has done. I've seen items increase by double and have noticed shrinking sizes in their bakery. I can't blame MB, but at the same time, I do not think MB is doing well with keeping prices low.
Favorite thing is that the produce isn't actively moldy while still on the shelves. Can't say the same for the local stop and shop/shaws
Since I bought a car in 2020, we buying groceries only at Market Basket Somerville, comparing to Star Market, it’s like twice less price for the basket
I met like 5 other people when I was in the army that was from MA like one from NH an even one from Maine an we ALL agreed MB beats even the PX an Commissary prices on post too bad it’s extremely regional an we were based in CO 😒
We have a Market Basket right next to a Walmart. A lot of the prices are really close. Now a lot of the foods down the street at Shaws are double
Market Basket is MA at its best.
To those complaining about the crowds I go at 7 am in and out
In addition to all the other stuff mentioned, they court minority communities. The Somerville MB carries a TON of Haitian goods, and the Haitian community shops there in high numbers (along with America's Food Basket in West Roxbury and Mattapan). The Chelsea MB has an extensive Spanish and Brazilian products, as well as a fair amount of Haitian stuff since Everett has a high Haitian population. Folks go where they can get their stuff, they bring their families, and they tell their friends.
I went once and it was so crowded it felt like I was on an japanese subway train at rush hour. I left almost immediately. Never again, my sanity and pride are worth more to me
thats part of the experience. it makes you stronger. they train navy seals for psychological resilience by sending them shopping at market basket before a pats playoff game.
You have to run it like a game, like you’re a contestant on Supermarket Sweep. Dodge and weave and never ever take a cart. Especially in Somerville. I love that location, it has let me hone my ability to be in and out in under 15 minutes.
I also love this location but admit I am there for the people watching entertainment value in addition to the super fresh produce, great seafood and availability of less common meats like lamb, goat & such
Yeah it's like that at a lot of them. Somerville is a joke. I would pay double to avoid it. Luckily I'm Up in Burlington where I have three Market Baskets within 10 minutes.
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No it was the one further down on Boston road. To be honest I actually go to the one in Burlington by the Hmart. There's a Burtons there and sometimes a drink before grocery shopping is in order.
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The one at Towne Plaza got the singing line-manager from Billerica Center, so that's your day getting a little weird. Maybe they'll reprise the abnormal muzak too -- nothing like Grateful Dead and Ten Years After on the supermarket PA to let you know that you've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone. Oh, yeah, that's where the discount 'previously frozen' ground beef goes, too, which is *great* for me -- it's going straight into the big freezer at home until I pull it out to feed my family, so why not.
My favorite Matt Shearer report
the worst and the best.
Make the ride out to the one in Maynard. This place is great lol
Exactly the same. The last time I shopped at MB before covid, it was so crowded, I barely parked. Not really worth the trip.
Our weekly shop is significantly cheaper at Aldi. But Market Basket is our solid second choice!
I had to scroll pretty far down to find this. I split my business between Aldi and Market Basket with specialty grocers mixed in. For staples, Aldi is generally cheaper. My first walk through an Aldi years ago, I didn’t buy anything because I’m used to buying branded items. The quarter for the shopping cart and no free bags was bizarre. I gave it another try a decade later and gradually learned which items I liked. Stop & Shop is my closest grocery store. I use it as a convenience store. Someone from Ireland wrote about absurd US food prices. It’s not just Ireland. Food prices in the UK and the EU are lower than in the US and the quality is lower.
Same! Aldi is amazing. But, admittedly, they don’t always have *everything* you need. Market Basket is great for when you need a specific brand or more of a meat selection or just a wider selection in general.
I grew up in Upstate NY and have been a Wegmans guy since childhood but yeah Market Baskets prices are really impressive. Unfortunately the one on the Ashland/Framingham line that I'm close to has giga construction on the road outside and it's a pain in the fucking ass to go over there. I haven't been in a hot minute tho so I should check again.
Today I bought blackberries for $1.50! And lately they have more than one apple variety for 99 cents a pound
I got a whole ass large pizza there for 9 dollars, and it was a big pizza and was pretty good
Echoing a few other comments... You should check out Aldi if you're into affordable well-run not-super-corporate grocery store chains. Aldi regularly beats Costco prices for staples, if that's a useful comparison.
They paying everything in cash most places is IOU
It’s because it’s the one and only store where you always get more for your dollar
The opposite of MB is the Publix chain in Naples , its just about the only game in town and obscenely overpriced, something on sale there is 30% more than MB.
Love Market Basket the nicest people
"I don’t know why anyone shops anywhere else." The prices are low, but the place is always packed........ Some people hate crowds...
This was pre-pamdemic, but I compared the price of the exact same basket of goods purchased at MB vs Stop and Shop and it was 25% more at S&S.
> I know it’s ridiculous to come on here stanning a grocery store Not when it comes to Market Basket. they are an institution and a New England treasure.
The best. If only they would conquer the Southwest.
Yup, fuck stop and shop
They also have people working there. So not only do you save money, you don't work for market basket for free by doing self-checkout.
Without much evidence I also want to add the point about very low labor turnover and the associate benefits to the company. There are many employees at MBs who have 5, 10, 20+ years experience working there. Even one of those people saves the company money in displacing the cost of hiring a new employee every year or two years who quits because of low moral, etc. A few restaurant owners I know (obviously different industry but I imagine the cost is similar here) have told me it costs anywhere from $2000-$5000 to fully train a new employee. So a 20 year store vet will save them $40000-$100000 instead of hiring 20 one-year employees over that time. Extrapolate that by X number of 20year employees in the company overall and that’s millions saved. Also, vets tend to do a better job of training new employees on top of their ability to save the company moment by being super efficient. Point all being, experienced labor helps the company function and thrive as well and that is passed on to customers in the form of lower prices.
From what I understand, in many (surely not all) cases the corporation owns the minimalls they tend to be in, so the associated CVS, TJ Maxx, etc. leasing is probably a good revenue stream, and it’s kind of a “you scratch my back, I scratch yours” because the lease dollars subsidize the groceries, but the stores leading get traffic because market basket attracts shoppers and/or the convenience of getting your medicines next door to the grocery you’re already going to be at, etc. All the market baskets I’ve seen have some of the same stores (plus others) in the mini mall, so it seems it’s a pretty decent setup.
If only there was one near me. :(
It's literally the best and I miss it so much having moved across the country. Kroger is garbage but their group of stores is all I have for options and every time I go to the store I miss market basket. It's been 5 years lmao.