When we moved to Lawrence in 1989, there were 3 Market Basket Supermarkets around us. One in Essex Plaza in Lawrence, another on Route 114 in North Andover and one in Shawsheen Plaza in Andover, all accessible from our point of residence.
We had no idea as to who owned them. ‘Some American company,’ we thought. Yes, we liked the idea of how well supplied they were; also the way that each of these three stores was stocked, caught our attention.
If you were going to shop in Andover, there you would find anything but Latin products. Today this store changed hands; it belongs to Stop & Shop. The Essex Plaza store always looks like a Goya products warehouse. There, the Latino consumer has no reason for complaining. If you go to the store on Route 114 you would find a more bicultural balance in terms of supplies are concerned.
Although, we shop at the store located on Route 114, since it is closer to our point of residence, their customer service emphasis always caught our attention.
At the beginning, residing in Lawrence, Shaw’s Supermarkets opened a beautiful store closest to our home at Plaza 114. Immediately we became their clients but their style was similar to Market Basket in Andover. This shop apparently did not have the vision to attract the Latino clientele from Lawrence. Today the Registry of Motor Vehicles occupies that space, after another shop where the customers had to bring their own bags, did not last long.
It is sad that the administration of this company, due to family feud, is about to throw away the attention to customer service they had shown so far.
Following the dismissal of CEO Arthur T. Demoulas it’s admirable the support company employees have given him to the point of refusing to work for the new CEO, his cousin Arthur S., as well as the clientele who has refused to shop in their stores in support of the employees.
We believe that with this set of attitudes, (the owners, the employees and even the customers) is contributing to an inevitable disaster, unless the members of the Demoulas Family are enlightened and abandon their hostile position.
