Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZY, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2: Thank you very much, Dan Watkins. Well, as I think
Speaker 2: all of us know, last week, we did touch upon
Speaker 2: this ongoing battle with the family members of the Market
Speaker 2: Basket ownership team, and I was delighted today to read
Speaker 2: a piece in the Boston Globe d one of the
Speaker 2: Business section. Was page one of the Business section and
Speaker 2: tid to move over Kendall Roy. I'm not a big
Speaker 2: succession fan, but the article bought basically draw us the
Speaker 2: real life drama, draw us a connection between the real
Speaker 2: life drama of the Market Basket. Boardroom is a real
Speaker 2: life succession in the mind of Camillo Fonseca, who wrote
Speaker 2: the piece for Treadlines. It's a fun read and it
Speaker 2: does provide me a lot of insight into what is
Speaker 2: going on with Market Basket. So let me first of all,
Speaker 2: welcome Camilla fan sake, Yeah, Covintle, thanks for joining us tonight.
Speaker 2: I appreciate it.
Speaker 3: Thanks for having me. Dan, I'm glad to be here.
Speaker 2: Well, I'll tell you I'm not a succession guy, but
Speaker 2: you now have intrigued me to probably watch a little
Speaker 2: bit of this HBO presentation. I know it's been around
Speaker 2: for a while. Tell us about the analogies here. I mean,
Speaker 2: this is a sort of the shifting into mural alliances
Speaker 2: within the Demoulis family, people switching sides back and forth,
Speaker 2: and at this point RDT, who was the hero of
Speaker 2: Market basketback in twenty fourteen, now finds himself on the
Speaker 2: outside looking in. Give us your sense of it as
Speaker 2: you as you I'm sure have talked to some of
Speaker 2: the folks that are involved, love to get your take
Speaker 2: on it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely. I mean the first thing when we were
Speaker 3: in the office and these headlines started started coming out,
Speaker 3: everybody was like, oh my gosh, this is just like
Speaker 3: an appias of Succession, Because you're right, the sort of
Speaker 3: shifting family loyalties have really sort of crystallized the struggle,
Speaker 3: you know, for the past several decades, but especially you
Speaker 3: know the news that broke last week. So for those
Speaker 3: who haven't watched Succession, so much of it is based
Speaker 3: around this family sort of Rupert Murdoch esque that run
Speaker 3: this media company, which is obviously a very different business
Speaker 3: than running a local New England supermarket chain, but the
Speaker 3: way that it portrays, you know, all these siblings and
Speaker 3: how they form alliances and then they're backstabbing each other.
Speaker 3: It makes for a lot of good drama and it
Speaker 3: really is in some ways very similar to what we're
Speaker 3: seeing with Market Basket, because when RDT de Mulas was
Speaker 3: placed on paid leave last week, it was at the
Speaker 3: instigation of his three sisters, the same three sisters that
Speaker 3: he had allied with in twenty fourteen, back when the
Speaker 3: walkouts were all happening. So these were this is the
Speaker 3: same side of the family that came together to buy
Speaker 3: out the other, the arthur S side of the family
Speaker 3: back in twenty fourteen with all the customer boycotts and
Speaker 3: the walkout, and for the past ten years, eleven years,
Speaker 3: you know, they were supposedly on the same side of
Speaker 3: the coin. But I you know, we can see now
Speaker 3: that that can change very quickly.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, you have this this situation here. Most
Speaker 2: families in New England are anywhere, I guess, have their
Speaker 2: own little struggles, their personal struggles. Someone doesn't like Uncle Harry,
Speaker 2: someone doesn't like cousin Marie or whatever, all of that
Speaker 2: sort of stuff. But the stakes are higher in a
Speaker 2: demulis case or in a case of succession. And yet
Speaker 2: in the case of Demulis or the Dmula's family and
Speaker 2: market basket, it affects a heck of a lot more
Speaker 2: people than just the immediate family. It affects everybody who
Speaker 2: who's a customer there, who shops there. We all not
Speaker 2: only get pulled into the h into the controversy, but
Speaker 2: we all, I think, inherently kind of pick what side
Speaker 2: we're on, who we're rooting for. I'm rooting for RDT.
Speaker 2: I can't tell you why, but I'm rooting for RDT
Speaker 2: because I remember ten years ago, eleven years ago, he
Speaker 2: seemed to be the guy who was the good guy.
Speaker 2: And he has not fundamentally changed the store at all.
Speaker 2: It's still the same market basket. That is I think,
Speaker 2: you know, customer friendly prices are pretty much better, in
Speaker 2: my opinion, across the board the quality of the of
Speaker 2: the products. So you know, that's where I'm coming from.
Speaker 2: I don't have a dog in the fight of succession,
Speaker 2: but I we have a dog in the fight. Did
Speaker 2: the market ban? Could people talk to you much about
Speaker 2: in anticipation of this? So they're not the most communicative
Speaker 2: people in the world, as I understand that with the outside.
Speaker 3: Media, they didn't, so they didn't talk to me for
Speaker 3: this particular article. You know, they have talked about, you know,
Speaker 3: the reasons that they put RDT on paid leave, and
Speaker 3: it was because essentially, you know, from what we can assume,
Speaker 3: a lot of it has to do with the same
Speaker 3: stuff that he was fighting for in twenty fourteen, which
Speaker 3: was you know, the levels of employee compensation or employee
Speaker 3: benefits and the shopping experience. I would say that that
Speaker 3: is probably less of a concern in the board's eyes
Speaker 3: because they're saying that a lot of it has to
Speaker 3: do with how ARDT is running the company, as in
Speaker 3: he's not you know, supposedly he's not taking advice from
Speaker 3: the board, he's not letting them in on key decisions
Speaker 3: and capital expenditures. So it really, you know, depends on
Speaker 3: who you want to believe, I guess, but I mean,
Speaker 3: another thing you said is one hundred percent right, is
Speaker 3: that you know, people still have such a strong affection
Speaker 3: and respect for RDT even after you know, eleven years
Speaker 3: after the walkouts that that saw him buy out the
Speaker 3: rest of the company with his sisters. You know, he's
Speaker 3: still a household name in many parts of New England,
Speaker 3: in Massachusetts, So it remains to be seen.
Speaker 2: He's kind of a kind of a folk.
Speaker 3: People have like T shirts with his with his faith
Speaker 3: on them, and like like market basket logos that are
Speaker 3: are with the market basket named out and the mulus
Speaker 3: on them. You know, it's it's something that people really
Speaker 3: care about, and certainly that affects a lot of people,
Speaker 3: not just shoppers, but but the employees as well. So
Speaker 3: you're absolutely right.
Speaker 2: Did you develop a sense and again, I know you're
Speaker 2: a columnist here, but you're also sometimes in a role
Speaker 2: as a reporter. Did you get a sense as to
Speaker 2: how long you think this struggle is going, how long
Speaker 2: it's going to last, or how it might conclude. Did
Speaker 2: you get any sense of that or or.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's really it's really tough to say. I mean,
Speaker 3: if you remember back in twenty fourteen, I think that
Speaker 3: was you know, several weeks if not months that that
Speaker 3: those walkouts and stuff dragged out. And you know, at
Speaker 3: this point we're not seeing any like you know, massive
Speaker 3: walkouts or customer boycotts so far, but you know, if
Speaker 3: that changes, it really is is hard to say. The
Speaker 3: board has said that they are they are doing an
Speaker 3: investigation into whether Arthur T. De Mulis was planning on
Speaker 3: leading a walkout. I think that was part of the
Speaker 3: reason that they gave for placing him on paid leave,
Speaker 3: because they wanted to have this investigation. And then you
Speaker 3: have people in Rdt's camp that are saying that that
Speaker 3: is you know, that's complete blowney. You know, so it's
Speaker 3: who you believe, and it really is hard to say.
Speaker 3: I have no idea. I wish I did, but I
Speaker 3: think it doesn't bring a lot of comfort to shoppers.
Speaker 3: I'm sure.
Speaker 2: I just highly commend this article today in the in
Speaker 2: the Boston Globe. People can get it online. Move over,
Speaker 2: Kendall Roy and the subhead is if the market basket
Speaker 2: boardroom battle is a real life Succession saga, complete with
Speaker 2: family drama and dysfunction, A lot of alliteration from those
Speaker 2: sub headline writers. I don't know if they still have
Speaker 2: subheadline writers at the Globe, but I.
Speaker 3: Can't take credit for that. But yet, Yeah, they did
Speaker 3: a great job with that one.
Speaker 2: It caught my eye, I gotta tell you, and I
Speaker 2: I really enjoyed it, and I do appreciate Camelo kind
Speaker 2: of coming on and just talking about it because it
Speaker 2: gives me a launch pad here for this next next hour.
Speaker 2: So I thank you for joining us, and I'm going
Speaker 2: to be following you a little bit more closely. And
Speaker 2: I did reach out to our mutual friend h and
Speaker 2: left her a message, and I hope she's listening great,
Speaker 2: and I was able to leave her a voicemail. Okay, Dan,
Speaker 2: thanks you Bell Ill appreciate it so much. We'll talk again. Okay,
Speaker 2: thanks very much. I enjoyed that conversation. I hope you
Speaker 2: did as well. Now the conversation I'm really looking forward
Speaker 2: to is yours. This story is just percolating below the headlines. Uh,
Speaker 2: And I got to tell you that there will be
Speaker 2: a conclusion to this story. I don't know what it is,
Speaker 2: the conclusion that I'm concerned about, and I'm not necessarily
Speaker 2: rooting for one individual or the other. But the one
Speaker 2: individual that I am familiar with, obviously is Arthur T.
Speaker 2: I think he's run market Basket remarkably well and one
Speaker 2: of the things that I want to see. As an
Speaker 2: occasional shopper, I have to get to Wall Fame. That's
Speaker 2: my nearest market Basket, and I get there a couple
Speaker 2: of times a month, so I'm not the backbone shopper
Speaker 2: that maybe some of you are. But one of the
Speaker 2: things that makes market Basket attractive to me prices. The
Speaker 2: aisles laid out a lot more comfortably than some of
Speaker 2: the other stores. It's easy to maneuver. The people are helpful.
Speaker 2: The employees are helpful. Many of them are first generation,
Speaker 2: but they are great people. They never look at you
Speaker 2: like you have two heads. If they don't understand what
Speaker 2: you're saying, they will find and another associate to always
Speaker 2: try to get your questions answered. And the thing that
Speaker 2: is most attractive to me about market Basket is that
Speaker 2: when you do check out, you're checking out in a
Speaker 2: checkout line with a cashier and in most cases a
Speaker 2: bagger as well. Although I like to bag my own groceries,
Speaker 2: I have never seen in a market Basket store a
Speaker 2: self checkout, automatic, kiosk or whatever you want to call them.
Speaker 2: It's as simple as that, because when I go to
Speaker 2: the store, I want to feel that I got everything
Speaker 2: I needed at a decent price, and that's what market
Speaker 2: basket is all about. So I want to find out
Speaker 2: who are you rooting for? Because I don't know what
Speaker 2: plans the other folks might have for market Basket, But
Speaker 2: I'm pretty confident that Arthur t RDT will probably keep
Speaker 2: it just the way it is and it will continue
Speaker 2: to be a store that I find to be very
Speaker 2: comfortable when I go there. Six one seven, two, five
Speaker 2: four ten thirty six one seven nine three one ten thirty.
Speaker 2: We will talk about this only only until ten o'clock,
Speaker 2: because at ten o'clock I am committed to talking about
Speaker 2: the incident in the attack, I'm not going to call
Speaker 2: it an incident, the attack in Boulder, Colorado on Sunday
Speaker 2: six one seven, two five four ten thirty six one
Speaker 2: seven nine three one ten thirty. This is personal to me.
Speaker 2: I hope it's personal to you, and I hope you
Speaker 2: enjoined the conversation. Only lines still open right now. Six
Speaker 2: one seven nine three one ten thirty.
Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2: So let's let's talk about market Basket, and uh, I know,
Speaker 2: I know what I'm concerned about. I've seen too many
Speaker 2: traditional stores change and all of a sudden, there are
Speaker 2: fewer and fewer customer service lines, more and more automatic
Speaker 2: checkout machines, which I think is a mistake for the stores,
Speaker 2: because I think a lot of people can be tempted
Speaker 2: about I'm going to ring this up. Maybe I won't
Speaker 2: ring that up. Let's get back to the phones. Let's
Speaker 2: go to David in Pennsylvania. Dave, do you have market
Speaker 2: basket down in Pennsylvania?
Speaker 4: I know, but I'll tell you a story again. I
Speaker 4: used to cut me to the original Ta Demolis back
Speaker 4: in the late nineteen eighties, around eighty eight, eighty nine,
Speaker 4: when the family was still fighting. Yeah, I mean the
Speaker 4: old man Ta Demolis, very nice guy. The first school
Speaker 4: was in Lowell, of course, you know the Merrimack Valley
Speaker 4: area and what do you call it. I used to
Speaker 4: know the Suns and I always used to work for
Speaker 4: Anthony Athenis too, we know the Athenis family. Great man
Speaker 4: but a great guy. Yeah, absolutely, And the same thing
Speaker 4: with mister Demolis. So I think they might have known
Speaker 4: each other to who knows, you know, in the business cycle.
Speaker 4: But they were very all, very nice to work for it. And
Speaker 4: we don't have market baskets. Say we got something called
Speaker 4: giant eagles. I don't know if you heard a giant
Speaker 4: eagle kind of like you're stopping shop back there?
Speaker 2: Yeah, well again stop stop and shop has got bigger
Speaker 2: they've gone through. It's no longer owned I think by
Speaker 2: the original family. And you know, whenever these you know,
Speaker 2: big institutions like a stop and shopper Market Basket passed on,
Speaker 2: things change, and I think that they tend not to
Speaker 2: change for the better. What got you down to Pennsylvania
Speaker 2: if you were working up here for demoulis you you
Speaker 2: were in a the.
Speaker 4: I mean I've called you. I've called you before, Dan,
Speaker 4: I'm originally from Salem Man. I'm as Salem kid. I
Speaker 4: called you before, and you were you had Scott Lehigh
Speaker 4: on a couple of times, not called I Me and
Speaker 4: him got close on Facebook, and I know he's writing
Speaker 4: a new book, so he's going to send me a copy.
Speaker 4: But he's a great guy. But uh no, I married
Speaker 4: my golf or sweetheart. So that's what I'm doing out here.
Speaker 2: Okay, all right, So if you don't really have a
Speaker 2: dog in the fight, but uh, I think I think
Speaker 2: Market Baskets the best grocery store. I used to be
Speaker 2: Roach Brothers, and I like Roach Brothers, but Roach and
Speaker 2: Roach Brothers is really a good quality store. Uh And
Speaker 2: I mean that a great quality store. The fruits and
Speaker 2: vegetables there, but Market Baskets right in the same category,
Speaker 2: and and again you're in, you're out. They have enough
Speaker 2: people there, they haven't They have enough, right, I mean
Speaker 2: they have like like twenty checkout lines. Yeah, other stories
Speaker 2: have like three checkout lines, and other people are trying
Speaker 2: to figure out how to work these kiosks, which is
Speaker 2: just a waste.
Speaker 4: Of people's Yeah, it's kind of a pain in the neck.
Speaker 4: We got that, like I said about our saying here
Speaker 4: in Pittsburgh, Giant Eagle, they're a little more they're a
Speaker 4: little higher priced, still like a stopping truck. I mean,
Speaker 4: we have all these around here. I know you've heard
Speaker 4: of them, all these around the country. But uh, I
Speaker 4: missed Market Basket. I missed the and they were very
Speaker 4: customer friendly. I always enjoyed working for him. I worked
Speaker 4: in the Davis store a few times, and then a
Speaker 4: few other stores throughout and that even the one in
Speaker 4: Salem House for a while years and years ago. But
Speaker 4: they I really missed mister t. Demulas. She was he
Speaker 4: was an old school guy.
Speaker 1: A very just minute.
Speaker 2: I just got a question for you, since you probably
Speaker 2: know more of the history of it. When did the
Speaker 2: they now have I think it's about ninety stores or
Speaker 2: some big number. When did they really start to expand
Speaker 2: and spread out.
Speaker 4: I think I mean, like maybe in the early nineties
Speaker 4: into the mid nineties, because I was still living in
Speaker 4: Massachusetts after I got out of the Marine Corps, and
Speaker 4: I know, I shot back at the original ones where
Speaker 4: I used to work, and I still let friends working
Speaker 4: there in baggers, and you could have a nice career
Speaker 4: and I could basket if you worked there for a
Speaker 4: long time.
Speaker 2: In there a lot of people, a lot of people.
Speaker 2: They treat their employees very well for a long time.
Speaker 2: They used to shop at a market basket in Ashland, Massachusetts. Uh,
Speaker 2: and okay, it wasn't great, and there was another store nearby,
Speaker 2: was a Roach Brothers, and I became a Roach Brothers fan.
Speaker 2: But now when I found this market Basket in Waltham,
Speaker 2: it's right on one twenty eight, so it's not that
Speaker 2: hard to get to.
Speaker 4: And I'm familiar with the Yep.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's ten miles from where I live. But it's
Speaker 2: well worth. It's well worth the drive. The savings more
Speaker 2: than eats up the gas money. That's that's involved great
Speaker 2: right here. Thank you so much, thank.
Speaker 5: You, Thank you God.
Speaker 4: Bless you have a good night.
Speaker 2: Thanks for being such a loyal listener down there in
Speaker 2: Pennsylvania for us.
Speaker 4: I PREI you welcome, sir.
Speaker 2: All right, thanks Dave, keep in touch, God bless all right,
Speaker 2: good night. Right back at you. We'll take a break.
Speaker 2: One line there at six one seven. Well that's just filled. Now.
Speaker 2: If you're dialing here getting a busy single, here's here's
Speaker 2: the here it is. I got two lines at six
Speaker 2: one seven nine three one ten thirty, six one seven,
Speaker 2: nine three one ten thirty. Don't go busy. Dial six
Speaker 2: one seven nine three one ten thirty and we'll get
Speaker 2: you on. Coming back on night Side.
Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan Ray on w B Boston's
Speaker 1: news radio.
Speaker 2: All right, we're getting back to the phone calls. Here
Speaker 2: six one seven. The only line is six one seven
Speaker 2: nine three one ten thirty. We are talking about the fight,
Speaker 2: the Demulis family fight, because it's more than just a
Speaker 2: family fight. It affects you and me if we're customers.
Speaker 2: We're not a member of the family, but it affects
Speaker 2: all of us as potential customers. Let's go next to
Speaker 2: Mary in andover. I'll bet you Mary is a customer
Speaker 2: of Demola's Hi, Mary, how are you tonight.
Speaker 6: I'm good. I'm good. I'm just you know what they're doing,
Speaker 6: come road work in the endover and I just go
Speaker 6: I'm taking the turn.
Speaker 2: Now, okay, take your time.
Speaker 4: Oh that lane?
Speaker 7: Yeah, okay, I'm going in the wrong lane.
Speaker 2: Tell him you're in the radio. Mary, tell him you're
Speaker 2: in the radio.
Speaker 6: I'm on the radio, buddy, Hey, I'm going in reverse.
Speaker 2: Tell him Dan tell him. Dan Ray said hi to
Speaker 2: all the road crew.
Speaker 7: Okay, great.
Speaker 6: Dan Ray says, hello, he didn't hear me.
Speaker 2: I don't think that's okay. It's the thought that counts.
Speaker 2: Are you safe and sound now married?
Speaker 6: Dan Ray says, hello, thank you for your job. Thank you,
Speaker 6: thank you. Oh my goodness, thank you.
Speaker 2: That's good.
Speaker 7: Thank you?
Speaker 6: Say about that. I called in because I have to
Speaker 6: tell you I was shocked and totally disappointed when I
Speaker 6: heard that any member of Artie Teen's family, because I
Speaker 6: know all three of his sisters, would bring any kind
Speaker 6: of a claim against him. He poured his heart and
Speaker 6: soul into that business, and anybody who knows that family
Speaker 6: knows that his son. I was in the store up
Speaker 6: in and I haven't seen Arty in years, Okay, I
Speaker 6: went to high school with him and said, I did
Speaker 6: my brothers and sister. But I haven't seen Arty in years.
Speaker 6: But I saw a young man and I went up
Speaker 6: to him and I said to him, I said, I
Speaker 6: know I've never met you, but I want to tell
Speaker 6: you I knew your father in high school. And in fact,
Speaker 6: my brother and your father were on the front page
Speaker 6: of the Laurence Eagle Tribute with my brother blocking him
Speaker 6: for a when he would have had the ball and
Speaker 6: was running to make a touchdown in a football game
Speaker 6: at they had over high. Okay, And I have to
Speaker 6: tell you, but Bertie Demolis as a heart of gold,
Speaker 6: as did both of his parents. And I can tell
Speaker 6: you that because my father was in a horrible accident
Speaker 6: and some terrible things happened in our family and his family.
Speaker 6: His parents. I don't even know that to this day,
Speaker 6: he even knows it. But they came to our house
Speaker 6: to offer to my mother anything she needed. They didn't
Speaker 6: know us from any.
Speaker 5: I mean, my father died.
Speaker 6: Wow, my you know, my junior year in high school
Speaker 6: and Arty was a senior and his parents, his parents
Speaker 6: came to the house and offered to help in any
Speaker 6: way they could to my offered it to my mother.
Speaker 6: You know. Fortunately my mother was a very stupid person.
Speaker 6: This was my father and they had made plans as
Speaker 6: they should.
Speaker 2: But anyway, well that's a great story. It shows that
Speaker 2: shows the quality, it shows the quality of the man Mary,
Speaker 2: that's for sure.
Speaker 8: Well.
Speaker 6: And and to his family too. I mean, I have
Speaker 6: to say, I don't want to say a bad word
Speaker 6: about his sisters because I think they were all nice
Speaker 6: people and two of them married guys who went to
Speaker 6: high school with all of us, you know, And I'm
Speaker 6: just really sorry it's happening. I am praying that they
Speaker 6: that they will come to a resolution swiftly and amicably,
Speaker 6: and I hope they can bridge this this terrible devind.
Speaker 2: Well, I hope that they. I hope that they keep
Speaker 2: Market Basket the great, the great facility that it is.
Speaker 2: It serves a lot of people. I think they have
Speaker 2: somewhere around ninety sores. And when you multiply ninety stories
Speaker 2: by the number of people who are served by that company, uh,
Speaker 2: they provide they provide a lifeline for a lot of
Speaker 2: families here in New England. So thank you, thanks, thanks
Speaker 2: thanks for to thank you for calling, and also thank
Speaker 2: you for maneuvering there and and not only multitasking that
Speaker 2: being on the radio and and and not getting into
Speaker 2: a crash. That's great, right, well.
Speaker 6: My siblings would be telling me I shouldn't be on
Speaker 6: the phone.
Speaker 2: When that's okay. You tell your siblings thank you. If
Speaker 2: you tell your siblings you made some important points and
Speaker 2: you gave us some insights into the Demulas family. Thanks
Speaker 2: so much, Miry, we'll talk again.
Speaker 6: What about the family show?
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening. Thanks all right, bye bye, Let me
Speaker 2: go to Bill in Boston. Bill, you're next nightside.
Speaker 7: Welcome again, good evening, Thanks very hoighly of you and
Speaker 7: your show. A long time admirers. I want to comment,
Speaker 7: if I may, about Market Basket and and just the
Speaker 7: culture Je Blee years ago, twenty five years ago, I
Speaker 7: think came back, came out of the gates and said
Speaker 7: they were bringing humanity back to their travel. That was
Speaker 7: their slogan. And when we shop at Market we feel
Speaker 7: as though we're embraced by a warm culture by a
Speaker 7: company that cares about their customers and staff. It reminds
Speaker 7: me a lot of the Marriott Corporation and how the
Speaker 7: Marriott family had their fingers in the trenches for years
Speaker 7: and we're heartbroken by what's going on, and see it
Speaker 7: is entirely counterproductive. The challenge is we don't know what's
Speaker 7: really going on in the boardroom, so it's hard to
Speaker 7: really dissect what's happening. But we're a long time third
Speaker 7: generation supporters and I don't know how much you realize it,
Speaker 7: but we live in had Over, New Hampshire, and Market
Speaker 7: Basket is further north and Warren, and they've got a
Speaker 7: footprint now all over New England and people value them
Speaker 7: all over New England.
Speaker 2: I think, yeah, I think that the numbers ninety stores,
Speaker 2: I might be off a little bit there. I know
Speaker 2: they're in New Hampshire. I didn't know if they were
Speaker 2: in any of the other New England states. If you
Speaker 2: know that, feel free to let me know, Okay, But
Speaker 2: it it is. It's there's a lot of people and
Speaker 2: it does it well. And I just hope that that
Speaker 2: at the end of the day, already De Mulis survives
Speaker 2: and in my opinion, in addition to that, the stool
Speaker 2: continued to prosper and people continue to receive the great
Speaker 2: service that Market Basket provides, great food at reasonable prices
Speaker 2: with good service. You can't beat the car.
Speaker 7: You're brilliant. I want to put in a plug from
Speaker 7: a forty five year paramedic, you know that and still working.
Speaker 7: And I read on the front page of the Bus
Speaker 7: and Globe today about the death of the mother of
Speaker 7: a five year old who's killed by a drunk driver.
Speaker 7: This is prom season. I can't tell you how many
Speaker 7: deaths I've seen in forty five years prom season. Ye,
Speaker 7: And there's drunk driving phenomena is getting worse and worse
Speaker 7: and worse. And I don't know if you've got an
Speaker 7: opportunity to bring someone in for Mothers Against Drunk Driving
Speaker 7: or someone dedicated to the cause, but it would we'd
Speaker 7: be great if you consider it for a future show.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'd be happy to And you know what, why
Speaker 2: don't you? Rob will give you my direct line, give
Speaker 2: me a call during the day and if I don't
Speaker 2: pick up, I'll call you back and maybe we can brainstorm.
Speaker 2: I'm not even sure if Mother's Against drum Driving is
Speaker 2: still existing. The woman who died tonight is the is
Speaker 2: the woman who was hit the family that was hit
Speaker 2: by an alleged drunk driver out in Franklin, Massachusetts. I
Speaker 2: believe it was Saturday in which a little girl already died,
Speaker 2: and now the moms died. So the dad and the
Speaker 2: boy who's I think fourteen years old, they're still alive,
Speaker 2: but they know their family has been decimated. And I mean,
Speaker 2: it's a horrible story. It's a horrible story.
Speaker 7: Sorry to take you off market basketball.
Speaker 2: No, that's fine, don't hang up, don't hear out.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm not pets. I thank you for saying that.
Speaker 2: But Rob will give you my number. Please call me.
Speaker 2: I will call you back and we'll try to we'll
Speaker 2: work on something between your knowledge. Thanks and my radio
Speaker 2: station will do something that's productive, particularly if you go
Speaker 2: in to the superseason. Thank you Bob for the for
Speaker 2: joint Bill for joining us.
Speaker 9: Rob.
Speaker 2: Make sure you give Bill my direct line. We'll take
Speaker 2: a quick break here on Nightside and we'll come right back.
Speaker 2: I got I got full lines. I'm going to get
Speaker 2: everyone in. Who's on the line right now, George, John,
Speaker 2: Michael and Bob will get you in. I promise coming
Speaker 2: back on Nightside.
Speaker 1: You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on wz Boston's
Speaker 1: news radio.
Speaker 2: Here. One call dropped off. If you want to jump
Speaker 2: on six. We'll get you in, I promise before ten o'clock.
Speaker 2: Let's go next to John and Lowe. John Lowe, that's
Speaker 2: that's the Mullas Country.
Speaker 9: Go ahead, John, yep, right right. Uh, two hundred jars
Speaker 9: from where I work. And Uh, I just want to
Speaker 9: say I've worked for a company. I know earlier you
Speaker 9: said that you were concerned about rit Uh. The people
Speaker 9: I think that we really should be concerned about are
Speaker 9: the poor workers. The company I work for and have
Speaker 9: worked for for the past twenty five years, has been
Speaker 9: bought and sold five times, and this last time was
Speaker 9: taken over by venture capitalists, and god forbid, market basket
Speaker 9: gets sold to venture capitalists because you know, all they
Speaker 9: care about. They don't care about growth. They only care
Speaker 9: about getting their money back and making a profit. They
Speaker 9: have no interest in in the employees. They don't And
Speaker 9: if you look at talk to anybody whose company has
Speaker 9: been taken over by adventure capitalists and they'll tell you
Speaker 9: the exact same thing. And it's the employees who make
Speaker 9: you feel at home, who have a great attitude, and
Speaker 9: you know when you look at them and you can
Speaker 9: see their name on their tag and the number of
Speaker 9: years of service and you can tell you know, people
Speaker 9: have been there five years, ten years. You stay with
Speaker 9: a company like that for that long because they take
Speaker 9: care of you, and if they get taken over by
Speaker 9: a venture capitalists, that's all gone.
Speaker 2: Yeah. The reason I'm focused on RDT is I think
Speaker 2: that the issue in twenty fourteen very very much was
Speaker 2: his insistence on protecting the jobs of the employees. So
Speaker 2: I think that he's the key here if he saw
Speaker 2: you is sidelined. If he's sidelined, I'm not sure. Maybe
Speaker 2: the company will continue with this successful direction or maybe
Speaker 2: they won't. And in that situation, that then becomes a
Speaker 2: problem not only for the people who go there expecting
Speaker 2: to get good quality service, good quality food at a
Speaker 2: reasonable price, but also the employee's status will be jeopardized
Speaker 2: as well. And I'm concerned for everybody here, and I
Speaker 2: just I have no idea what the internal machinations are
Speaker 2: between the two sides here and the family, but I
Speaker 2: hope that both of them have what's called clean hands,
Speaker 2: and whoever survives, they don't exact an ounce of revenge
Speaker 2: or a pound of revenge from the people who don't survive.
Speaker 2: And I hope that the Jumulis and Market Basket can
Speaker 2: continue on as the facility and the institution that we've
Speaker 2: come to know and love over the years. So that's
Speaker 2: where that's exactly where I am. John. I think we're
Speaker 2: saying the same thing, to be.
Speaker 9: Honest with you, Yeah we are.
Speaker 2: Thanks, Thanks you too, John, appreciate you taking the time
Speaker 2: to call. Talk soon. All right, let me get I
Speaker 2: got two more and I even have room for one
Speaker 2: or two more if you want to try to get
Speaker 2: in right now. You know the numbers. Let me go
Speaker 2: to Bob done and rain and Bob do you have
Speaker 2: a market Basket down on the south coast?
Speaker 7: Yeah?
Speaker 8: Dan, actually I have one in my town, and I
Speaker 8: actually have one kind of the next town over, and
Speaker 8: what's spring you and you know they're there. Obviously there
Speaker 8: are some stores. Uh the dollar value is excellent, but
Speaker 8: there's even more to that, to what they do to
Speaker 8: the community. I mean a lot of kids, you know,
Speaker 8: high school kids, college kids work for the for the store.
Speaker 8: And not not myself, my son never worked for them,
Speaker 8: but I have friends that their kids have worked for them,
Speaker 8: and and neighbors as well that have worked for them.
Speaker 8: And you know, if the kids have a test or
Speaker 8: you know it's uh, yeah, it's test and time or whatever.
Speaker 8: The uh. The managers at market Basket accommodate the kids
Speaker 8: and say, you know, your studies are more important, and
Speaker 8: you know they're just they're just like there's there's things
Speaker 8: behind the scenes that they're so great at that people
Speaker 8: may not realize. I mean, they're just they wonderful people.
Speaker 2: Well, the other thing, the other thing, my impression is
Speaker 2: when I walk into a market Basket, there's there's more
Speaker 2: than enough people there to handle whatever might come up.
Speaker 2: A lot of grocery stores that I've gone into, try
Speaker 2: to find someone in the aisle to ask a question,
Speaker 2: they're not around, and you're you're you're you're wasting your time,
Speaker 2: which look for any of us, time is money. You're
Speaker 2: wasting your time as you try to uh maneuver through
Speaker 2: the aisles. It's as simple. It's as simple as that,
Speaker 2: you know. And uh uh I just think market Basket
Speaker 2: does it upright, uh and uh at so many different
Speaker 2: levels and uh we're great.
Speaker 4: I agree.
Speaker 8: Every time I walk in there, you know, there's always
Speaker 8: you know, just about everyone has a smile on their
Speaker 8: face and there they're more than happy to help you
Speaker 8: and yeah, it's just it's uh, it's the best supermarket
Speaker 8: I've ever been in in my life.
Speaker 4: That's what the I'm sure I'm with you.
Speaker 2: Hey, Bob, appreciate, appreciate your call is always always great
Speaker 2: to your voice. Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 8: Okay, thank you.
Speaker 4: Thanks.
Speaker 2: Let me go next to After Bob, we say good
Speaker 2: night to Bob, we go to George and Carlisle. George,
Speaker 2: want to get you and one more in George.
Speaker 10: Go right ahead, Hi, how you doing. Thank you for
Speaker 10: taking the call, you.
Speaker 2: For calling it.
Speaker 10: I just want you to know that what everybody's talking
Speaker 10: about right now about the Mule's family is one hundred
Speaker 10: percent trough. People have no idea how kind they are.
Speaker 10: They have no idea what they have done for the
Speaker 10: community and how much they support. They give away more
Speaker 10: money in a day than people could ever dream, not
Speaker 10: to take care of people in need. But people have
Speaker 10: to understand a few things. Here already is a common
Speaker 10: copy of his father. The chain is where it is
Speaker 10: today because Mike gave up his life. Alrity has given
Speaker 10: up his life, and aw, these kids are working like crazy.
Speaker 7: I think ten years ago, ten.
Speaker 10: Years ago was a disaster. People have to also understand
Speaker 10: that when you when you're a man, when you're a
Speaker 10: person who has the employees behind you, you have the
Speaker 10: vendors behind you, you have the financial world behind you.
Speaker 10: They're banking on that person that they just got rid of,
Speaker 10: and they bet this bullard that I realized that if
Speaker 10: it's going to move forward, they need to put this
Speaker 10: behind them and put him back into place where he belongs.
Speaker 2: George, Well, well said, Well said, I could not agree
Speaker 2: with you more. You hit the nail right on the head,
Speaker 2: and I appreciate you taking the time. I'd like to
Speaker 2: get one more Dan.
Speaker 10: One one month. I imparts one other thing, Yeah, the
Speaker 10: the level of customer service, the cleanliness, the organization. Everything
Speaker 10: that you have to say about market Basket is because
Speaker 10: of Mike and Arti and my and Arti is just
Speaker 10: doing what his father taught him to do. People have
Speaker 10: no idea what a great person Ardi.
Speaker 2: Is, okay, and I think they have a better idea
Speaker 2: of it as a result of your call. Thanks George.
Speaker 2: I appreciate your your eloquence tonight. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2: Good night. Let me go to Dennis and little Dennis.
Speaker 2: I got about a minute for you. You got the final
Speaker 2: comment on the market Basket Melee, Well.
Speaker 5: Thank you very much.
Speaker 4: Dan.
Speaker 5: As you know, I'm from Lowell. I've been a customer
Speaker 5: of Demula's for over sixty years at their second store
Speaker 5: in Lowell on Bridge Street. I've known the Demula's family
Speaker 5: a little bit, and since I taught it Low High,
Speaker 5: I've had hundreds of students that have worked at market Basket.
Speaker 5: And you know, they still have to dress up in
Speaker 5: a white shirt and a tie and they have to
Speaker 5: be customer friendly, yes, And I know hundreds of humanitarian
Speaker 5: things they have done so the people of loll in
Speaker 5: the surrounding area. Like I said, they even go to
Speaker 5: people's houses and give them, you know, checks to take
Speaker 5: care of things. I know they paid one lady for
Speaker 5: a year because of her illness and stuff. The amount
Speaker 5: of humanitarian efforts to churches, and they don't ask for
Speaker 5: any recognition about it, but they do it personally. Great
Speaker 5: great people. So I'm behind Hot Eat one.
Speaker 2: All right, you got to find I think it's unanimous vote,
Speaker 2: that's for sure. Hey, Dennis has always thank you, my friend.
Speaker 2: Talk soon, o, Jeff. We had done with de Mulas
Speaker 2: for tonight. We'll get back to it periodically. However, however,
Speaker 2: on the other side, we're going to talk about that
Speaker 2: horrific event in Boulder, Colorado over the weekend and what
Speaker 2: can be done to finally stop anti semitism crush it
Speaker 2: eliminated here in America. Back on Nightside, right after this