Market Basket family feud fruitful for competitors

SALEM – Her cart was full of bagged groceries. But as Swampscott resident Amy Bare left Market Basket Tuesday afternoon, she said she had more grocery shopping to do.”I can’t afford Whole Foods, I don’t like to shop at Stop & Shop or Shaw’s,” Bare said. But she listed the items missing from her cart – veggies, meat, fruit.But other supermarkets were glad to pick up the demand.”I usually come back with half a truckful; I came back with the whole truckful today,” Ernie Fratangelo, owner of Ernie’s Harvest Time on Essex Street reported early Tuesday afternoon. “By the looks of it, I need to get more red apples tomorrow.”Longtime Market Basket Chief Executive Officer Arthur T. Demoulas was fired last month by a board controlled by his rival and cousin, Arthur S. Demoulas, angering many of the company’s employees and putting the supermarket chain’s future plans in question, including an unopened store in Revere and a planned store in Lynn. After an employee rally Friday, the company fired eight supervisory employees who urged workers to pressure the company to reinstate Arthur T. Demoulas.Shoppers on Monday reported bare shelves and limited supplies of fresh produce and meat at Market Basket stores throughout the region. The dwindling supplies sent Market Basket shoppers scrambling, and, by Monday evening, it was impossible to find salad greens at the Swampscott Stop & Shop.By Tuesday afternoon, the produce section was nearly bare and the meat case empty at the Salem Market Basket store on Highland Avenue.Fratangelo said his store isn’t open on Mondays so he didn’t experience any rush of customers who couldn’t find food at Market Basket. But he said his store was busier this Tuesday than last Tuesday, and he said he expected increased traffic due to the Market Basket turmoil. Fratangelo said his meat department was doing a particularly brisk business. He also said that he thought the produce market in Chelsea was quieter than usual Tuesday morning without Market Basket trucks picking up food.Spokesmen for Shaw’s Supermarkets and Stop & Shop did not mention Market Basket directly when asked about how the company’s feud was affecting their respective businesses. But both chains reported more customers visiting stores Monday and Tuesday.”We have experienced some increased foot traffic in several stores but everything is business as usual,” Stop & Shop spokesperson Judi Palmer said Tuesday.Shaw’s spokesperson Jeffrey Gulko agreed.He said the stores had “definitely seen an increase in traffic,” and that it already had “been a busy week.”Meanwhile, Gulko, Palmer and Fratangelo said daily deliveries mean stores can easily adjust to shifting customer demand.”We have folks working around the clock to do the best we can and fulfill the needs of our customers,” Gulko said.And at the Shaw’s across the shopping plaza from Market Basket Tuesday afternoon, shelves were well-stocked.Outside, Lynn resident Kelly Gonzalez said she usually shops at Market Basket or PriceRite. But she described pictures of empty shelves at Market Basket posted on social media as “insane.””There was nothing,” Gonzalez said. So she said she had to go to Shaw’s and pay $37 for eight items.”I could get twice as much over there for that price,” Gonzalez said, referring to Market Basket. “Shaw’s is pretty much a last resort for everyone.”Gonzalez said she had hoped she would be shopping at a Market Basket in Lynn, planned for the former General Electric Factory of the Future site, by this time.”I was excited for it,” Gonzalez said. “But there’s nothing.”