Revere Market Basket Set to Open Sunday
More than a year and a Shakespearean summer saga after construction was completed, the long-awaited Revere Market Basket store will open on Sunday morning.
The 80,000-square-foot Revere location has been ready to go for months, as has another one awaiting its opening in Attleboro. But infighting over the last year between once-and-future CEO Arthur T. Demoulas and the company’s board of directors kept either store from opening as planned. The conflict also delayed construction on another forthcoming store in Waltham. Revere had publicly vented its frustration with the delayed opening in the weeks before Market Basket’s headquarters and warehouse workers staged the walkout heard ‘round New England in July.
Demoulas, who came back to power at Market Basket after reaching a still-pending deal to buy out the company from rival family members in late August, said in September that he is hopeful to open at least two new stores before the end of this year, and that Revere would likely be the first to open.
Here’s what will follow: A Littleton Market Basket is expected to open in November, and the Waltham store in December. Attleboro was expected to also open before the end of the year, but it will actually hold until early next year. A fifth new store in Athol is also planned for early 2015. According to The Boston Globe, the five stores will create more than 1,000 new jobs.
The opening of new stores represents a notch in Market Basket’s recovery effort after the summer’s events in which…well, you know the story (and if you don’t, here you go). Demoulas took on a boatload of debt to finance the Market Basket deal, which led to speculation that new stores may not open. And Demoulas himself suggested the company may have to slow down on expansion following the deal. But even if that turns out to be the case, it will probably pertain to new construction, as Market Basket appears to be all systems go with the stores that have already been built.
Check out our full Market Basket coverage.
This article has been updated with new information about Market Basket’s plans for opening its Attleboro store.
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