'Artie T' makes offer to buy Market Basket chain

Arthur T. Demoulas

TEWKSBURY, Mass. - Ousted Market Basket CEO Arthur T. Demoulas has made an offer to buy the company, which has been roiled in controversy since his firing a month ago.

Demoulas’ offer, an undisclosed sum, would buy the other 51.5 percent of the store’s stock that he and his backers do not control.

Arthur T. Demoulas’ and his chief rival, cousin Arthur S. Demoulas, have been seeking to wrest control of the company for decades.

Thousands of employees walked off the job beginning last Friday and continue to rally for the return of Arthur T. Demoulas, known affectionately by store workers throughout the chain’s 71 stores as “Artie T.”

Shoppers appear to be siding with workers  10-1, according to employees interviewed earlier this week.

Meanwhile, store items, excluding vendors items such as break, dairy, chips and soda, continue to dwindle.