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ANDOVER — The management fight that has engulfed Market Basket over the past year has broadened to include a golf course the chain owns, the Indian Ridge Country Club.
A Market Basket director affiliated with a push for change at the Tewksbury-based chain, Gerard Levins, allegedly arrived during a fundraising event Monday morning and caused a confrontation with the club’s longtime general manager. As word of the confrontation spread, supporters of the status quo at Market Basket rallied Wednesday morning against Levins and the side of the Demoulas family he is affiliated with.
“How can you not be loyal to someone so loyal to you?” said Elizabeth St. Hilaire of Lawrence, who’s worked in the Indian Ridge clubhouse for 13 years. She and others pledged their support for Market Basket CEO Arthur T. Demoulas, the popular leader whose style of management has won him a cult following.
“The best boss you could ever ask for,” said Adele Nolan, a waitress at the club for 10 years.
Cheri Nolan, the Indian Ridge general manager, said she was approached Monday morning during a fundraiser by Levins, an attorney and two representatives from Sterling Golf Management. Demoulas Supermarkets, the Market Basket parent company, has hired Sterling to oversee operations of the club.
Nolan said she was intimidated and called police. The incident has made Indian Ridge employees uneasy, she said.
“The uncertainty is an awful way to live,” said Nolan, who’s worked at Indian Ridge for 42 years.
A spokesman for Levins said the incident Monday morning was a “very polite conversation.” Levins and the others in his group said they acted appropriately and with great respect, David Falcone said.
“No precipitous changes in staffing or pay and benefits are anticipated,” Falcone said.
Sterling Golf Management will oversee all club operations, he said. “This is an addition, not a subtraction.”
Levins is associated with the Arthur S. Demoulas side of the chain’s founding family, which has battled for years with the Arthur T. Demoulas side of the family. The two Demoulases are cousins.
The fundraising event held at the time was for the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lawrence. Executive Director Markus Fischer did not respond to a call seeking comment.
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For more on this story read Thursday’s Sun or click on http://www.lowellsun.com
