For the third time since the "big back Arthur T. Demoulas" protests began July 18, thousands of Market Basket employees and customers boycotting the chain's 71 stores rallied outside its Stadium Plaza store here for nearly two hours Tuesday.
While the rally drew thousands, the crowd appeared to fall well short of the hoped-for 15,000 participants. But State Senator Barry Finegold, a North Andover Democrat, told ralliers there are now more than 160 state legislators from Massachusetts and New Hampshire who've signed a pledge not to shop at Market Basket until Arthur T. Demoulas is restored as CEO. He was fired June 23 after his cousin-enemy, Arthur S. Demoulas, gained control of the board after decades of feuding with Arthur T.
"This is something that's bigger than the customers or the employees," Finegold said. "This is something I've never seen in all my years of being in public service. This is about people standing together for, really, the middle class."
Bila Kolbe, a retired Andover High School teacher, is organizing a festival and concert Aug. 16 at the Collins Center in Andover to raise money to support Market Basket employees.
"We're here to support these people. It's a revival of values, of decency, and it's just awesome. We're with them 100 percent," Kolbe said.
Later Tuesday, protesters picketed outside the Market Basket perishables distribution center in Andover, where the company's new CEOs, Jim Gooch and Felicia Thornton, said they were holding the second day of a three-day job fair to recruit replacement managers and supervisors.
