Oh, Market Basket.
Let’s do just a BIT of history first, courtesy of Wikipedia:
1917, Greek immigrants Athanasios (“Arthur”) and Efrosini Demoulas opened a grocery store in Lowell, Massachusetts, specializing in fresh lamb. In 1954, they sold their store to two of their six children, Telemachus (“Mike”) and George Demoulas. Within 15 years, the two brothers had transformed their parents’ “mom and pop”-style store into a more modern supermarket chain consisting of 15 stores.
…Market Basket’s main competitors include Hannaford, Shaw’s, Star Market, Stop & Shop, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods Markets, and smaller, local markets, such as Butcher Boy, and, to some extent, FoodMaster (formerly Johnnie’s FoodMaster) and Super 88. Though the chain is often called DeMoulas, 59 of its 60 stores now operate under the Market Basket name. Market Basket supermarkets are usually in shopping centers with other stores, often properties owned by the company through its real-estate arm, Retail Management and Development, Inc. Only one store in the chain’s history—number 38, in Plaistow, New Hampshire—has ever closed, although many have relocated to larger locations. —Wikipedia
While Market Basket used to have a website with the circular posted online, they ceased to have any website at all over a year or two ago, so there is currently no place online to find their circular. (I’m hoping to be able to get in contact with someone to get permission to post it here, by the way…we’ll see!)
Market Basket’s coupon policy has improved; while there was–and often still is–some confusion about their accepting coupons, I spoke to someone at their corporate office who confirmed that YES, all DeMoulas/Market Basket locations do take printable coupons (including after 2009). They had some fraud going on for a while, which is why they originally did not accept them; sometimes you still run into managers that will give you problems. They’re also can be strict about what coupons they do accept; it often pays to double-check that your coupons match the items you’re buying. DeMoulas/Market Basket also does not, unfortunately, double coupons.
Market Basket DOES allow stacking–using one store coupon + one manufacture’s coupon–on the same item.
However, they do put out an absolutely STOCKED coupon book every quarter, where you can find Market Basket and some great manufacturer’s coupons that you often can’t find elsewhere–and that are often for “on-sale” items. These coupons I’ll often reference in the match-ups as “market basket booklet” and post when the new booklet comes out.
Market Basket also will often put out peelies, or tuck lots of coupons into products in the aisles–it definitely pays to keep your eyes open as you walk along!
Market Basket does not (nor does it plan to) give out catalinas.
Because their base-line prices are so low, I and others often find you can do just as well shopping here as anywhere else, despite the non-doubled-coupons disadvantage. Especially for the everyday-not-amazingly-on-sale items, you often can’t do better…and nothing beats their $3.99 rotisserie chicken with a loaf of often-$1.29 French Bread!
For a list of Market Basket Locations, you can check out the linked spreadsheet.
Any other Market Basket questions? Memories? Thoughts? Feel free to discuss, and I’ll try to get answers for any questions you have!
-Kat
Hi Kat,
Couple of MB questions for you….
Have the winter coupon booklet come out? I have the fall booklet but I haven’t seen the winter one (but I was out of town for a while).
Does MB allow stacking? It’s been inconsistent for me. I finally asked the store director at my MB and he said “NO!” I asked why… doesn’t MB get back $ on the MFR Q plus 6 to 8 cents? I would think MB would want to sell products…. etc, etc. He said he wasn’t sure exactly how it worked but that MB didn’t get back all the $ from the manufacturer so they don’t allow stacking. Do you think this is true? I don’t think he knows what he’s talking about and he’s just afraid to allow staking. What do you think?
I also heard MB stopped accepting IP Qs as of 12/31/09. Have you heard this?
Thanks for you site.
Hi Cheap Jen!
No, the winter booklet hasn’t come out–or at least, not in my Market Baskets.
I called the corporate office just to make sure I’d get “real” answers on coupon policy, since I seem to have a really good MB near me…and official answerr is yes, they do allow stacking (defined by him as 1 MB + 1 Manuf. coupon used on one item).
I also asked him about that rumor; he said he hadn’t heard of it–and that it wasn’t true. Thank goodness!
I’ll add these answers up to the post above. Thanks!
Kat