By Michael Mahar,Steve Cooper

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BOSTON (WHDH) – The board of Market Basket voted unanimously Tuesday to remove Arthur Demoulas as president and CEO, board chair Jay Hachigian said Wednesday.

“Despite extensive efforts by the Board and Mr. Demoulas to come to terms, the mediation was not successful,” Hachigian said in a statement. “The Market Basket Board late yesterday voted unanimously to remove Arthur T. Demoulas as President and CEO of Market Basket.”

In a statement, Demoulas’ spokesperson, Justine Griffin, said the fired executive is “deeply disappointed” that mediation efforts failed.

“Over time, it became clear to us that this was not a good faith effort by the board or his sisters to reach agreement on the issues created by their abrupt actions placing Arthur T. Demoulas, his family and members of his senior management team on leave,” Griffin said. “It is now crystal clear that they had no intention of reinstating Mr. Demoulas.”

Shoppers reacted to the news of Demoulas’ removal.

“Very concerned about the culture of Market Basket,” Mary Gene Calvin said, a concerned Market Basket shopper. “My daughter works here, so that’s an even bigger concern.”

“I just heard that about 10 minutes ago, I was surprised. I think it’s too bad,” another shopper, Paul Ferguson said.

“I think it’s a family business, and a lot of people that have been working here for years and years and years are part of this large family, and now it’s a family divided,” Calvin said.

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