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to Arnold, had value for which it was willing to pay. At the
same time, H�agen-Dazs wished to terminate any residual rights to
distribute H�agen-Dazs ice cream that its distributors might have
acquired over the years, even as it maintained that neither
Arnold nor MIC, or later, SIC, had any enforceable “distribution
rights” as such. H�agen-Dazs was not interested in acquiring MIC
as an ongoing distributor to either the supermarkets or the small
grocery stores and food service accounts or in acquiring its
physical assets.
During the early to mid-1980's, Arnold and Martin had
increasingly vocal disagreements over the future direction of
MIC. Arnold wished to expand the supermarket business, and
Martin wished to expand the small store business. They were
unable to agree on which course to take or otherwise to agree on
coordinating their different business objectives.
Martin was concerned about MIC’s overdependence on a small
number of large supermarket accounts. He felt that a diversified
customer base of small independent stores with higher gross
profits carried less risk. Martin was concerned about the
smaller profit margins of the supermarket business and also felt
that the small stores had a better record of paying MIC’s
invoices in full and on time.
Arnold attributed Martin’s disparagement of the supermarket
business to his dislike of the process of developing and
maintaining the personal relationships with the managers and
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Last modified: May 25, 2011