Social Media Reacts to the Passing Away of Pick n Pay Founder Raymond Ackerman
Social Media Reacts to the Passing Away of Pick n Pay Founder Raymond Ackerman. The country woke up to the sad news of the passing away of retail giant Raymond Ackerman. The entrepreneur passed away at age 92, on Thursday.
Ackerman, is known by multitudes as the founder of Pick n Pay. It goes without saying that he was one of the country’s most influential and respected business leaders. Pick n Pay, remains one of his biggest successes, as the business is one of the largest and most successful supermarket chains in the country and the continent.
Ackerman was born in Cape Town in 1931 and followed his father’s footsteps into the retail industry. His father, Gus Ackerman, founded Ackermans, a clothing store chain, after World War I. He joined the family business after graduating from the University of Cape Town and later became the managing director of Checkers, another supermarket chain.
In 1966, he was fired from Checkers after a disagreement with the board over his customer-focused strategy. He then decided to start his own business and bought four small stores in Cape Town, which he named Pick n Pay. He applied his vision of offering quality products at low prices, treating employees fairly, and giving back to the community. His formula proved to be a success and Pick n Pay grew rapidly over the years, expanding to over 2 000 stores in South Africa and seven other African countries.
Ackerman retired as the chairman of Pick n Pay in 2010, but remained involved in the company as a non-executive director. He also continued to mentor young entrepreneurs and share his wisdom and experience.
He is survived by his wife of 69 years, Wendy, four children, 12 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
