Bon-Ton leader leaving board
Grumbacher a member of founding family
Tim Grumbacher, the chairman of Bon-Ton Stores Inc.’s board of directors, is not running for another term on the company’s board.
Now in his 70s, Grumbacher is a member of the family that founded the company in the late 1800s.
He has been a major benefactor to charitable causes in York County, including the Jewish Community Center, where he and now Gov. Tom Wolf chaired a 2013-’14 fundraising campaign that raised more than $5 million for an expansion.
Grumbacher’s late father, Max Samuel “Tom” Grumbacher, was BonTon’s chairman and president.
Grumbacher’s late grandfather and greatgrandfather, Max Grumbacher and Samuel Grumbacher, started the company with a single store on W. Market St. in York in 1898.
The company has dual headquarters in Milwaukee and York, Pa.
The company operates more than 260 stores under several names nationwide.
Grumbacher is one of three Bon-Ton directors who won’t seek re-election at the company’s annual meeting on June 13, according to Bon-Ton’s annual proxy statement filed Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Todd C. McCarty and Steven B. Silverstein are also leaving the board, the filing said.
The filing didn’t say why the three aren’t seeking another term. A BonTon spokeswoman could not immediately be reached for comment.
Grumbacher was BonTon’s CEO from 1985 to 1995 and a board member since 1967. He is the company’s largest shareholder, owning 20.1% of the company.
Debra Simon, Grumbacher’s wife, is seeking another term on the board.
Simon, a certified public accountant who joined the board in 2016, is a former chief operating officer at York County accounting firm SF & Co.
Bon-Ton Stores lost $63.4 million in fiscal 2016, compared with a loss of $57 million in fiscal 2015. It posted a profit of $44.7 million in the fourth quarter, compared with a $50.6 million profit in fourth quarter 2015.
McCarty is chief human relations officer for radio station owner Cumulus Media.
Silverstein is CEO and president of Spencer Spirit Holdings, the parent company of Spencer Gifts and Spirit Halloween.