COMEBACK KID
WHY RAYMOND ACKERMAN IS NOT LETTING GO OF PICK N PAY
WHEN Walmart approached Pick n Pay several years ago on a factfinding mission into local retail prospects, it met with the founding Ackerman family, who would have considered relinquishing control had it been “best for the group”— although this stance was with mixed emotions.
Walmart met with the founding family several times, but the pyramid through which the family controls the company was a complicating factor and although the retailer was starting to consider whether to get a foreign partner or put in an international team, Walmart never came back for further discussions. Pick n Pay decided an international would unlock most value for the group.
“We were one of the people [Walmart] approached,” said Pick n Pay founder Raymond Ackerman. “We gave them a courteous interview and we were open to some sort of combination, with us still having a powerful family position but not necessarily control. But after all our talks, they chose Massmart primarily because Massmart was much stronger than us in Africa.
“My wife [Wendy] and some of our family didn’t want us to sell and I didn’t really want to . . . We love the family in the business. All the big family businesses are gone — Woolworths, OK Bazaars, Clicks.”
Ackerman’s DNA is intricately tied to the company he founded and he is not willing to step back just yet.
As we arrive for the interview at his office in Kenilworth, Ackerman is finishing a conversation to organise aid relief for people struck by the
❛ It’s about maximising our consumer sovereignty in society
typhoon disaster in the Philippines.
“Get it over there to the right organisation and get it over there posthaste. Make sure there’s no red tape,” he says into the phone.
He explains afterwards that he was so moved by what he saw on TV the night before that he has made a personal donation right away. Pick n Pay is also enabling customers to help with their loyalty points. The donation will be split between two aid agencies, Gift of the Givers and Doctors without Borders.
“They’ve just been wiped out,” he says, clearly anguished. “When I saw the TV last night, I just thought my God . . . We live in such a beautiful country, and with all our problems they are so minor compared to that.”
Ackerman’s business philosophy is that the more you give to society, the more you get back.
“I got that as a young student and my father said: ‘You’re mad, you’re crazy. Business is rough and tough.’ I said of course it’s rough and tough. I’ve learnt a lot of roughness, but maximising our profit cannot be the right thing. It’s about maximising consumer sovereignty in your society and the more you do, the more your consumer will give back to you.”
It might be a noble sentiment, but the notion that consumers would somehow respond is debatable, especially since Pick n Pay has been through a torrid few years. Its share price has remained largely static while rivals such as Shoprite and Woolworths have romped ahead. At its worst, Pick n Pay looked as if it had run out of steam.
Despite this — and this is a feature that probably wooed Walmart — Pick n Pay remains the country’s second-largest food retailer and has immense customer loyalty. There was no option but to try to fix it.
“With Walmart coming, we rightly decided that we weren’t world-class and we were good but not great. We knew we had to fight Walmart. We didn’t do too well, quite frankly, but the principle was right. The decision was made by me before I retired so I’m not blaming anyone else.”
It has been several years since he actively ran the group, but the flame that made him a consumer champion burns bright. He still comes into work every day for a few hours. He loves to give advice and guidance.
“Sometimes people listen, sometimes they don’t,” he says with a slight smile. He writes down four things each day he likes to have sorted out by the end of it.
And he feels strongly about the four legs on which he built the
❛ He writes down four things each day he likes to have sorted out by the end of it
company: the consumer on top, sound administration, the right merchandise and social involvement.
He says the government should do the same. “Imagine if the government was fighting every day for what was right for the consumer, black or white.
“There’s only one thing I’m still trying to do and that is getting the discounting of petrol. I’ve been fighting [for] it all my life. I fought price-fixing and price collusion,” he says, holding a packet of half-empty Nicorette gum, which helps him stay away from the cigars he used to love.
He says he has seen too many retired people getting stuck with technology and computers. “I want to be involved. I want to be alive.”