PnP celebrates founder’s 90th birthday with local old-age homes
Ackerman’s ‘doing good, is good business’ philosophy was cultivated while he was studying commerce at university.
On March 10, 1931, a man was born who would change the face of South African retail.
One of South Africa’s most respected and honoured businessmen, Raymond Ackerman, Pick n Pay’s founder, is most admired for always putting the consumer first and is well known for his philanthropy.
In honour of this special milestone, 10 bakers worked until midnight on March 9 at Pick n Pay in Festival Mall to decorate 96 birthday cakes that were delivered to over 1 100 residents at 10 old-age homes in the region on March 10 in celebration of Ackerman’s 90th birthday.
The old-age homes included Andries Meyer, Rosemary Dabula Old Age Home, Ephraim Zulu Senior Citizen’s Centre, Allen Park for the Aged, Vosloorus Society for the Care of Aged, Soweto Home for the Aged, Phomolong Centre for the Aged, Riverlea Retirement Village, St Joseph Ithuteng Old Age Home (Meadowlands Zone Four) and Old People’s Home.
The store managers from nearby stores, including Southgate, Daveyton, Carlton Centre, Festival Mall, Chris Hani Crossing, Diepkloof, Thembisa Megamart, Newtown Junction, Dobsonville Mall and Benoni Lakeside Mall, personally delivered the cakes to each old-age home.
Caring for communities surrounding stores isn’t new to Pick n Pay. Ackerman’s ‘doing good, is good business’ philosophy was cultivated while he was studying commerce at university.
Ackerman said, “We were taught that if you want to make money quickly, you won’t help society, you’ll just make money quickly. But if you care for society, people will value you.”
This shaped the way he ran Pick n Pay during the years and how the business continues to be run to this day.
