Raymond Ackerman

Raymond Ackerman (born 10 March 1931) is a South African businessman, who purchased the Pick 'n Pay supermarket group from its founder Mr Jack Goldin (subsequent founder of the Clicks Group). Raymond Ackerman was chairman until he stepped down in 2010. He is also well known for his philanthropic activities. He purchased four stores from Jack Goldin in the sixties.

Biography

After graduating from the University of Cape Town with a Bachelor of Commerce, he joined the Greatermans group in the Ackermans division in 1951 at the age of 20 as a trainee manager. Ackermans had been founded just after World War I by his father Gus, but was sold to the Greatermans group in 1940.

Ackerman was eventually offered a position at Greatermans head office in Johannesburg. In the early 1950s, food retailing supermarkets first began to appear on the scene in South Africa. Norman Herber, chairman of Greatermans decided to start a food retailer called Checkers. Ackerman was eventually put in charge of Checkers, making a resounding success of the business.