The life and times of Pick 'n Pay displayed in a museum after 51 years
Pick 'n Pay supermarket now has a museum after being in operation for 51 years.
The supermarket was founded by Raymond Ackerman in 1967 after he quit his job as General Manager at Checkers and moved to Cape Town from Johannesburg.
His daughter Suzanne Ackerman-Berman is the transformation director at the Pick 'n Pay Group and she explains what led to the establishment of the museum.
My father is the most extraordinary man, as I went through the cupboards and discovered things. It is almost as if he had a vision to record not only Pick 'n Pay but the life of South Africa and the life of the world.
— Suzanne Ackerman-Berman, transformation director at the Pick 'n Pay Group
He kept incredible notes and documented every single day right through his 51 years. Even during his university years, he wrote the most cockiest notes on pages of his lecture books ... I have never seen such neat notes. He used all these notes to create policies and strategies going forward.
— Suzanne Ackerman-Berman, transformation director at the Pick 'n Pay Group
Suzanne says they managed to find how much profit her father in the four years of opening his first store, how much a loaf of bread was and deals he made for chicken costing just 11 cents a bird back then.
To hear the rest of the conversation with Suzanne Ackerman-Berman, listen below:
