The man who was fired from Checkers—and then built its biggest competitor

After 57 years at the helm of the Pick n Pay empire, the Ackerman family officially relinquished control of their ownership this year.

The story of the Ackermans’ nearly six-decade-long connection to the South African retail giant traces back to the late Raymond Ackerman, who the Financial Times labelled as one of the world’s 100 greatest business leaders for his work in both retail and social justice.

Born in Cape Town in 1931, he was born into the world of retail, being the son of the Ackerman’s clothing group founder, Gus Ackerman.

He was educated at Diocesan College (Bishops) in Rondebosch, Cape Town. During holidays, he would go into his father’s business to learn as many tricks of the trade as he could.

He then went on to study a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) at the University of Cape Town, where he said a lecturer’s advice guided his approach for the next 50 years – “if you look after the community, the community will look after you.”

His first job was as a trainee manager of Ackermans in 1951. When the group was bought by Greatermans, Ackerman accepted a position in Johannesburg and persuaded them to develop food retailing supermarkets.

In 1955, he was put in charge of launching the Checkers supermarkets.

Ackerman won the Outstanding Young South African award in 1965, and by 1966, at the age of 35, he was the managing director of 85 Checkers stores.

However, that very same year, Ackerman’s life took a turn when he was fired from the Greatermans group.

At a crossroads, he decided to branch out on his own.

Using two weeks’ severance pay, a bank loan, a modest inheritance and shares purchased by his friends, Ackerman bought four small stores in Cape Town trading under the name Pick n Pay in 1967 from Jack Goldin (who would later establish Clicks).

The company was listed on the JSE in September 1968 at 4c a share.

He, his wife Wendy (who was also integral to the business), and their four children set aside 2% of their personal shares for philanthropic endeavours. This share later increased.

In the 1970s, he introduced the hypermarket concept to South Africa, offering his customers one-stop shopping with the first hypermarket opening in Boksburg in 1975.

He immediately faced a boycott from some of the big-name suppliers like Slazenger and Black & Decker, who did not want their products sold at the low prices that Ackerman was able to offer by virtue of bulk buying.

By the end of the 1980s, Pick n Pay had expanded significantly, boasting 12 hypermarkets and 81 supermarkets throughout South Africa.

Ackerman said that on his first day of university influenced his entire life dramatically, and guided his approach to business throughout his career – “if you look after the community, the community will look after you… you have to have a passion to fight like mad for your consumer.”

“I learnt on day one that if your sole aim is to make money, you will fail. If you are going to really care for your customer… [you do that by] not just by having the right goods at the right price, but fighting issues that impact society because the average person is powerless against government,” said Ackerman.

“The more you help society and get involved with changes in your country, as well as running your business, you’ll be successful, but if your aim is to make money quickly, you’ll lose money quickly.”

“Doing good is good business,” he added.

Ackerman campaigned heavily for consumer rights, spearheaded several initiatives against monopolies and price fixing, consistently went head-to-head with the apartheid government, as well as challenge the ethics of his competitors and suppliers.

Although seemingly countless, several stories stand out.

During the peak of apartheid, Pick n Pay made the move of hiring black individuals as managers for stores located in predominantly white suburbs, a step which defied the laws of the time.

Many of these individuals later ascended to roles as franchisors and executives within the company.

In a notable standoff with the government that began in 1975, Ackerman sold fuel at discounted rates at his Boksburg Hypermarket, leading him to court 26 times over petrol price cuts, although he did not win these battles.

In 1978, Ackerman scored a singular personal victory when he persuaded then Prime Minister John Vorster to introduce 99-year leasehold rights for black African employees in urban areas.

As a consequence, Pick n Pay was able to introduce an assisted company housing scheme for its growing number of black employees. 

Another one was where he got in a testy exchange with the Groot Krokodil. Ackerman went to PW Botha’s office in the 1980s to remonstrate with him over the cabinet’s decision to raise the price of bread.

Botha came round his desk, grabbed him by the knot of his tie, and shouted at him.

“He said to me, ‘I cannot worry about the bread price when I am looking after the nation’s affairs.’ I said to him, ‘Mr Botha, I pay your taxes, just take your hands off me’,” Ackerman recalled in an interview with Cape Talk.

In 1989, he and a group of businessmen met newly appointed President FW de Klerk in Pick n Pay’s Cape Town office. The group told De Klerk that Nelson Mandela should be released as soon as possible, and that apartheid legislation should be scrapped.

Through his motto of doing good for the consumer and community, he would help to grow Pick n Pay into one of Africa’s largest supermarket chains, with a market cap of R17.4 billion, a R108.1 billion turnover in 2024, and employing over 60,000 people.

In 2010 he retired after 43 years steering the ship.

Reflecting on his career in 2010, Ackerman said: “I have no regrets at all. It has been a lifetime experience.”

He remained active in various philanthropic ventures until his passing in 2023 at the age of 93.

He is survived by his wife, Wendy, his children, 12 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

“He remained humble throughout his life, and passionate about building a more just future for South Africa. He was an enduring optimist about South Africa’s future, and his passing leaves a great void for us all,” said Pick n Pay.

Read: The man who founded retail giants like Pick n Pay, Clicks and more