Dear Readers,
On my travels around Africa as a self employed Private Eye I came across this branch of Pick ‘n Pay in Northern Namibia. And when I sent Raymond Ackerman a picture of it he appeared baffled. His group it seemed had expanded so fast under his leadership that this was a branch he didn’t even know they had.
As Raymond and I had been to boarding school together at Bishops in Cape Town I sent him this letter about my discovery for a bit of fun.
And this was his reply:
It's a tragedy that now that Raymond is no longer with us his son Gareth, who had the top job of Chairman of the Group handed to him on a plate, has now decided to leave what appears to a sinking ship after 14 years at the helm. He's doing what ship captains get heavily criticized for and that is being the first to leave a sinking ship. Raymond died last year aged 92.
In the first 21 weeks of the current financial year Pick n Pay closed 16 supermarkets that included 4 corporate stores and 12 franchised ones. The Company owned supermarkets, which account for most sales, had apparently significantly under performed in recent years. 
Gareth Ackerman
The Ackerman family are giving up control of this retail giant that Raymond built up to what it became after buying the four store Pick n Pay business in Cape Town from their founder in 1967.
There will be lot of distressed people in the Pick n Pay family who have the prospect of losing their job with the situation made worse by the fact that Christmas is not far away. Of course Gareth has no such worries as he and his family have been more than adequately provided for.
Regards,
Jon
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