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Raymond Ackerman

Retail founder

By South African Index Editorial Desk · Published

Portrait of Raymond Ackerman.
Photograph: Arena Holdings · Source · Copyright retained by source publication. Resized and converted to WebP for this site.

Raymond Ackerman founded Pick n Pay with Wendy Ackerman in 1967 after acquiring four small stores in Cape Town. He led the retailer for decades as chief executive and chairman. [1][2]

Biography

Ackerman came from a retailing family and founded Pick n Pay after buying four Cape Town stores in 1967. Pick n Pay’s own records identify Wendy Ackerman as his partner in establishing the business and as a founding executive. [1][3]

The company listed the following year. Ackerman remained chief executive until 1999, when the roles of chairman and chief executive were separated, and he continued in senior board roles thereafter. [2][4]

Pick n Pay’s later tribute records that Ackerman also developed franchise formats and remained active in entrepreneurial-development initiatives. He died in 2023 at the age of 92. [5][1]

Key contributions

Founded Pick n Pay with Wendy Ackerman and built the retailer from four Cape Town stores. [1][3]

Led the group for more than four decades across executive and chairmanship roles. [2]

Career timeline

  1. Founded Pick n Pay with Wendy Ackerman after acquiring four stores. [1]

  2. Pick n Pay Stores Limited listed on the Johannesburg stock exchange. [4]

  3. Ended his tenure as group chief executive when the chairman and CEO roles were split. [2]

  4. Died at the age of 92. [1]

Associated organisations

Sources

  1. Pick n Pay, Pioneering South African Raymond Ackerman dies at 92, 2023-09-07. Original source. Accessed 2026-09-25. ↩
  2. Pick n Pay, Integrated Annual Report 2011: Board of directors, 2011-02-28. Original source. Accessed 2026-09-25. ↩
  3. Pick n Pay, Integrated Annual Report 2013: Board of directors, 2013-03-03. Original source. Accessed 2026-09-25. ↩
  4. Pick n Pay, Annual Report 2012: Group at a glance, 2012-02-29. Original source. Accessed 2026-09-25. ↩
  5. Pick n Pay, A Tribute to Raymond Ackerman. Original source. Accessed 2026-09-25. ↩