Former President and Chairman of Stop & Shop Dies
Avram Goldberg, former president and chairman of Stop & Shop supermarkets, and father of Massachusetts Treasurer Deb Goldberg, died Sunday, Jan. 30 at the age of 92, according to published reports.
Born in 1930, the elder Goldberg married into the Rabb family, which back in 1892 had opened a grocery store in Boston’s North End and in 1914 began the Economy Grocery Stores Co. (later Stop & Shop) in Somerville, Mass. He eventually became president of what had by that time grown into a chain of supermarkets in 1971, and took on the role of chairman of the board in 1985, after his father-in-law died and his wife, Carol, was appointed president. According to Deb Goldberg’s website, as their daughter, she “grew up in the stores.”
In 1989, however, the Goldbergs were ousted during a hostile takeover by outside investors. After leaving Stop & Shop, they founded an investment and consulting firm, the AVCAR group. Now part of Ahold Delhaize USA, Stop & Shop operates more than 400 grocery stores across the Northeast.
Services were private, with a celebration of life scheduled for May. Goldberg had contracted COVID-19, leading to ongoing health issues and complications, according to a family friend.
His survivors include his wife of 73 years, Carol; his daughter, Deb, who recently revealed plans to seek re-election for another four-year term as treasurer; his son, Joshua; and two grandchildren.
Based in Quincy, Mass., the Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. LLC employs 58,000 associates at stores throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey. Ahold Delhaize USA, a division of Zaandam, Netherlands-based Ahold Delhaize, is the parent company for Ahold Delhaize’s U.S. companies, consisting of Food Lion, Giant Food, The Giant Co., Hannaford, and Stop & Shop, as well as e-grocer Peapod; Retail Business Services, a U.S. support services company providing services to the brands; and Peapod Digital Labs, its e-commerce engine. Operating more than 2,000 stores across 23 states, Ahold Delhaize USA is No. 10 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2021 list of the top food and consumables.
