Greetings all, and I hope everyone is ready for Spring to come in full force and with it the full slate of dinners, outings and shows. We’ve been spared for the most part as far as winter goes, but those sporadic blasts of freezing temps and precipitation certainly make us anticipate the warmer weather that much more.
I was really disheartened to learn that Joel Perlmutter passed away March 3 at the age of 80. Joel was the CEO of Perlmart, Inc., operators of seven ShopRite supermarkets along the Jersey Shore. Joel began his life in the food business at his father Julius’ small supermarket Community Food Market in Toms River, NJ. Joel’s dad and uncle (Ben Goldstein) had started a retail food business which began as G&P Markets in Lakewood, NJ in the 1930s and continued with the opening of the new 10,000 square foot Community Food Market. It was in that same year they joined the Wakefern Food Corporation and then changed their corporate name to Perlmart, Inc. The company continued growing through the years, and Joel ascended to CEO and was assisted by his brother Michael Perlmutter and partner Jim Haslett. He was one of the nicest and most deeply caring people I’ve ever known and I will fondly remember him, especially for two particular moments. Nearly 19 years ago, my wife Susan and I were blessed with our first born child. Shortly thereafter though, we learned our son had a heart condition and he was rushed to Hackensack University hospital where he remained for a few weeks while a cardiology team worked on his case. I didn’t really share the news with many at the time, so you can imagine my amazement when a card arrived at my office with a beautiful handwritten note of empathy, encouragement and support while dealing with the news of my newly born son’s condition. The card and words of encouragement were from Joel. Obviously I knew Joel from covering the industry, but I wasn’t necessarily “close” with him. The note was so touching and kind and it was that incident that started my awareness of what an extraordinarily kind and generous man he was. The second instance happened when I was with my old company Modern Grocer. We had an annual Publisher’s Award that we gave out to a food retailing executive every year and in one particular year former Wakefern president and COO Dean Janeway was the recipient. I thought I was going to Dean’s office to make the presentation, when I was intercepted by then SVP and now president and COO Joe Sheridan who informed me that they were in the process of having their owners meeting in the corporate board room and he’d like me to address the owners prior to seeing Dean. To say I was a little caught off guard would be an understatement, but as Joe said, “Come on Gallagher, you have the gift of gab and you’ll think of something to say.”
Well, I don’t really remember what I did speak about that day, but I do remember the first person who came up to me and extended an invitation to stay for lunch with all of the Wakefern owners – yes, it was Joel Perlmutter. Joel just always seemed to find a way to make anyone he was speaking with feel as though they were the most important person in the room and you could tell it all came from a place of genuineness. He is survived by his bride of 39 years Lynn; his brother Michael; and his children Stuart Perlmutter (Amy), Kevin Rand (Jill), Jennifer Perlmutter-Russo (John), Tammy Breen (Michael), Julie Heise (Fred), Darren Rand, Brett Rand (Daniela); and his grandchildren Shawn, Keith, Raquel, Adam, Megan, Jake, Brian, Debra, Paige, Jared, Joshua, Jeremy, Carly, Andrew; and new great-grandchild Benjamin. Though I saw him only occasionally these last few years, he was often in my thoughts. My deepest condolences go out to all of Joel’s family. He will certainly be missed. The family asks that any contributions in Joel’s memory be made to the Joel and Lynn Perlmutter Family Foundation, 954 Route 166, Toms River, NJ 08753. May he rest in eternal peace.
The spectacular setting of the Liberty House Restaurant in Jersey City, NJ was the site of Saint Joseph’s University’s Academy of Food Marketing as they presented part of their Educational Scholarship Series. “Bricks & Clicks: The E-Commerce Explosion” was the topic of the evening and a distinguished panel was on hand to speak about the growth opportunities in the online world. The evening focused on the $24.4 billion e-commerce business in the food industry and panelists included Donna Zambo of Wakefern, Linda Crowder of Peapod, Michele McNamara of Mondelez and Charlie Moore of Fresh Direct. The moderator for the evening was professor George Latella of Saint Joseph’s University. While the panelists all agreed that Amazon was the elephant in the industry, they all seemed to concur that successful retail establishments and food retailers can deliver an engagement experience to customers that Amazon cannot. The difficulty, though, will be in facilitating the experience for the customer and being able to give them what they want and when they want it. Overall, it was a good night for Saint Joseph’s and a nice touch to bring one of their events up to the Metro area.
FreshDirect has announced it will expand its service to the Washington, DC metropolitan area beginning April 5. FreshDirect CEO and co-founder Jason Ackerman said, “DC cares deeply about great-tasting food, with residents that are health-conscious foodies with extremely busy schedules in need of a better, more convenient way to get food. We’re confident DC customers will taste the difference in our food as well as love the convenience of skipping the store. We are excited to expand our geographic footprint and look forward to being part of the D.C. metropolitan area.”
Wegman’s announced the opening dates for its two future New Jersey stores. The 113,00 square foot Hanover site located at Interstate 287 and Route 10 will open on July 23 and the long anticipated Montvale site on West Grand Avenue will open its doors for business on September 24.
As always, I look forward to seeing you out in the field and if you need to reach me please call at 201.250.2217 or email at kgallagher@best-met.com.
