Vons Grocery Company (Images of America)

Vons Grocery Company (Images of America)

In 1906, the downtown area of Los Angeles was fundamentally a small town when Charles Von der Ahe opened his little Groceteria on the corner of Seventh and Figueroa Streets using $1,200 in savings. It was a neighborhood store that catered to the needs of local families, where Von der Ahe pioneered cash and carry, replacing the charge and delivery way of thinking. Its expansion and innovation over the next 90 years was legendary, growing to more than 325 stores and 30,000 employees. This book focuses on the legacy of this great company, its visionary leaders, and its dedicated employees who made it the number one grocery retailer in Southern California. The authors, like most members of the Vons management team, started their careers as courtesy clerks working in the stores. Michael L. Stark went on to hold a variety of management roles in human resources and store operations. Wendy Kennedy went on to lead Vons's training department. In their current roles, Stark is a president and chief executive officer in the global supply chain management industry, and Kennedy is a director of human resources in the consumer products industry.