the memoirs of benny goldberg

Larger than Life:A Legend in His Time

The Memoirs of Benny GoldbergThe Memoirs of Benny Goldberg

The Memoirs of Benny Goldberg

Benny and Sylvia enjoying a night out, always together as in their entire married life

All of us at Wayne and Lauren Goldberg’s wedding in Plett on 11 September 2005

Benny with Mark and Stanley. What tall sons!

Benny with Stanley and the two grandsons, Brad and David, in formal wear

Benny an Sylvia with both sons and grandsons in 2006

Benny ecstatic at Nederberg Auction after paying top price for this bottle. This was the charity part of the Auction

ForewordIt was Benny's final wish that this book be written and it is a

privilege for me to honour him in this way. It is with great joy, and of

course some sadness, that I offer this book to you, as a shared tribute to a

remarkable man who has touched all of our lives so profoundly.

With great respect and thanks, I acknowledge each of you for the

role that you played in his life. Your love and friendship was treasured by

him. In your own unique way, you all contributed to the life story of this

man named Benny Goldberg (of blessed memory), a man who was so

greatly loved and admired that his legacy continues to speak long after he

has left this world.

My sincere appreciation goes to Gwynne Robbins and

Maureen Rooke, whose assistance in the collating of this book was

invaluable to me.

Finally, deep gratitude to my sons, Stanley and Mark

Goldberg, and Michael Fridjhon - your unwavering support has enabled

me to fullfill Benny’s dream, and I know that he joins me in thanking

you.

I am blessed to have shared 54 years with my soulmate, and I

thank Hashem for gift of the life of a truly extraordinary husband,

father and friend.


Chapter Page No

1 You ain’t seen nothing till you've experienced the vibe 1

2 In the beginning 5

3 Messenger and bottle washer 15

4 Enter Sylvia 25

5 Benny’s innovations 39

6 The next generation 47

7 Our staff 63

8 Our customers 71

9 Our suppliers 79

10 Fighting a price war 87

11 Executives’ Association of Southern Africa 93

12 American Conventions 97

13 From Boeing hangar to supermarket 105

14 The world’s largest supermarket opens 117

15 King of liquor and queen of wine 129

16 A toast to my customers and friends 143

17 The end of a legend 149


Chapter 1

“You ain’t seen nothing till you've experienced the vibe"

Bob Connolly, Rand Daily Mail's cartoonist, once asked:

"Why did Senator Horwood open the Benny Goldberg Liquor

Supermarket in the morning and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in the

afternoon on the same day?”

The answer: "He did the one with the largest turnover first."

The Benny Goldberg Liquor Supermarket was, at one time listed by

Johannesburg tour guides as a

“must-see”. It became a common

sight for us to watch groups of

tourists traipsing through our

aisles.

In 1980 a visitor came in

asking for a conducted tour. He

mentioned he was in the liquor

industry in Texas. Of course I

obliged. As he walked through the

aisles, he was amazed and

delighted at our fine and far-

ranging selection of liquor and our well-designed displays. I was pleased at

his enthusiasm but thought nothing of it and returned to my office and my

order book. Soon it was my turn to be amazed and delighted when a letter

arrived from San Antonio, Texas, from a Mr Ben Nurick - that visitor. He

invited me to do a presentation on our supermarket at a meeting of the Wine

and Spirit Guild of America in Dallas, Texas.

The Wine and Spirit Guild of America limited its membership to one

person per state, the majority of members owned large chains of liquor

stores. As everything is bigger and better in Texas, it was a great honour for

a Texan bottle store chain owner to invite a Transvaal sole bottle store owner

to be his guest at a guild meeting, and in 1981 my wife Sylvia and I went off

to Dallas armed with an audio-visual presentation prepared by our son Mark

and our advertising agents.

Senator Owen Horwood fascinated with the selection of wines, being shown around by the Goldbergs

1

This elite group of liquor merchants gave us a very warm welcome

and we enjoyed sharing ideas and learning about their different views on

subjects of mutual interest. After all the formalities I was called upon to

address the meeting.

In our audio-visual presentation we had given prominence to the

interior design and layout of the store and I explained the purpose and

reasons for many of these features. I told them that we had a demarcated

area for the rubbish, which was then removed.

The Americans seemed impressed but interrupted me in the middle of

the presentation.

"What do you mean that you want to remove 'rubbish'?”

That is when I realised that Americans do not speak English. They

speak American. The misunderstanding and breakdown in communication

cleared as soon as I understood that I should have used the word “trash”. I

quickly learnt to get my vocabulary right!

I received a standing ovation when I finished the presentation. Ben

Nurick jumped up and said “you ain’t seen nothing… I have been there and

experienced the vibe”.

The member from New Orleans asked if he could copy some of my

ideas as well as our advertising campaigns and use these to promote

American liquor stores and at a later stage he reported on the success of

that campaign.

Having left school with a Standard Six certificate in my pocket, this

was a compliment indeed.

I was subsequently invited to become the only non-American

member of the Wine and Spirit Guild of America. Although we have long

since been out of the industry we are still honorary members and have kept

in touch with some delegates and through our membership have developed

long-lasting friendships.


2

This book is the story behind that visit and

behind Bob Connolly’s Breakfast Quip. It is my story,

and the story of my family, my friends and my many,

many customers who became my loyal supporters

and my friends.

“You ain’t seen nothing till you've experienced the vibe”

3


4

Three Johannesburg mayors and Benny playing golf in the 70s. From left: late Pieter Roos, lifetime friend Alf Widman, Benny and dear fried J.F.Oberholzer (known to us as Obie)

Chapter 2

In the beginning

I suppose it was inevitable that I should go into the liquor business. I

grew up in a hotel. My father, Sam Goldberg, was in the hotel business, as

was my grandfather Mordechai (Motke) Goldberg, before him, and, for all I

know, probably my great-grandfather Eliyakum Getzel before that. In

Eastern Europe, where my family came from, Jews had traditionally been

involved in the liquor trade and had run taverns, inns and hotels. Two

hundred years ago a third of the Jews managed estates leased from

absentee landlords or ran village inns, a third were in trade and the rest

were craftsmen.

In 1896 the Russian Tsar Nicholas 11 passed a law making dealing in

liquor a state monopoly. This had three major consequences. It increased

state revenues. It put about 100 000 Jews out of work, and Motke Goldberg,

aged 51, previously an inn-keeper in Shadova (Seduva) a town near

Ponevez (Panevezys), Lithuania, was no longer able to support his family of

seven children.

As a result, my grandfather left Shadova in 1896 with his family and

travelled to South Africa. It was a courageous decision for a man of his age

but he knew there were limited options available to him in Shadova. There

was major poverty in Lithuania - in some years more than half the

community had to receive help from Jewish community organisations to buy

matzah for the festival of Pesach. A man of action with a family dependant

on him, my grandfather decided to seek work in South Africa. I do not know

what he did when he arrived in South Africa, but in 1899 the South African

war broke out. Of the estimated 12 000 Jews then living in Johannesburg,

about 10 000 left, some as refugees just before the war, others because

they were not given permits allowing them to stay. When the war was over

and life returned to normal my grandfather became an innkeeper again and

started a hotel in Johannesburg. It was what he knew best. Even though, by

law, the hotel had to remain open over the Sabbath being Friday night and

Saturday, all profits from this period were given to charity and known as

“Shabas Gelt”, meaning Sabbath money for charity.

5

I presume my father grew up helping his father in the Shadova inn.

He was 17 when their right to run the inn and sell liquor was taken away and

the family moved to the “City of Gold” at the foot of the world. He too was to

become an hotelier and ran the Belvedere Hotel in Johannesburg. Then the

Ritz Hotel, the Ophirton Hotel, the New Berkley Hotel and, lastly, the

Bertrams Hotel - all these hotels are still in existence. All these hotels, like

the inns, sold liquor. The hotel bars made more money than the hotels did

even with accommodation and food.

It was in a bar belonging to Barnet Wainstein that the first Hebrew

congregation in Johannesburg was established at a meeting in 1887 and by

the time my grandfather arrived, there were three congregations. The

London Jewish Chronicle wrote that the difference between the three

congregations was that the members of the first were proud to call

themselves Jewish, the members of the second thought Jewish, and the

members of the third acted Jewish. My grandfather, a devout Jew, acted

Jewish, and so became one of the founder members of the third synagogue,

the most orthodox in practice, the “Greener Beit Hamedrash” in Fox Street,

Ferreira Town, which today is in downtown Johannesburg. It was the first

orthodox synagogue in Johannesburg and had been established three years

earlier by Jews from Eastern Europe, who were known as "Greeners",

meaning “green”, because, as new immigrants, they were raw and ignorant

of South African customs and ways.

Besides being devout, Grandpa Motke was charitable and hospitable,

values that were passed down to us. Grandpa Motke and Grandma Miriam

made a point of searching out other newly arrived “Greeners” from

Lithuania and offering them hospitality and assistance.

Through the shul, he became involved in the affairs of the Jewish sick

relief society, the Bikkur Cholim, (which means "visiting the sick") which had

been established to help the ailing poor with medical assistance and

nourishment. Jews regard visiting the sick as an important obligation

because it provides emotional solace to the patient. The Talmud states that,

“Whoever visits a sick person takes away one-sixtieth of his suffering”.

Bikkur Cholim societies were part of Eastern European social assistance and

this society had been established soon after the first Jewish congregation

was established.


6

To be sick meant to be without an income, but to be admitted to

hospital meant additional problems as well. There were language problems,

which led to an inability to describe their symptoms or follow instructions

and the food provided by the hospital did not conform to the Jewish dietary

laws. As a result many devout patients refused to go to hospital. The Bikkur

Cholim established their own men-only Jewish Hospital, which at one time

had thirty beds, but this closed down in 1897.

Then followed the war and the exodus of the Jews from the

Witwatersrand. From 1902 the British Government started to allow them to

return to Johannesburg but the economic depression following the war

made it hard for the newly arrived immigrants to establish themselves. My

grandparents helped as much as they could. Grandfather helped to

establish a Kosher Kitchen that was installed in the Johannesburg General

Hospital in 1904. At first it fed between 30 and 40 patients and the women,

including my grandmother, raised money to buy the food. Whether his hotel

was involved with providing the food, I do not know, I just know that he was

one of the Kosher Kitchen's founders. By 1909 the Kosher Kitchen was

feeding 735 patients three meals a day.

Grandfather passed away on 25 July 1916 aged 69 leaving seven

children, George, Feige, Lazarus, Sam, Ethel, Lipman and Rebecca. His

tombstone reads:

Mordechai, the son of Eliyakum Getzel Goldberg.

A man of kindness, whoever was hungry he satisfied.

His deeds were to save the poor

and all the unfortunate ones.

One of the founders of the Beit Hamidrash

and the Bikkur Cholim of Johannesburg.

My father Shmuel Michau (Sam), their fourth child, was born in

Lithuania in 1879 and came out to South Africa when he was only 17. He did

not immediately become an hotelier. As was common among new

immigrants, one of his first jobs was running a concession store within a

mine compound. Many of the Eastern European Jewish immigrants who first

In the beginning

7

arrived in South Africa towards the end of the 19th Century became

smouse, peddlers who pioneered trade in the economically undeveloped

hinterland of South Africa, opening up shops and businesses in country

towns. By the 20th Century, most of these openings had been filled and the

new immigrants found jobs working in concession stores and restaurants

catering for black mine-workers.

My father's concession store was in a mine that employed many

Chinese miners. After the South African War ended in 1902, it became

difficult to find blacks willing to work in the gold mines so the mine owners

decided to import unskilled Chinese labourers instead. The “Celestials”

started arriving in 1904, resulting in racial prejudice. They were blamed for

white unemployment. This was not true because the existence of cheaper

unskilled Chinese labour enabled more gold crushing stamps to be dropped.

More gold crushing stamps dropped enabled more skilled whites to be

employed, however, but when it comes to prejudice, facts jump out of the

window. There was political agitation, horrendous - and false - stories of

Chinese banditry, warnings of Yellow Peril and a miner's strike in 1907.

When the dust settled, the Government decided on the compulsory

repatriation of these Chinese workers and by March 1910 the experiment

had ended and the last of the 100 000 Chinese had been returned to China.

My father, however, was never prepared to allow local prejudices to

affect the way he treated fellow human beings and he treated all his

customers in the same polite and quiet manner, mindful of respecting his

neighbours and preserving their dignity.

So it was that when a Chinese customer returned a half-eaten tin of

sardines, saying that they were “bad”, my father exchanged that tin without

question. Elated at being treated with a respect so rare in that district, the

customer left but did not forget the incident.

Some months later my father went to the compound oblivious of the

fact that a full-scale riot was taking place. Too late to turn around he was

swept up in his rather capitalistic-looking suit and bowler hat (which was the

fashion at that time) and was held aloft, an object of ridicule.

After a while, he heard murmuring below with the words “sorry,

sorry, don’t be frightened”. Running alongside him was that same customer

who had returned the tin of sardines. Suddenly, at an opportune place, the


8

Chinese man seized my father and hurled him over the compound wall to

safety and freedom. Both men had carried out the commandment of

respecting one’s fellow man as one’s self.

I would guess that this incident took place during the 1907 riot - after

1910 there would no longer have been Chinese mineworkers. "Remember

the sardines” has become a by-word in the Goldberg Clan and the staff used

to caution each other to treat people with respect and dignity. This

philosophy has, I believe, also influenced the way that I have tried to treat

my customers.

In 1915 he married Rebecca (Becky) Preiss in Johannesburg. Both

their fathers had arrived in South Africa in 1896. Motte Preiss was a much-

married man. Because her father had had three wives, Becky had a large

family of siblings and half siblings. She had a twin brother, Ben who had four

children - Thelma, Kenny and Sydney, all of whom live in Israel to this day -

and Henry, who became a Supreme Court judge in Pretoria. We are blessed

to have them. Henry used to remark that he was known in chambers, not as

Judge Preiss, but as "Benny Goldberg's cousin" with the addition - "Can you

get us some of those special wines?" (During the 1970s these wines were in

short supply during a red wine shortage and not readily accessible.)

My father was a devoted husband and father who by his example

ingrained many philosophies in us. Of prime importance to him was honesty

and trust. He firmly believed in equality and having a positive attitude. All

this was second nature to him. Like his father, he too was charitable and

when he died in 1941, at the early age of 62, from a fish bone that caused

the infection, we summed him up by inscribing on his tombstone:

Whoever was hungry he satisfied.

He saved the poor and the unfortunate ones.

Sam and Becky had 5 children - Max Henry who became a doctor and

married Joan Hoffman on 10 June 1945 in Muizenberg, Cape Town; myself -

Benjamin Zelig - who married Sylvia Sacher on 15 March 1953 in the Great

Synagogue, Johannesburg; Hannah, known as Cissie who married Solly

In the beginning

9

Meltzer on 7 July 1940 in Berea Shul,

Johannesburg; Miriam, known as Bunty who

married Abe Levenstein on 14 January 1945 in

Berea Shul, Johannesburg and Hilly who

married Sylvia Davis on 29 June 1947 also in

Berea Shul.

We were all born within six years. I was

the second eldest. I was born on 24 July 1919

in Ferreira’s Town, then part of the

Johannesburg central business district, where

the Magistrate’s Court now stands. As can be

imagined my mother had her hands full and my

early years were far from quiet, to say the

least. Living next door to them were Mr and

Mrs Solly Kramer. When my eldest brother Max

was born, it was Mrs Kramer who taught my mother how to bathe and care

for a new-born baby. Solly Kramer had a bottle store. I cannot claim that

my own career choice was due to environmental influences, because my

parents then moved to Soper Road, Berea where Hannah (known as Cissie),

Miriam (known as Bunty) and Hillary (Hilly) were born.

My father later became an hotelier and took over

the Ophirton Hotel in Garland Street, Ophirton, only a

couple of miles from the city centre. The entire family

of seven plus the English “nanny” moved into the top

floor of the hotel which became our home. We had our

own bedrooms, dining room, lounge, kitchen and

bathroom in an area that was absolutely segregated

from the main part of the hotel including its boarding

section and bar.

Growing up in a hotel had its advantages as well

as its disadvantages. It was very exciting - never a dull

moment living in the hotel. The miners and the local

working class customers of the suburb were rowdy and

rough people, particularly on a Friday night. What was

most important was that our family stayed together


All 5 of the Goldberg family. From left: Benny, Hilly, Max, Cissie and Bunty

Sailor-suited Benny (which was the fashion of the times)

10

and we shared in each other’s activities. I remember we were still staying in

the Ophirton Hotel when Solly Meltzer came to court Cissie. We three

Goldberg boys thought he must be a really important guy as he was driving

a 1938 Orban Cord. Not many young people will have heard of this car but

today it would be worth many millions.

At one time my father ran a hotel together with his brother, Lazar.

Partnerships with close family sometimes work, and sometimes do not. In

this case it led to an argument, and the brothers did not speak to each other

for years. Sadly my father was so busy in the hotel, he did not have much

time to spend with us, so there are huge gaps in my knowledge about him

and his own background. If my father was a go-getter, my mother was a

sweet, quiet homemaker and I was very close to her particularly as I was the

last of the children to get married and had spent some years living together

with her in her flat. For many years after we were all married, even as late as

during the 1950's, Max, Hilly and I used to have lunch with her at least once

a week in her Burton Court, Hillbrow, flat. This was quality time.

One of the most traumatic experiences of my childhood took place

when I was about six. The chef had decided on chicken for the menu of the

day. Unbeknown to him, I was standing nearby when he chopped off the

rooster’s head, which then catapulted onto my chest. I panicked and wanted

to run but was frozen to the spot at the sight of what seemed to me to be

rivers of blood. I shall never forget the horror of that episode. I was

paralysed and in shock for what seemed to be an eternity and have never

since eaten poultry in ANY form including duck, turkey, etc. This has on

many occasions over the years caused our hostesses great inconvenience

and my wife some embarrassment.

I started school at Booysens Primary School, closely following Max

who was only fourteen months older and a hard act to follow. I was a non-

conformist from an early age and it was at primary school that I became an

expert at playing truant. My parents would not have believed it, even of their

little “monster”. One thing that sticks in my mind was that I was one of the

few pupils fortunate enough to have shoes. It was during the recession and I

was one of the lucky few who had a roof over my head and food to eat. In

those days many of the children came to school barefoot (I guess many kids

today still go barefoot).

In the beginning

11

One unforgettable experience was our first holiday at the seaside. It

was in 1931 and my mother took all five of us children to Cape Town for a

holiday. As my father was unable to leave the hotel, she bravely managed

her clan on her own. We travelled on a steam train, second class, all in one

compartment. A house had been rented in Lakeside and the big treat was to

go by train to Muizenberg beach which was, and, as far as I am concerned,

still is the finest beach in the world.

To get to the beach we had to cross a railway crossing. When a train

approached, a bell would ring and wooden booms would descend, closing off

the railway line from the road. When the bell rang, my mother held onto as

many of us as possible, until the train passed and the boom opened. She did

a quick roll call, shouting, “Max, Benny, Cissie, Bunty… Oy… where’s Hilly?”

Where was Hilly? He had gone up with the booms that had got stuck in

his jersey. When the booms went up, so did tiny Hilly, pulled up along with

the boom! We had to wait for the next train to pass before the booms came

down again and fortunately he came down safe and sound. We have laughed

about Hilly's journey ever since.

The next major hurdle was my barmitzvah. Rabbi Goss came to the

Ophirton Hotel and taught all five of us together to read Hebrew. He

prepared me for my barmitzvah as he had done for Max.

The barmitzvah took place at the Orthodox Shul in Ophirton, which

was run by Rabbi Mirken, close to the Ophirton hotel. The Hotel still stands

although the name was changed to “Over Houghton”. Unlike Houghton, an

elite suburb where our former president, Nelson Mandela, and present

president Thabo Mbeki lives, the Ophirton Hotel is situated in an industrial

area.

My parents gave me the option of having a party to celebrate the

occasion or a radio known, in those days, as a wireless. I chose to have a

crystal set and had endless pleasure from it. That was until my father threw

it over the balcony to settle a fight over it between Max and myself. That was

the end of the argument. Unfortunately it was also the end of the wireless.

My adolescence coincided with the rise of Nazism, a philosophy that

attracted many sympathisers in South Africa. One Nazi organisation that

developed was a paramilitary organisation called the Grey Shirts. It had

uniforms, discipline and salutes and was established in 1933 by Louis T


12

Weichardt, an early convert to Nazism. It spread rapidly among young

Afrikaners and soon Greyshirt cells were active throughout the country. We

were horrified by its constitution which called for the immediate revocation

of South African nationality to Jews, the treatment of Jews as merely

temporary guests, and the protection of South Africans against being

ousted by Jews from any trade or profession.

The Greyshirts organised meetings in small towns to provoke hostile

feelings against the local Jews saying very bad things about the Jewish

people, for example, a Greyshirt election leaflet stated three reasons why

the reader should not vote for a Jew.

"FIRSTLY because he cannot be an Englishman or an Africander (sic),

and a Jew... once a Jew, always an alien! SECONDLY, because the

Jew is an alien to the highest degree. He is repugnant to and not of

ones own. Let him keep to his race, you keep to yours! THIRDLY, you

will be a disgrace to the European community and the Aryan race if

you vote for a Jew, because he is an Asiatic and NOT a European."

Young Jews from Doornfontein and other Reef suburbs and towns

would go round and try to break up their meetings and there were often

serious clashes with violence and arrests. One cell regularly held their group

meetings opposite the Ophirton Hotel. But no matter what terrible things

they said about getting rid of the repugnant Jews, they used to add that

those comments did NOT apply to Sam Goldberg and his family at the

Ophirton hotel because this was their local drinking spot.

School was not a happy place for me. Having completed primary

school, I went on to Forest High School where I was not what one may have

called a “model student”. I was indeed a persecuted, unhappy scholar. Even

when I copied my brother Max’s essays, for which he had been awarded

70%, I only managed to obtain a miserable 40%, despite having included

the teacher’s corrections to his work. I thought this most unfair.

A further blow to my education came at exam time when I could no

longer rely on Max and had to write my own Afrikaans essay. There was no

way I could manage that. I was terrified at the thought of the exam and

successfully played sick. My reprieve was short-lived! When I returned to

In the beginning

13

school the following day, I was summoned to the headmaster’s office to

write the Afrikaans essay. I was so unnerved that I froze and could not even

put pen to paper. Needless to say, all I could manage to hand back was a

blank page.

The next step for me was to inform my parents that I wanted to quit

school. They were certainly not happy with my decision but reluctantly went

along with it, realizing that my reasoning was acceptable. I then had to buck

up the courage to approach the headmaster. He had to accept the inevitable,

and after some harsh words, gave me permission to leave school provided

that I could find myself a permanent job. Whew, that was a relief as I had full

confidence in myself.

I immediately mounted on my bike and went off to the employment

division of the Jewish Board of Deputies, armed with my Standard Six

certificate, great enthusiasm and plenty of chutzpah.

At the interview I was told of a vacancy for an office boy at the Zionist

Record, a Jewish newspaper. With the optimism of a 13½-year-old I rode my

bicycle to its office, which was situated in the centre of Johannesburg, and

was given the job. How good it was to feel that I was entering the workforce

and no longer had to worry about teachers, homework and writing essays. I

rejoiced in my new-found freedom.

I think at the time my parents were rather relieved that my siblings

did not decide to follow my example in leaving school early. Cissie and Bunty

went to Commercial High School near Joubert Park. Max became a doctor

and Hilly studied architecture. But for a boy who left school after Standard

Six, I did not do too badly.


14

Chapter 3

Messenger and bottle washer

My optimism was deserved, because I landed the job at the Zionist

Record. My duties included taking editorial copy from the editor to the

printer and then to go back there to collect same to return to the editor, Mr

David Dainow. He outlasted me. I was the office boy for approximately a

year; he was their editor for over twenty years. My responsibilities included

general office work and everything else a messenger could be given to do.

My salary was £5 a month.

I felt wealthy and confident and I gained experience which was to

stand me in good stead later on. Dainow was to publish Our Shadchan, a

humorous satire on the tribulations of a marriage broker. That sort of

problem was the last thing on my mind.

My father was a customer of a wholesale liquor merchant, J D Bosman

and Co. He approached the owner, Mr Ben Judaiken, who gave me a job as

the general office boy. On my first day I was sent to be trained by the store

manager, Mr Bob Storbeck, who took me to the back of the store where

there were concrete tubs filled with cold water, used for bottle washing. How

well I remember scrubbing those bottles with a hand brush. This certainly

was no youngster’s dream of glamour but for me, it was my introduction to

the liquor industry.

I did not know it then, but dealing with liquor had long been a typical

occupation for nice Jewish boys. In Eastern Europe the Jews had

traditionally been tavern keepers, innkeepers and hoteliers. When the

Russian government decided to take over the liquor trade monopoly in

1896, hundreds of thousands of Jews were forced out of work. This was not

done to save the Christian peasants from the immorality of the Jewish

drinking places and the clutches of the greedy Jewish innkeeper, as the

antisemitic propaganda would have had it, but to provide the government

with an additional source of income. As for the propaganda, surprise,

surprise, the government found that the poor peasants drank as heavily

under the new Jew-free government monopoly as they had done before.

15

As liquor dealing had been one of the comparatively few occupations

open to Lithuanian Jews, it was not surprising that many of these Jews

returned to it when they arrived in South Africa. Licenses were granted for

the first time in Johannesburg on the 10 November 1886.

By 1890 there were 77 canteens or bars on the Witwatersrand,

meaning Johannesburg and the surrounding reef towns, a quarter of which

were owned by people with recognisably Jewish names. It was a profitable

way to make a

as the liquor could be obtained on credit. When a total

prohibition on the sale of liquor to blacks came into effect in 1897, about half

of the canteens near the mines closed down. Blacks could then only buy

liquor when in possession of a permit signed by a white employer. Some of

these regulations were still in force when I started working in the liquor

trade.

I enjoyed working at J D Bosman and Co. and the responsibilities it

offered. I had duties besides bottle washing. I would be sent to Customs &

Excise with relevant documents and a cheque to pay the duty on the liquor

that was due to be removed from the bonded warehouse, which was a

separate area of the liquor wholesaler.

The normal amount that was withdrawn from the bond store did not

exceed ten cases of various whiskies such as Dewars White Label, Johnnie

Walker, Crawfords, Haig and Black and White. When Mr Judeiken did not

have sufficient funds to meet the cheque for the duty, he borrowed from his

friend, my father, Sam Goldberg.

A lot of the local liquor came in barrels. These had to be siphoned into

a small hand-filtering machine before going into the cleaned bottles that I

had washed. When that was done, the next step in the process was to cork

each bottle and carefully attach each label with glue, making sure that the

label was perfectly straight and in the same position. I was involved with this

process and getting the labels glued on straight was no easy feat. Only then

were they ready to be put into stock. I also assisted with the making up of

orders for delivery.

With all these responsibilities, my knowledge of the whole liquor

distribution process was certainly growing and I enjoyed working at this

company. It beat school and writing Afrikaans essays any day.

living on the thirsty gold fields and one that required little

initial capital outlay


16

One never knows how or whether one will benefit from experience. In

my case it was only in later years that the value of what I learnt during these

years became evident.

My life was not all work. One of my favourite recreations was ballroom

dancing and I bought my first set of white tie and tails when I was 17. In

1938, aged 19, I won a cup for the Novice A Tango at the South African

Ballroom Championships. I was so thrilled. My partner was Eadie Freinkel

and to this day I still treasure the trophy, which, I might add, was not very

big at all.

As a result of the impression made on

me by my first memorable holiday in

Muizenberg, as soon as I was able to save

enough money I went to Muizenberg. This

time I was a gay, young bachelor with some

friends - although "gay" meant something

quite different then.

I became friendly with a fellow from

Cape Town named Archie Brauer. He must

have been well over six-foot two-inches and

with little me five-foot four-inches next to

him, we were quite a sight! Sylvia and I

remained friendly with the Brauers ever after.

Olga, his wife, said they were delighted when

Sylvia came onto the scene. So was I! Archie

passed away some years ago, but our

friendship with Olga has continued despite

their emigration to Canada where they followed their two daughters who left

many years ago. She has spent many happy years reaping great pleasure

from her family.

Olga has a unique sense of humour. When she got an e-mail telling

her that I was writing this book, she called and reminded me of this incident.

In 1941 she and Archie had gone to West Reef Mine in Orkney where

Archie was to manage a hotel that was opening and Olga was to work as a

bookkeeper in a country store. The hotel belonged to the Oppenheimers,

the wealthiest family in South Africa at the time, and Phillip Suzman. When


Bachelor Boy in 7th heaven on Muizenberg beach

17

the hotel opened, the Suzman and Berman sons-in-law decided to throw a

party for 500 guests. After a discussion with Sir Ernest Oppenheimer, the

decision was made that as they had just employed Archie and Olga they

would not need the services of a caterer.

As a newly-wed, Olga knew nothing about catering, and certainly not

about catering for five hundred people. She cried the whole week. In

desperation they decided to come and see me and drove all the way to

Johannesburg. Olga recalled that we welcomed them warmly and I said, “No

problem, come with me". I took them to a very posh hotel in the centre of

Johannesburg named Lutchies Langham.

I pulled them into an alleyway at the back of the hotel and told them

to wait there to meet the chef. Eventually the chef came out to have a

cigarette and I spoke to him about their terrible predicament and he agreed,

for a sum of money, to go to Orkney on his weekend off and he gave Olga the

list of food that he would need to cater for 500 people.

“We were living in a boarding house in Klerksdorp with a Mrs Cohen",

said Olga. "We had told her that the chef would be arriving on Friday

morning. Naturally, we were shaking in our boots, hoping he would arrive -

the alternative was horrifying! Early Friday morning, Mrs Cohen knocked on

our door and said there had been big trouble at midnight. A black man had

come knocking on the door. She was nervous and had told him to “Voetsak!

Go away!” He replied, “Okay. Tell the Brauers that I did try and that I came.”

As soon as Mrs Cohen heard this, she realised that he must be the man for

whom the Brauers were waiting. This tiny woman then opened the door,

grabbed the heavily inebriated man, pushed him into one of the rooms, and

locked the door. Fortunately, by the next morning he had sobered up and on

the Saturday night there was this FANTASTIC party, hosted by Sir Ernest

Oppenheimer. I do not know what we would have done without Benny’s

help.”

Oppenheimer came personally to compliment Archie and Olga for this

outstanding function and said that they could contact him at any stage.

Quite a lot of the cutlery went missing. Many of the guests had not seen such

fine cutlery before and must have taken them home as "souvenirs" of a

wonderful party. Most probably these have by now become family heirlooms

in some miner’s family.


18

Archie and Olga spent a weekend holiday in Johannesburg on another

occasion during their period in Orkney, and came to visit us.

Olga wrote that: "Walking with Benny was, for us, like being with a

celebrity, because it seemed that at least every second person stopped to

say hello to Benny and if it were possible, Benny went up even further in our

estimation. He gave me a round, brass side table, which was high fashion in

those days. I have always treasured this table and it now stands proudly in

my home in London, Ontario, as a constant reminder to me of what a

wonderful friend we were fortunate to have in Benny.”

After I had worked at J D Bosman and Co for about four years, I felt

that I needed to move on and I decided to become a freelance commercial

traveller. I worked very well with many friends including Mike Lurie and Mike

Abel. I took on soft goods and general merchandise and shared a car and

expenses with Mike Lurie, because we called on the same customers.

Once when we walked into a country general dealer, and Mike had

concluded his business, I put out my hand to the gentleman and said, "My

name is Benny Goldberg.”

The reply came, "So bloody vot ?"

Needless to say, not only was the wind knocked out of my sails, I

received no orders from that store.

Another occasion in one of the country stores, I noticed a large stack

of salt.

I remarked to the owner, "You must sell a lot of salt here!"

His reply was, "No, not particularly. But you should see the guy who

sells the salt. Boy, can he sell salt!"

Once Mike Abel and I were returning from Durban on a very cold and

misty night. We decided to stop over at the Mooiriver Hotel. We had dinner

there, and after a while we went to bed in the double room that we shared. It

was so cold that we decided that the only way we could keep warm would be

to put the blankets from both beds onto the one bed for extra warmth and

both sleep under them. In those days there were no bathrooms en suite nor

running water in the hotels. Instead bedrooms would have a dresser on

which would be placed a jug and basin. When I got up in the morning to wash

my hands and then leant forward to wash my face in the basin, I nearly fell


19

out of the window. It was no wonder that we had spent such a freezing night.

To our horror, we discovered that the window had no glass window pane!

Mike Abel and I shared common interests, one of which was acting

and we decided to turn up for auditions for roles in a play called Golden Boy

by Clifford Odets that had opened in New York in 1937 and was filmed two

years later. The play was about Joe Bonaparte, a young man torn between

playing classical violin and becoming a boxer.

Mike and I were both successful in obtaining parts. The producer,

Henry Gilbert, felt there were too many Jewish surnames in the cast and

gave me the stage name of “Benny Boston”. Golden Boy starred British

professional lightweight boxing champion Eric Boon and the young English

actress Gay Gibson, And, of course, Mike Abel and Benny Boston.

As Benny Boston, I was the

shining star as a punch-drunk boxer

albeit for a single theatre season

with a salary of £5 a week. I must

confess that our run was nowhere

near New York’s 250 performances,

and it was cut short because the

powers-that-be decided that the

Standard Theatre in Joubert Street,

a lovely old building built in 1891,

was to be demolished. Golden Boy

was the last play to be staged there and our performance on the last

Saturday in September, 1947 was to be the last play there.

When the play closed, the lovely Gay Gibson took the Durban Castle

home to England. She was pushed through the porthole of the ship by a

handsome steward who was later convicted of the murder. It was said that

her disappearance and the subsequent trial reached a wider audience

through the press than any play at the Standard Theatre had ever done.

The Standard Theatre might have been, as its critics claimed, a rat-

infested fire hazard, but it was a characterful building and I was sorry to see

it go. Even a banner-carrying protest march through the centre of

Johannesburg did not help to save it and it lay derelict for years before the

demolishers moved in. Where it stood the Oppenheimer Park now


Entire cast of Golden Boy. Benny Boston 2nd from left

20

flourishes. The writer Herman Charles Bosman complained that, " They will

pull down the Standard Theatre like they have pulled down all the old

buildings, theatres, gin-palaces, dosshouses, temples, shops, arcades,

cafes and joints that were intimately associated with the mining-camp days

of Johannesburg."

The theatre experience was good fun and the memory of this episode

in my life will remain with me forever. As much as Benny Boston helped mark

history by acting in the last play to be staged in the beautiful old theatre, so

too as Benny Goldberg. I later helped mark history by shaping and

flavouring the character of this burgeoning city which had little respect for

its historic buildings, but much respect for gin-palaces and liquor stores.

When my father decided to sell the Ophirton Hotel so that he could

build the Bertrams Hotel, I decided to leave the family nest, which at that

stage was in Young Avenue, Upper Houghton.I moved into the hotel so that I

could keep a good eye on how the Bertrams Hotel was being run. One of the

people staying at the hotel was Natie Slavin. He would lay out a large piece

of leather on the hotel room floor and would cut out a pattern. He was trying

to make handbags. In later years, there was a large factory, called, I think,

Slavin Handbags.

I learned a great deal there from working closely with my father.

Sadly he passed away suddenly after swallowing a fish bone. What a pity

that penicillin had not yet been discovered and nothing could be done for

him!

Without my father, it was necessary for someone from the family to

continue running the hotel. Max was a medical student at the University of

Cape Town and could not interrupt his studies to go into the hotel so I had to

do it on my own with part-time help from Hilly, who was studying

architecture.

Max did well and after qualifying as a doctor he went on to specialise

in lungs, with a particular interest in TB and Miner’s phthysis and became TB

Officer to the Johannesburg City Health Department. He was highly

respected in his profession and loved by patients and colleagues alike. Even

though he had most attractive offers to go into private practice, he was

totally dedicated to his work at the hospital and not attracted by the

financial gains.


21

Hilly was a very capable young man, who could use his hands well.

While he was working at the hotel, he met Alan Bernstein, who was working

for an optical company and was invited to fill a position there. After a short

while a vacancy fell open at Raphael and Company, which Hilly filled with

competence but he felt it necessary to inform his boss, Mr Raphael, that he

actually had no qualifications and wanted to go to night school for tuition,

whilst working during the day. Hilly excelled in his work and his studies and

subsequently qualified well and acquired shares in the business. Shortly

after Hilly qualified Mr Raphael decided to emigrate to Israel and Hilly

purchased the balance of shares, borrowing the money to do so from our

mother, who bonded the house to help him. Naturally he paid back the loan.

As Hilly required money, I thought it would be a good idea to send him

to our bank manager, Mr. Walters. When Hilly was young he stammered

quite badly when he was nervous. Of course I forgot that Mr. Walters also

stammered! When they met Mr. Walters became furious when Hilly

stammered. He thought this young Goldberg fellow was mimicking him and

threw him out of his office. Mr Walters phoned me to complain and say how

hurt he was! It took me some time to convince him that Hilly was not poking

fun at him but that he himself had a stammer. Hence, no money from that

source was forthcoming.

Even though Hilly has been retired for very many years, he keeps

himself extremely active with the gift that he has of making professional

wooden furniture, completely on his own. It is a fantastic hobby! He also has

taken an active part in Lions International for very many years and no job is

too menial for Hilly to do for charity.

My work and life at the hotel went on for many years. I ran the hotel

looking after the kitchen, dining room, bedrooms and, of course, the main

business which was the bar area, which only closed at 11pm. I was very

much a young man-about-town who loved dancing and fortunately always

had a good selection of pretty girls to date. When the hotel’s bar was closed

and I could go off duty, I would frequent night-clubs. Some of my favourite

haunts were Red Webber’s nightclub called The Savoy, Henry Rose’s

Diamond Horseshoe and Ciro’s.

New Berkley Hotel corner Bree and Von Brandis street right near the

main Johannesburg post office was a hotel my father actually built with two


22

partners, Oscar Freeman and Morry Holtz. This hotel was leased out and the

rental income enabled them to repay the bond. When all three partners had

passed away, this partnership for the one small building consisted of 15

heirs and it was mutually agreed that the best thing to do would be to sell ththis hotel and each heir benefited from 1/15 of the proceeds of the sale.

When the family decided to lease out the Bertrams Hotel, I looked

around for something else to do and decided to go into business with my

good friend Mike Abel, who had experience in the stationery and paper

business. We opened a shop in Marshall Street, Johannesburg, that we

called Bond Paper Company. We worked hard, had fun and did well there.

When I decided to go into the liquor industry I sold my share to Mike.

In 1952 I acquired a bottle store licence, and moved into premises in Louis

Botha Avenue, Highlands North, near to the popular roadhouse called The

Doll’s House.

The staff of my bottle store consisted of my sister Bunty, two

deliverymen on bicycles with baskets in the front to hold the liquor and a

male assistant. With a Standard Six education, my knowledge of

accountancy was poor so my accountant Wally Einstein, came in every

evening on his way home to check up and assist me.


23

24


Benny and Sylvia in the early days

Chapter 4

Enter Sylvia

How fortunate I was to meet

Sylvia Sacher, a comptometer

operator. She was doing an audit at

a company called Vega Fashions for

my friend, Monty Lazarus, who was

a director. Monty thought it would

be a good idea for me to meet her

and arranged for me to have lunch

with this comptometer operator

during working hours. She was

reluctant to meet anyone but Monty

stated that she was working in his

time and this was his instruction.

The date was made for the next day

and she arrived beautifully dressed

in a white broderie anglaise dress, which set off not only her trim figure but

also her thick black hair.

This 19 year old literally swept me off my feet. Sylvia created quite a

stir but it was her strong spirit that grabbed me.

After that lunch date, I went to play in a golf tournament on the

weekend, which I won, had a few drinks and decided to phone her up and

ask her out. I invited her to go with

me to the Colosseum cinema in

Commissioner Street. During the

interval I went out to buy her a

smal l box of Black Magic

chocolates, which was the in-thing

for any self-respecting suitor to do.

When I returned I saw that Sylvia

was talking to the person sitting

directly behind her. It was her Aunt

Sylvia, aged 17, joins the working force

25

Proud gran Sylvia always found time to play games with Bradley and David

Fay and she immediately told Sylvia that she had known me from school

days as she lived in the same vicinity.

Sylvia’s mother, Bertha

Rosenberg, was born in 1909 in a

small town in Latvia named Shubitz,

one of five children, a son and four

daughters. Bertha’s eldest sister,

Annie, had gone to South Africa

many years earlier and was

fortunate to have married Jusman

Feldt, who farmed in the Kendal-

Ogies area. In 1925 Annie and

Jusman generously paid to bring

the sixteen-year-old Bertha out to South Africa.

In 1992 Sylvia met two elderly ladies who could remember quite

vividly when her mother had left Shubitz to join her sister and potato-king

farmer husband in distant South Africa.

Naturally, young Bertha could not speak one word of English. Annie

and Jusman sent her for one year to Potchefstroom Convent. She took full

advantage of that year and apart from learning

to read and write English, in a beautiful convent

handwriting, the nuns taught her intricate

embroidery skills. We still treasure a tablecloth

that she worked on during that year at the

convent.

The following year she joined the Feldt

family on the farm. Apart from helping to raise

the family of three children, Myriam, Bazil and

Abe, who were all brought up on the farm, one

of Bertha’s duties was to get up around 3am to

make butter from the fresh milk.

In 1931, Bertha met Barney Sacher, who

had come with his parents and siblings to South

Africa from a town called Gruzier in Lithuania in

the 1920’s. Barney had three brothers, Mike,


Sylvia’s first sea-side holiday in Durban, flanked by her mother & father. What an automobile!

26

A gracious lady, Sylvia’s mother, Mrs Bertha Sacher, who single handedly took control of the family after her husband suffered a stroke at the age of 56 in 1960

Isaac and Simon, and two sisters, Dora and

Ray. All his brothers were ambitious, energetic

young men who, with very little finance behind

them, slowly started trying to use their

business acumen to make some kind of a living

and contribute towards the family household.

Bertha and Barney were married on 1

November 1931 in the Great Wolmerans Street

Synagogue in Johannesburg. After their

marriage, they moved into a house in 47 Koster

Road, Booysens, close to the Sacher family,

and on 30 January 1933, Sylvia was born at the

Claredon Maternity Nursing Home in Hillbrow.

Her formative years were spent in Koster Road,

Booysens, closely surrounded by quite a few of

the Sacher family, her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

When World War 2 started in 1939, Sylvia’s father enlisted in the

army. My brothers and I did not enlist – Max was studying medicine, I was

busy running the hotel and Hilly was still too young.

With her father in the army, Sylvia and her mother left Booysens and

moved in, once again, with the Feldt family, who now also had a home in

Johannesburg, at 30 Oxford Road, Parktown. Sylvia attended Forest Town

Primary School, a small school where most of the pupils were from the

Arcadia Jewish Orphanage.

When her father came out of the army, they moved into a house at 14

Upper Park Drive, Forest Town. This house was directly opposite the

Johannesburg Zoo, and they soon got used to all the animal sounds,

particularly the nocturnal roaring and howling. After being an only child for

11 years, Sylvia’s brother, Abraham Maurice, who is known as Morry, was

born in 1944, followed by her sister, Hazel, in 1947.

From the age of 11 Sylvia became very independent. I admired this

independence. Her mother had never learnt to drive a motor vehicle and had

a small baby to look after. Apart from the household shopping, which was

done by her father, Sylvia used to catch the bus every Saturday morning to

the central business district to attend to whatever her mother needed.

Enter Sylvia

27

Sylvia’s father, Barney Sacher, who served in the South African army during World War II (1939-1945)

Sylvia also bought her own clothes and did the family shopping.

She started at Parktown Girl’s High School in 1945, cycling to school

each day and she got to know Tyrone Avenue and the Zoo Lake area very

well. She was good at mathematics and knowing that her forte was figures,

she decided on matriculating to do a six-month full time course to train to

become a comptometer operator. The

comptometer, which was in a portable case,

was the start of calculators and eventually

computers. In those days the machine was a

constant wonder to all and sundry and those

who saw Sylvia at work would watch her

operate it.

Sylvia was most fortunate on completing

her course to obtain a job at Mosenthal’s, a

large wholesaler in an imposing six-story

building in Market Street. There were various

departments on each floor and her first job, as

comptometer operator, was to check every

invoice written, together with the extensions and calculations. As she

f i n i s hed wo rk i ng i n ea ch

department, she would return the

invoices to them and then move

onto the next department. Through

this, she made friends with people

in all the departments in that large

organisation.

One of her new friends was

the switchboard operator and when

Sylvia’s work was finished by late

afternoon, she used to go and

watch her manipulating the plugs on the telephone switchboard. When her

friend went on leave, she recommended that Sylvia would be capable

enough to control the switchboard and this 17-year-old found herself

operating that busy switchboard with its ten incoming lines, its twenty

extensions and the many directors who all demanded immediate attention.


28

Sylvia with her sister, Hazel and brother, Morry at her 60th

Sylvia’s 60th birthday, with her family. From left, Dudley, Hazel, Morry, Sylvia, Rhoda and Benny

Fortunately, after a few weeks her friend returned and Sylvia could return to

her usual duties.

Going home by bus one day, one of her travelling companions told her

that the accountancy firm where he worked needed a comptometer

operator as their present one was leaving to marry a Cape Town man, and he

asked her whether she would be interested. An appointment was made for

an interview, the interview was successful and she was offered even more

money than the “high salary” (compared to others) of £17.10 as she was at

that stage only earning £12.10.

Sylvia immediately gave notice at Mosenthal’s. To her shock she was

called into a director’s office and Dennis Mosenthal offered her the unheard-

of increase of £5 per month but she recognised that more opportunities

existed for her at the new firm and she had made up her mind to seek

greener pastures.

From the moment she joined the wonderful firm of Windram,

Wainstein & Freedman, she was made to feel very comfortable and part of

the “family”. Apart from the general staff, there were quite a few articled

clerks, and one of her main duties was accompanying the audit clerk to the

various clients with her Comptometer

machine, where she checked various

calculations and stock sheets and assisted the

clerk with the audit.

To the eighteen-year old Sylvia, this was

a very happy time in her life. She was fancy-

free, and the friendships she made with the

various clients made her work environment

very pleasant. She dated the accountant at one

particular client on a few occasions and when

she decided that he was not for her, she was

summonsed into her audit practice and

reprimanded for being silly to miss such a

wonderful opportunity.

While doing stock sheets at another

client, Vega Fashions, she was called into the

office of the director, Mr Monty Lazarus, who

Enter Sylvia

29

Benny as a bache lor on Muizenberg. This is the first photograph that Benny gave to Sylvia in 1952, featuring a very affectionate message at the back.

told her he wanted her to meet a friend of his. Sylvia thanked him but said

she was not interested. She already had a boyfriend, a medical student,

and, as it was October, he was studying very hard for his end-of-year exams.

Mr Lazarus informed her that, as his company was being billed for her

services, he was insisting that she meet his friend during company time.

Sylvia capitulated, saying that it would be okay with her if it was during the

day. Mr Lazarus arranged for his friend to take her to lunch. He would fetch

her the following day from the Vega Fashions’ office.

I was that friend. And the rest is history. It took exactly ten whole

days and quite a few evenings to get an engagement ring onto Sylvia’s

finger. I then realised that I had better take her home to meet my family. My

mother was delighted as were the rest of the family but Max warned Sylvia

how difficult I could be and suggested that she give the relationship serious

thought. How wrong he was. We have already celebrated our 54th wedding

anniversary!!!!!

Our engagement period seemed rushed at the time but we wanted to

share the excitement of the auspicious occasion together with Sylvia’s stparents, who were about to celebrate their 21 wedding anniversary on

November 1, 1952.

While we were engaged we saw a house in Stirling Street, Waverley

and walked around the grounds at night using a box of matches to light our

way. Sylvia and I thought it was great and we

could not believe that it had a large round

swimming pool in the garden. That was before

swimming pools had become a popular annexe

to many people's home. I should perhaps

mention that Sylvia, aged 19, was definitely

not an expert on real estate and as for me,

aged 32, apart from a short stay in Young

Avenue, Houghton, with my family, I had never

lived in a house.

Thanks to my friends who had an estate

agency who helped me, we purchased the

house, in which we were to spend 35 wonderful

years.


30

Benny and Sylvia on their wedding day, 15 March 1953

thWe were married in Johannesburg on the 15 March 1953 at the Great

Synagogue, Wolmarans Street, with the reception at the City Hall for 1 000

and sixpence per head.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The 11 year age gap between me and my siblings kept us apart.

Morry was 9 when he was a page boy at our wedding and Hazel aged 6 was

the cute flower girl.

There was a seven year age difference between Hazel and our elder

son Stanley. In fact Hazel and Stanley often played together and she even

accompanied the family on holidays. Morry married Rhoda Glazer of

Johannesburg on the 11 th January 1970 and they had three sons. Hazel thmarried Dudley Rubin from Johannesburg on the 6 Jan 1969 and they had

four children two girls and two boys.

Dudley, an accountant, decided to study further on a part time basis

after working long hours during the day and being a husband and father to

four children, he studied at night often burning the midnight oil to obtain an

MBA and H.Dip BDP to add to his CA degree.

Has not only been a brother-in-law but much more as a brother and

sincere, caring friend.

My mother Bertha Sacher who lived with Dudley, Hazel and their

family all spent many Sundays with us as that was the only time the family

could spend quality time together. It was only when we left the liquor store

in 1982 that we had more time to devote to the family and to seeing each

other more often and watching the Rubin children grow.

Morry had already moved to Durban quite a few years before. Most of

the times spent with him besides the occasional visit was on the telephone.

It is only when our mother passed away on the 8 May 1988 that while

the three of us sat Shiva for a week we discovered that there was no longer

an age gap between us and from that time on the three Siblings became

very close which continues today.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

guests for a dinner/dance, for which my father-in-law paid seventeen

shillings

Enter Sylvia

31

After the honeymoon it was back to the business. Some time later

that year, better and slightly bigger premises became available further

down Louis Botha Avenue. It was at a busy intersection and bus terminus

opposite Balfour Park Club, on the corner of Louis Botha Avenue and Athol

Street, Highlands North, and nine blocks away from the first shop and I

managed to get permission to move the bottle store. Being a busy corner,

business improved. Here we stayed till 1958.

We had to employ extra staff and we progressed from bicycles to

three-wheeler Vespa scooters for deliveries.

Sylvia was a brand new housewife and not having much to do at

home, she used to walk to the shop to say hello and chat to my sister Bunty.

Sylvia had an inquisitive mind, she was good at figures and started to ask

questions and look into the work that was being done there.

ndOur first son, Stanley, was born on 22 December 1953. I was 33 and

I was over the moon with excitement. That day was just two days before

Christmas Eve and, for a bottle store owner, Christmas time is the busiest

time of the year and Christmas Eve is the busiest day of the year. That

Christmas Eve, while we were waiting for all the delivery vehicles to return

from their rounds, the staff and I had a few drinks to celebrate the

excitement of my son’s arrival.

As it happened this was also the busiest working day that I had ever

had and as I did not have sufficient insurance cover for the day’s cash

takings, which totalled a whopping £2 000, I wrapped the money in

newspaper and I put the parcel into the wastepaper basket. I crumpled

extra papers on top of that and left the store at 11.30pm feeling elated from

the last few days' events.

At 8.30am on Christmas morning I received a phone call from

Detective Watson requesting me to go to the bottle store right away. I put

the phone down saying that I was not in the mood for jokes. Two seconds

later the phone rang again and this time the detective was adamant,

commanding me to get to the bottle store as soon as possible. I realised that

something must have been wrong and rushed over to find the bottle store’s

side door in Athol Street open. Inside the store were Detective Watson and

two other police officers.


32

After my initial shock, I was asked if anything seemed to be missing.

The shelves behind the counter seemed rather empty. I then remembered

the wastepaper basket and its contents and after putting my foot into the

basket to establish that the money was still there, I replied that it appeared

that nothing was missing. It then occurred to me that with the excitement of

the birth of my

previous day, the busiest day of the entire year, as well as the

celebration drink, I had forgotten to double-check that the door was locked

before going home.

The door to my shop was open, and the liquor was there for the

taking. Believe it or not, not a living soul went into the store.

That was 1953. This story, incredible as it sounds, was quoted in the

Stoep Talk in The Star newspaper.

What actually happened was that when the last bus left Highlands

North Corner at midnight, the driver had noticed that the door was slightly

ajar and he reported this to the Norwood Police Station. I assume that the

police must have put the premises under surveillance for the night. Maybe

they were “thinking” that I had been “planning” some kind of insurance

claim.

In those days liquor was a forbidden comfort for people of colour and

shebeens and illicit liquor dealers were rife. They were only allowed to

purchase so-called “Bantu Beer”, a sorghum product that came in the form

of a milk carton and we sold this when we first started in business. The

packaging was most unsatisfactory and of the total daily stock, we were

fortunate if we managed to salvage about 60%. The balance was a total

mess, which had to be constantly cleaned up. We were so happy the day that

we decided to do away with the sorghum product and just sell well-packed

SA Brewery Beer.

By law the store had to be separated into separate sections for

"Europeans" and "Non-Europeans". We only experienced the prohibition for

approximately 6 years and now, nearly 50 years later, most people do not

even know of this era.

This compulsory separation in the store, while very much a

humiliating feature of the apartheid era, did meet the service requirements

of some of the customers. Even when this segregation was no longer a

first son and with the very busy, hectic and tiring day that we

had had the

Enter Sylvia

33

statutory requirement, we still found that a lot of our customers did not like

shopping in the supermarket even though they were welcome, but

preferred the conventional store counter system.

The store had dark green

painted windows and, in addition to

the signs "Europeans" and "Non-

Europeans", it bore over the door a

sign stating "No persons under 18

allowed". So, for young Sylvia the

first time she had ever entered a

liquor store was when she married

me although she did remember as a

child visiting her grandparents in

Booysens and having to walk past a

"bottle store”.

With the arrival of Stanley, Sylvia was now a house-bound housewife

and quite bored. She got into the habit of taking Stanley for a walk in the

pram to the bottle store in Highlands North and stopping in to talk to Bunty.

Stanley enjoyed the walk. Sylvia enjoyed her visits to the store. The shop in

Louis Botha

in and lend a hand with all the tasks that go with a normal

small retail business. Without realising it she automatically started to learn

something about liquor retailing and some of the products.

My sister Bunty was a great help in the shop. Unfortunately she has a

similar nature and temper to me. We both have a short fuse and to this day

she is called "Benny in a skirt". One

day she had an argument with the

manager and walked out in a rage.

My good angel Sylvia stepped into

the store the very next day. That

was a beginning of a partnership

that has lasted to this very day.

When Stanley was about 18 months

old and could be left for longer

periods, she started helping out in

Avenue was very tiny, and when she saw that help was needed,

she would step


Benny on Durban beach with his two baby sons having fun in the sun

Stanley gives Martha Thale a hug of appreciation for all her assistance over 35 years to the Goldberg clan

34

the shop as much as possible.

By 1954 I had begun to be known in the industry and as I was an avid

golfer and a member of the Reading Country Club, I found myself one day in

a game of golf with Bob Connolly, a renowned cartoonist from the Rand Daily

Mail. He did a drawing of me as a golfer teeing off from the top of a brandy thbottle at the 19 hole. I decided I wanted to buy the picture and we both

agreed to a sum of £100 for the cartoon. I immediately thought this would

make a great logo on all the Highlands North Bottle Store stationery and I

used it on letterheads, invoices and statements as well as in our advertising

material which at that stage was not very much.

We continued to use this logo for very many years to come in

Lyndhurst, and it became synonymous with the company and me. Then I

decided to use the picture on ashtrays. We had these ashtrays made

specifically to be “stolen” because in that era people who travelled overseas

or even around South Africa could not wait to show you with pride what they

had “removed” from a restaurant or hotel room. Anything from teaspoons,

other silverware, napkins or guest towels were real treasures. With this in

mind, I ordered these porcelain ashtrays with the golfer logo on it. We used

to leave these ashtrays on counters and somehow they disappeared rapidly

with the customers as they left the store. There are probably many

households today which still have on their bar counters filched ashtrays

adorned with my cartoon.

In 1958 disaster struck. A good attorney friend of mine asked me to

sign surety for him. He assured me it was a mere formality. I believed in him

and did so willingly. What I did not anticipate was that I would be left holding

the baby. There was no way out - in order to pay off his debts I was forced to

sell my liquor store. Then I had to pay out my own creditors. I had always

dealt honourably with the liquor suppliers and always lived up to my

obligations and responsibilities.

After paying everybody, I eventually walked away with the grand sum

of £120. Even fifty years ago this was very little. An extra worry was that we

were expecting our second child.

Fortunately, prior to this episode, I had acquired a peri-urban licence

called Lyndhurst Bottle Store in Johannesburg Road, about two kilometres

from Highlands North and had put in a manager to run it for me. After the

Enter Sylvia

35

36


debacle of suretyship we moved there. It was traumatic "starting" a

business all over again. With the permission of the new purchaser of

Highlands North Bottle Store who did not want to keep our "book", which

was all our clients who bought regularly on credit and paid monthly, we took

the book and our faithful staff with us to the Lyndhurst store and most of the

customers followed us.

At this stage, Stanley was at nursery school and apart from the

breaks in the day that she spent with Stanley, Sylvia worked right up until rdthe day that Mark our second son, was born. This was on the 23 of August

1958. We were thrilled with his arrival and celebrated his bris milah

(circumcision) at the Florence Nightingale Nursing Home in Kotze Street,

Hillbrow, on a Sabbath, 7 days after he was born, with a gathering of family

and friends. Sylvia was determined to be a good mother to both our sons,

but always found the extra time to be active in the store,

“Amazingly, that pregnancy had been great”, Sylvia recalls. ”That was

the time when my hard working career started as we really could not afford

a part time accountant to do some of the work that I was doing. Those were

truly difficult days.Thanks to our wonderfully loyal domestic staff, after a

few months I could still spend a few hours in the store.”

We were fortunate in having reliable faithful staff at Stirling Street,

consisting of Maxson Tkeri and Martha Thale. Maxson was inherited from the

previous owners of the house and was with us for 35 years until his untimely

death from cancer. A more house-proud, dedicated man one could not have

wished for. Martha was with us from before Mark was born and she was truly

a second mother to both my boys and when, after Maxson’s passing, we sold

the house, Martha also joined me in thinking that Muizenberg was a great

place to retire to and even whilst we were living in Johannesburg in our new

apartment, Martha stayed on in Muizenberg and lived very happily in the

Cape for quite a long time. After having received wonderful, caring

treatment for cancer at Groote Schuur Hospital, she too passed away. What

would Sylvia and I ever have done without these 2 devoted and caring

people in our lives?

Our new business grew, our customers knew they would always get

personal service, something few stores offered. Sylvia never abdicated her

role in business where she was responsible for all the administrative

responsibilities as well as assisting our staff wherever she could and giving

the best service possible to our growing number of customers. With clever

time management, she coped with her domestic duties such as ferrying the

two boys to and from school as well as seeing to the smooth running of our

home.

I always had a burning ambition to get back to Louis Botha Avenue

and as we were now the holders of a Peri-Urban licence, the only part of

Louis Botha Avenue that would fall under this category was a property on th13 Road, Kew that had parking facilities, so I purchased this site. I applied

thfor a transfer from Johannesburg Road, Lyndhurst to 13 Road, Kew but the

Liquor Licensing Board refused the application. I walked from house to

house in Kew and Bramley to state my case and to discuss the matter with

those residents. It was quite fortuitous that I knocked on the door of a

retired gentleman who gave me a sympathetic ear and told me that he had

had an earlier visit from the owner of the opposition bottle store in the area

who had frightened him and other residents into believing that if our licence

was granted, chaos would reign in the surrounding residential area.

When I explained that we were running a family and company liquor

store, the gentleman was prepared to give me an affidavit stating what had

occurred during the visit of the opposition store. I took this affidavit to my

attorney, who then presented it to the opposition’s attorney and on the

second application for a transfer of the licence there were no objections and

finally the Goldbergs were back in Louis Botha Avenue.

Our new premises were in a converted garage/workshop, which was

long and narrow. This space allowed me to put up a counter measuring 60

feet in length, which happened to be the longest such counter in any liquor

store. This move proved once again to be successful with all our loyal

customers and devoted staff, who moved with us. Another popular move

was that we were now purchasing unusual spirits, wines, liqueurs and beers

imported for our cosmopolitan clientele.

Enter Sylvia

37

38


Sylvia having another busy day at the office

Chapter 5

Benny's innovations

Traditionally, wine bottles were displayed standing upright on

shelves. I envisaged something completely different and the closest display

unit that I could find was a large, eye-level, three-tier vegetable basket

which I placed in front of the long 60-foot counter. I filled it with wines,

sherries and ports. The price tags for this kind of display was then a real

problem and the only solution that I could find were paper manila luggage

labels tied to the display baskets with a piece of string. Customers started

browsing in these display baskets picking the bottles over for bargains and

new discoveries.

This was, unbeknown to me, the beginning of supermarketing in

South Africa. This was in 1965. My mind was constantly ticking over with

ideas and I felt it was time for change and knew I would have to increase the

size of the premises to do so. I acquired an adjacent piece of ground for the

expansion that I had in mind and in 1969 we moved to this brand new liquor

supermarket, which incorporated many innovative ideas, as well as an

adjoining spacious counter store.

The supermarket had five checkout points, trolley baskets and also a

“calling order” department, which was great for customers who would place

their order by phone to take advantage of our two-tier pricing structure.

This meant that there was one price for cash and carry and another price for

delivery. When the customer, or someone nominated by them, came to

collect the cash and carry order, all that had to be done was to pay for it and

the readymade order was taken to their motor vehicle. If delivery was their

choice, then the higher price structure would prevail to cover the costs for

providing this service.

Apart from the cash and carry business, we operated company

accounts and personal accounts. If account customers collected their made

up orders from our calling order dept, they paid the same cash and carry

price. When they requested deliveries, they were then charged a delivery

price, which was slightly more than the cash and carry price.

39

We tried to think of any ideas that would save the customers more

money and I came up with a Case Lot price, which was even cheaper than

the single unit cash and carry price. This included all case lots. Some of the

most popular areas were case lots of Whisky & Wines.

Some of these new ideas included a reduced price “mixed dozen”

including beer. We even went one step further and purchased a colindictor,

which was invented by Colin Dickman (whose sister Peggy was at Parktown

Girls’ High School with Sylvia). This was, as far as we know, the first

telephone answering machine. My idea was that when a husband and wife

were together quietly at home, they could at their leisure, work out their

needs and phone the order through.

The colindictor was our first telephone answering machine and it was

the start of our after hours service to customers. The first duty we had after

opening the store each morning was to listen to the messages, a duty

performed for many years by our dear, loyal Lily Oshry. This service was a

boon to very many of our customers. They loved the novelty of talking to a

machine. So different from today’s world in which one is genuinely surprised

when a human voice is on the other end of the telephone, and NOT a pre-

recorded computerised instruction telling you what buttons to press.

I did not buy every new invention. Once a telephone sales lady arrived

and tried to sell me the latest invention – a push button telephone. This was

many years before such devices were offered by the national telephone

monopoly, and in fairness, they were of limited use since the phone service

at that time could not support tone dialling. Still, it was considered the latest

in executive toys and she obviously thought I would be a logical candidate

for such a sale.

I bluntly told her she was wasting her time.

“I’ve got perfectly good hands, and they can dial perfectly well

without your new-fangled phone,”

The party service, which today is taken for granted, was initiated by

me over thirty years ago. The service included the loan of glasses, bar

counters, ice buckets, water jugs, tot measures, etc and was completely

free of charge, the only additional costs that the customers could incur was

for broken glasses or missing items. Apart from all the above accessories

needed for a party, one required an “expert” to help ascertain the quantities


40

and variety required for each individual function. Sylvia and I spent many

hours working on this and eventually came up with a printed party list where

everything, including cold drinks, beers and accessories were listed. This

made it easy for taking orders as all that had to be done was to fill in the

brand name and quantity. In this way nothing could be omitted or forgotten.

Space was also left for adding anything special that the customer wanted.

Mrs Isabel Croukamp became a specialist in party orders.

Orders were supplied on a sale or return basis so that the host was

always assured that he would never run dry. The day after the party our

delivery vans would collect full returns, empties, glasses, etc. The account

was

day to settle, the account was ready waiting for him. Sylvia took a

very active part in the orders and worked with a team of order clerks, who

also invoiced telephone orders, whether it was to be collected or delivered.

All the while Sylvia kept a hawk’s eye over the operation and the staff were

always aware of the fact that she was available to guide and assist them

whether it was with accounting, computer, cashing up or an order query.

Furthermore, at month end, no company or private accounts were posted

until Sylvia had scrutinised each one. In all the years that she was involved

in our business, Sylvia made sure that, come month end, she would be

available to do so, and no travel arrangements were made without bearing

this in mind.

The party service developed into an association between the

customer and ourselves, so much so that we found ourselves doing a bris or

christening, a birthday, anniversary, barmitzvah, batmitzvah, confirmation,

sixteenth birthday, twenty-first birthday, engagement and wedding all for

the same family. We even did divorce celebrations and second weddings and

wakes. Needless to say over all these years the customer, who by now was a

friend, would never dream of going elsewhere and always bragged to their

friends about their close relationship with us, proudly introducing their

friends to our business. Apart from these social functions, we catered for

large corporate affairs as well as many Johannesburg mayoral functions.

And so the wheel rolled on.

All this reminds me of the ice bucket that I had invented.

For nights on end, I schemed and dreamed about the perfect

then credited with the returns so that when the customer came in the

following

Benny’s innovations

41

container to keep ice in its cubed form from melting. I used to take a

notebook and pen to bed and make notes of various things during the night

so as not to forget anything, and after much experimentation, I struck on

the idea of using a polystyrene inner as an insulation in a plastic bucket that

Renou were already manufacturing as a paint bucket. I then requested

Renou Plastics to come to my office to discuss the manufacture of ice

buckets with the polystyrene inners, which were perfected to my

specifications. What a pity I did not have this idea patented immediately.

These ice buckets, which I started forty years ago are still in use today

and are now taken for granted. They are an absolute necessity at any

function. My family and I are the only ones who remember the experimental

stages to perfect this ice bucket. These ice buckets, filled with cubed ice

from the ice-making machines, were also part of the party service and only

after many years did I eventually start charging for the ice. The first charge

was 50 cents per bucket.

As many functions were held on weekends, and the store closed on

Saturday at 1 p.m., ensuring that the ice was fresh could be a problem. I

once again came up with a plan. This time it was to erect a large room on top

of our double garage at home, fitted with ice-making machines and freezer

boxes.

Our dear man, Maxson, was now put in charge of the ice collection

from our home in Stirling Street, Waverley.

How this worked was that when the party order

was completed, the customer was offered fresh

ice as an extra service. If he wanted fresh ice

he had to collect it from Maxson at our home.

Invoices used to be made out to keep a check

on the actual containers to be returned and

also to allow Maxson to make sure he had

sufficient ice in the machines or freezers for the

orders each weekend. To make sure that we

were not disturbed continually from 7am on

Sunday mornings, another bell was installed

just before the front door with a sign stating

“PLEASE RING BELL FOR ICE”.


Makson and Martha with Frikkie in the garden at Golden Acres in Waverley, Johannesburg

42

Our friends and family who were visiting found this amusing, but it did

help us get an extra hour or two of well-deserved rest on the one day of the

week when the store was closed. Naturally, not all customers conformed

and very often we found ourselves in the driveway with Maxson and the

customers assuring them that the quantity ordered would definitely suffice

their party needs.

Hampers were something

that I started in the early 1960’s. Of

course, at that stage, gift packs

were completely unknown. Neither

Sylvia nor I will ever forget my first

attempt. I purchased small,

cardboard “suitcases” like those

used by 6 and 7 year-olds at the

start of their school career – and

managed to find decanters,

definitely not crystal, three of which

would fit snugly when packed into

this small case. The next step was

that, after hours, Sylvia and I would

line up these empty decanters on

the office desk and would fill them

from full bottles of liquor using a

funnel. My plan was to have a

decanter of whisky, of brandy and of

gin in each suitcase. This took us

many hours to prepare. When it

came to filling the decanters with

gin, Sylvia, who never imbibed any

spirits, drinking only wines and the occasional liqueur, started giggling in

quite a drunken manner and I realised that the fumes from the gin had

slightly intoxicated her. I think we made about four dozen of these special

gift packs.

This was the first original liquor gift pack we created and it was most

successful. Thinking caps went on for the following end-of-year Christmas


The best part of bowls for Benny was looking so smart in white. The Bowling Club across the road from the Waverley home only saw him for a short while. After being a golfer, this did not really appeal

43

hamper. This time it consisted of liquor with glasses, but our private

decanting days were over. As the years progressed, we came out with

different ideas every year and eventually started putting bar accessories

and water jugs combined with various liqueurs, cognacs, etc.

In the early 70’s, one of our delightful customers who happened to be

a good friend as well, requested extra special hampers for him to give as

end-of-year gifts. Sylvia really went to town, literally, on a shopping spree

and bought additional items that would appeal as well to the lady of the

household. The first year it was tea sets and the customer came to inspect

the presentation of these gift packs to make sure that they were of a high

standard. These hampers did not come cheap, but he was delighted with

what he saw and handed Sylvia a list of names and addresses where these

hampers were to be delivered, as well as the personal messages that he

wanted attached to each parcel. These hampers were very well received due

to their originality and selection and the recipients expressed their absolute

delight to our friend.

The following year, having full confidence now in what we were doing,

he just handed Sylvia the list of addresses and cards and said, “You choose

what you think is suitable and just give me a price per gift hamper”.

For many years this worked extremely well and Sylvia was

responsible for having removed the burden from our friend as to what gift to

select every year. One year, the hamper consisted of a Salton Hot Tray with

assorted liqueurs, cognacs, 12 year old whiskies, as well as chocolates.

After we had been providing this service for a few years, the

recipients began to look forward to them, knowing that we were carefully

selecting each item in the hamper. One year, we received a phone call from

one of the “regular recipients” on our friend’s list, saying that they had not

yet received their hamper and were wondering what had happened. Sylvia,

realising that our friend must have omitted them from the list by mistake,

told the recipient that she would need to check the invoices to see what had

happened. She then hastily called our friend and he confirmed that he had,

by mistake, completely forgotten to add them to the list. Sylvia then called

the recipient and took the “blame” for the error, saying that it was a mistake

on our side, and asking them to please keep this error a secret. This action

ensured that our friend and his gift recipients remained on good terms and


44

ensured that our friend valued the gift hamper service that we provided to

him even more.

Quite a lot of medical firms, like radiologists and anaesthetists, liked

to show their appreciation at the year-end to the receptionists at each

doctor’s rooms. The usual gift was one bottle of champagne. What a bother

this was. This entailed an invoice for each recipient, a gift-wrapped

champagne, and in addition, we were still expected to write a festive

message. The surgeons also used to send numerous bottles of champagne

to theatre staff at the hospitals they worked in, to complement their end of

the year parties. As a result at Christmas time the Benny Goldberg vans

were often seen as frequently outside clinics and hospitals, as ambulances,

delivering to theatre staff as well as individual doctors rooms.

I was attending to a female customer one busy day when the public

address announced "Mr. Goldberg. Please take a call". I excused myself and

returned as soon as possible, but she was so apologetic,

"I am so sorry to have bothered you, Mr. Goldberg."

I tried to reassure her. “No, no, it has been a pleasure. That is what I

am here for.”

I could not get the episode out of my mind and the next day, I called

in a T-shirt manufacturer. He designed a T-shirt with the Benny Goldberg

logo on the front pocket and on the back of the shirts, in bold writing, there

was the statement "I WORK HERE". Not only did this give the staff a

uniform, but it quickly identified them for our customers.

Michael Fridjhon thought my style was quiet and unflamboyant.

Benny “would often sidle up to customers – especially if he was on his way

into the store or en route home – and in a conversational kind of way ask if

he could be of assistance. People would look at him and not really know who

he was, or why he was offering to help. Small of stature and quietly spoken –

unless he was in the midst of one of his world class temper fits – he never

seemed like the retailing legend he had become. Sometimes people would

accept his offer of assistance without quite working out that they had been

served by ‘the boss.’ Only afterwards they would ask – and then express

astonishment that he had been so helpful, and so self-effacing.”


45

Mark recalled: “We all worked long hours serving customers - as

EVERYONE else in the family did. We all wore the crazy T-shirts, created by

my father, with the logo at the back saying ‘I WORK HERE’. “

I do not think they were crazy. Even Mark recognised that our

customers were often delighted to know they were being attended to by

one of the Goldberg Clan, namely Mark, Stanley, Benny or Sylvia, and would

often refer their friends to come and see us, having confidence in our advice

and knowledge on many products.

46


Fun and games at Stanley’s nursery school at a “mock wedding”, where our Benjamin was dressed in a tutu as a flower girl and naturally stole the show, bringing the house down with laughter

Chapter 6

The next generation

When Mark was three and a half, and Stanley eight, they both

attended school at King David Linksfield, Mark at nursery school and Stanley

as a seasoned primary school pupil. Stanley

had developed a great love for gymnastics

when in Grade One. Having an older brother

was an advantage in many ways, and with

Stanley’s interest in gymnastics, it was not

surprising that Mark started gym at a very

young age.

We were very involved with their school,

the Linksfield King David Primary School, and

went onto a committee to assist the school to

raise funds to build a gymnasium. We

developed close relationships with the beloved

headmaster, the late Dr Jock Beron, the late

Jannie Jansen and our very dear friend, Solly

Berlowitz, who was chairman of the fundraising

team. We held various functions and sporting

events to help us raise the funds and were

finally able to build the King David Gymnasium,

which was named the Hillel Berlowitz Gymnasium, after the Berlowitz’s twin

son Hilly, who sadly passed away at the age of five. Solly himself succumbed

to cancer and passed away some years ago.

We lived quite a distance from the school. Sylvia’s programme at that

stage consisted of leaving home at 7.20am to make sure to have them both

at school by 8am as even in 1962 there was a lot of traffic. Then off to the

store she would go and work until it was time to fetch Mark from nursery

school and Stanley from primary school. At some stage, she was in a lift

scheme for bringing the boys home, but she always took them to school

herself. This 40 minutes every morning was their quality time together

where they did not have to listen to continuous "business talk". They then

47

planned their programme for the day and worked out how Sylvia could

assist with the extra mural activities. Sylvia also helped the boys with their

homework during the afternoons.

She was unable to help them with their Hebrew homework, as she had

never learned it in her youth. She decided to go for an hour a week to a

Hebrew class with a wonderful lady. Sylvia never managed to do any extra

studying but within a year the penny had dropped and she slowly started to

understand the language. Not only was she now able to assist the boys with

their Hebrew homework, but was also thrilled that she was able to follow a

little of the synagogue service which was in Hebrew.

“I think of my teacher every Sabbath and realise how she made such a

difference in my life”, recalled Sylvia. “My biggest compliment was when

anyone in shul asked me what page we were on, and I was able to answer.

WOW!

“Right through the boys schooling I was always available for them

and found the time that many non-working mothers could not find and lifted

these other children to extra mural events. Our quality time with the boys

was Saturday from 2pm and the whole of Sunday. We all enjoyed watching

16mm films and often on a Saturday night the boys would invite some of

their friends, and we would invite some of our own family and friends. These

were simple but fun evenings of togetherness. With a large swimming pool,

Sundays were always a relaxing day. Sunday lunch was normally a braai,

which Benny did with great enthusiasm. When the boys started going to

parties on Saturday nights, Benny and I would wait up until midnight to be

able to go and fetch them wherever they might be. Even in the late 60's, we

felt happier knowing that they would be brought back safe and sound.”

As I have mentioned, both boys were very keen on gymnastics and in

particular on the trampoline. Both achieved Transvaal colours and we saw

quite a bit of the country while taking them to many competitive events.

Even Sylvia got herself involved in this sport and went as far as studying to

become an international trampoline judge. Both boys also loved swimming.

As they grew older their other great sport was shooting. Mark later also

developed an interest in soccer, tennis and photography.

Target shooting became Mark's greatest passion. This interest had

started when he was very young and it was permissible to have a pellet gun.


48

The popular sport of shooting appealed to him and at the age of 16, with

special permission from us, Huddle Park Pistol Club allowed him to join. The

instructor was Aubrey Gien, and Mark progressed through several

disciplines of sports shooting, and soon found himself competing with the

adult divisions in shooting competitions. He continued the sport and went

along further learning more about target shooting and general security

concepts, knowledge which is still valuable to him to this day.

When Stanley finished school, he went off to the Army, which was

then compulsory, and was fortunately stationed in Pretoria at Voortrekker

Hoogte. After basic training he was in Wonderboom for a month and

because he had done typing as a subject for his matric, he was appointed as

a member of the secretarial staff and transferred to the military

headquarters in Pretoria. This gave him the same freedom as the

permanent staff.

When he finished his army training in 1972, he decided he wanted to

learn more about wines. We sent him to Stellenbosch to learn about South

African wines. As we were now large customers and friends with a liquor

wholesaler, namely Gilbey's, we approached Mr. Alan Bell, MD

of the company, who said that he could come and work at Gilbey's to learn as

much as possible about the wine and liquor industry. We sent him to

Stellenbosch to learn about South African wines.

Sylvia called Mr Bell's secretary, Miss Anderson, to ask if she knew of a

"boarding house" where Stanley could stay. She replied a few days later that

Mr. Bell suggested that Stanley stayed with him and his family for a few

weeks until he could find suitable accommodation. This never happened

because the Bell Family would not let him go anywhere else. Stanley, with

his kind nature, soon endeared himself to the entire Bell family, namely

Alan’s wonderful wife Diane, their daughters Mary-May and Amanda-Jane

and Diane’s younger half brother Graham Retief. Stanley was thus

privileged to be accepted as a member of the Bell Family and he remained

with that family at their home at Kleine Zalze in Stellenbosch.

The year spent in the Cape was a very happy time for Stanley and the

Bell’s children. Not only did he stay with them for the entire year, but he

became an integral part of the Bell family and when we went with Mr and Mrs

Bell to London, that year, Diane Bell was most concerned, running around

producer and

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49

trying to find gifts for Stanley and her own children.

On that occasion I had been invited on my own to have lunch at 1 York

Gate, the London headquarters of Gilbey's Distillers and Vintners. Sylvia’s

nose was pretty much out of joint, because, although also a director of the

company, she had not been invited to the lunch. Diane and Sylvia decided

that I should be very well dressed for the event, and off we went to the

Aquascutum store, and purchased the most beautiful, light weight navy

blue cashmere coat, for the exorbitant amount - for 1972 - of £100. I must

confess that 35 years later this coat still looks as good as new, is as warm as

toast and is still a proud possession.

It was an extremely formal meal. The chairman Robin Kernick, asked

me what I thought of a certain wine. I replied "Fair".

They did not understand my South African accent and they did not

understand my reply. To them “fair” sounded like "fere".

"Do you mean fair?", (sounding like "fare"), they asked.

I must confess that I did not feel completely at ease during this formal

lunch, and I felt even more uneasy when I spotted Alan Bell get up from his

chair and walk towards me. I was sure he was going to ask me to make a

speech. I was totally unprepared for such an eventuality and the guests

could not even understand my accent. I was so relieved when I realised that

Alan had come to apologise on behalf of Gilbey's who felt extremely

embarrassed as the main course was pork and they had not realised that

Jewish people do not eat pork.

I was so happy that I did not have to speak and I really enjoyed the

vegetables served.

Shortly after my invitation, Sylvia too was invited by Mrs Robin

Kernick to lunch at a smart five star hotel, an invitation also extended to

Diane Bell. At the luncheon, attended by the wives of the Gilbey’s directors,

Diane made a toast. It was a unique occasion for Sylvia because it was the

first time in 20 years that Sylvia, who lived and worked in a man's world, had

ever attended a "ladies lunch".

To get back to Stanley. He spent an entire year in Stellenbosch and, as

he had become quite fluent in Afrikaans, it was a very happy time in his life.

He started working as an apprentice winemaker, picking the grapes in the


50

vineyards, and then following through the entire process to the final stage of

the finished product in the bottle. He learnt the distillation process and how

to make spirits. After that he joined the marketing team and became

knowledgeable in the various wine varieties. Apart from spending time at

the Gilbey’s plant, he made excellent contacts with various wine farmers,

estates and co-ops, he learnt a lot about Cape wines, he became friends

with many good winemakers, who at that stage were virtually unknown, and

still managed to have tons of fun in the beautiful, laid back Stellenbosch

area.

Stanley returned to Johannesburg full of enthusiasm to join us in the

business. He first worked in Benoni to get experience with another retailer

and after eight months joined the Benny Goldberg team. Typical of the

Goldberg style, Stanley got involved in the running of all the departments

and then concentrated on the Wine Department. At this stage Cape wines

were practically unknown in the Transvaal. The most popular drinks were

brandy, some whisky and lots of beer.

Stanley then went back to Stellenbosch, this time on a buying trip

under our guidance and railed up, from the Cape, wines from estates and

co-ops completely unheard of and never before seen in the Transvaal. These

wines found their way onto our shelves and with Stanley’s enthusiasm and

his “nose” for good quality wines, these wines started to sell and were

appreciated by many of our customers. Slowly, slowly, wine became the "in

thing" and was a great conversation piece at any dinner party. Of course, it

was always mentioned that the wines came from Benny Goldberg and

naturally this snowballed.

Wine drinking was becoming a much more social drink, away from

spirits and beer and our store was promoting not only South African wines,

but wine from all over the world. Fortunately, Johannesburg and the

surrounds had a large amount of sophisticated and cosmopolitan buyers, in

different age groups, who were enthusiastic to try an unknown South

African wine or delighted to find something from their country of origin.

Stanley was now tasting, ordering and promoting wines in the store.

This wine section kept on expanding. He often went on trips to the Cape

wine lands, reinforcing his friendship with some of the wine farmers and

finding new estates and co-ops. Stanley was placing repeat orders on a

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51

regular basis, and the farmers were getting paid for them. When it got to

Stanley ordering container loads of wine from each individual, the farmers

were over the moon that through the Goldberg's, their wines were now

becoming well-known and were being drunk in the Transvaal.

By 1970 the store had become the first liquor supermarket and

stocked ANYTHING to do with wines or spirits, including bar accessories,

books on wine, cigars, chocolates and cigarettes. Stanley tended to place

very generous orders when pretty sales representatives in short skirts came

to sell their wares. The problem was that we now had to try and think of

ideas of how best to dispose of these excessive accessories in a way that

would combine with a liquor purchase. Mark with his flair for marketing and

advertising would step in. We would think up different slogans; we would

change the lighting. We would place dump bins at the end of the aisles facing

the tills in which we put bottles lying loose so that the customers would not

be disturbing the decor in any way by adding a bottle or two on impulse to

their purchases already in their trolleys.

The Goldberg team would spend time deciding on what signage to get

our private sign-writer to create that would promote these offers and

specials. This sharp team was always able to come up with some amazing

offers that NO ONE else in the trade had ever dreamt of or would even try.

One of Stanley’s ideas was pure moon-shine madness. Moon-shine

was the illegal alcohol made in America when the manufacture, sale, and thtransport of alcohol became illegal in 1920 with the passing of the 18

Amendment to the United States Constitution.

However it is common knowledge that if anything is banned, there will

be someone willing to provide it and alcohol was not illegal in surrounding

countries. Distilleries and breweries in Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean

flourished as their products were either consumed by visiting Americans or

illegally imported to the U.S. During Prohibition, some how or other alcohol

still found its way into the "speakeasies", an early forms of nightclubs,

despite the occasional police raid. Among those who made fortunes from the

Prohibition were John. F. Kennedy’s father and Samuel Bronfman in Canada.

This very name indicates a family tradition of liquor trading as Bronfman is

Yiddish for “brandy man” and in previous centuries in Eastern Europe

brandy distilling was a virtual Jewish monopoly. In 1928 Bronfman founded


52

The Seagram Company of the United States which became one the largest

producers and marketers of distilled spirits in the world.

The manufacture of alcohol was illegal but the products required to

make it were not. The local country folk could not afford the expensive

smuggled liquor sold in the speakeasies but it was easy for them to buy all

the materials needed and produce the alcohol themselves. It was not long

before profitable home industries were established secretly in backyards or

basements, with carefully hidden stills, lovingly tended throughout the day

by the housewives to supply their own needs or to sell. This high alcohol

content product was called Moonshine.

Finally the US Government faced the harm that prohibition was

causing America. Apart from the loss to the State of tax revenues, the

profitable, often violent, black market in liquor had resulted in an increase in

organised crime with the law enforcement agencies corrupted by powerful

gangs. Thirteen years after prohibition came into force, it was cancelled by stthe 21 Amendment in 1933. When Prohibition ended, only half the

breweries that had previously existed re-opened, a fledgling wine industry

had been destroyed and most of its wine makers had either emigrated to

other wine producing countries or left the business altogether.

Stanley had read about Prohibition and moonshine and arranged to

produce a now legitimate brand of moonshine. Made in a porcelain jug,

which was painted, half-wrapped in a 1924-newspaper obtained from the

Star and tied with string, it certainly looked authentic. We called it The Real

McCoy Moonshine. This was promoted for the younger group, aged 20 to 40,

and we think that more fun was had by Stanley promoting this in night clubs

in Johannesburg than was had by those who over-indulged in this high

alcohol content liquor.

Many people will recall a barn dance held in aid of charity where

Stanley did the "Moonshine Dance" believing that he was a cabaret star. This

function was a great success and nobody spoke about the hangovers that

occurred the next day!

Stanley was asked to write a wine tasting column for the Rand Daily

Mail, and even Sylvia, after attending quite a few courses in Stellenbosch,

had her own, "Sylvia's Wine Column". She enjoyed this as she did not have

to be afraid of what she said about any product. She was an independent,

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53

and as wine is such a personal taste, she was able to express her opinion

freely. Frequently remarks like, "not everyone's choice" were used to

describe a new wine.

All this time our reputation for fine South African wines was building

up and we, of course, never neglected imported wines from France, Italy,

Portugal and various other countries. A young academic stepped into our

supermarket to see our range of imported wines. This young man was

Michael Fridjhon, a graduate student in English, with a bright academic

future. From a tender age his connoisseur father, Harold Fridjhon, had

imbued in him a deep and informed appreciation of wine. Michael’s hobby

was roaming the countryside, searching out any rare treasure of imported

or well-matured South African wines. These were often obtained at

completely give-away prices, as only Michael realised the value of his rare

finds.

The entire time we were in business, we employed university

students, mainly for weekends and the month of December. We asked

Michael if he would like a summer student job, which he accepted and by the

end of summer, asked him if he would accept a part time position with us

while he completed his honours degree. In time he made the momentous

decision, with a little help from us, to leave the academic world for the

vintner’s trade. He stayed with us full time and then switched to part time,

until 1982, and became one of the most knowledgeable men on wines in

South Africa as well as a renowned wine critic, and wine judge both in South

Africa and abroad.

When Michael heard that I was putting together my memoirs, he sent

me some of his own. This is what he wrote.

“I had visited Benny Goldbergs with my father before I was of an

age when I was legally allowed to enter licensed premises – in other

words, in the days of the old counter service store - and knew of it as a

mecca for fine wine fanatics. Once I went to university my interest in

wine collecting grew dramatically. This was partly the result of my

having attained the age where I could simply do my own shopping,

and partly the result of my changed financial circumstances. I was the

beneficiary of a scholarship which met my university fees and books

and left me with a little surplus cash. In addition, I was giving extra


54

lessons and supplemented my income to the extent that wine buying

did not require much serious budgeting. I shopped extensively and

profited from the ready availability of fine wines at prices which today

seem inconceivable.”

By then Benny Goldbergs had become a self-service supermarket

and I was able to track down many of the imported wines I wanted to

sample but which had not always been easy to find. Over time I came

to know the Goldbergs and it was in the end of my under-graduate

year that Sylvia Goldberg suggested that I work there for the summer

vacation. It was a great experience, and one which led to a further job

offer. If I could make myself available from time to time during the

week as an imported wine consultant, and could work on Friday

afternoons and Saturday mornings, they would pay me a fixed

amount each month – an amount which substantially exceeded the

normal weekend pay.

As a result, I put in an additional afternoon or so each week and

managed wine indents, imported wine purchases from local suppliers

and any sales queries which required a degree of expertise. In an era

in which there was very little trade know-how around European

wines, I guess I was something of a one-eyed king.

After I completed my honours degree and handed in my

dissertation, I left to join a girl friend who had secured a French

government bursary and was studying in Montpellier. I imagined I

would stay in France for a while but that I would ultimately drift to

London where I had a vague and very tentative job offer from Andre

Deutsch, the publisher, whom I knew through my mother. Before I left

Benny suggested that if, while I was in France, I could secure any

worthwhile wine agencies, he would pay me on an ad hoc basis. This

seemed a useful incentive to top up my savings and any income I

might get by doing what I really enjoyed.

Montpellier turned out to one of the most exciting wine places in

France in the mid-1970s: the University had a brilliant wine faculty

and the staff with whom I came into contact were much more

knowledgeable than my impression of Midi wine at the time had led

me to believe. In addition, the French wine trade was in the depths of

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55

a depression, especially in Bordeaux, so the opportunities for me to

set up deals on behalf of what was really – at the time – the world's

largest liquor supermarket were considerable.

In the course of 1975 (I arrived in early February and left in

December) I managed several trips to the major producing areas –

including two stays in Bordeaux to take advantage of the crisis and

one to Burgundy where I was able to secure for the store the agency

for Bouchard Pere & Fils.

Thus begun a long association with one of the great landowning

negociant houses in Beaune. Over the years we became one of their

biggest premium wine clients and at one stage I was told that we

were their biggest single buyer of Le Montrachet. Through the

Bouchards I came to meet the Battault family of Cassis Boudier and

established a friendship with them which has continued to this day.

I spent the early part of 1976 working on the feasibility of a liqueur

facility in a duty free zone, returning to South Africa in May. It was

then that Benny made me the Don Corleone offer I “couldn't refuse.”

Join the business as the imports director – with responsibilities which

came to include launching local housebrands and drafting marketing

and advertising campaigns – and become 'part of the family' in one of

the country's most dynamic family run businesses.

For three years full-time (and with the Goldbergs full time really

did mean 20 hours a day) and for several years part-time (while I did

my Masters degree and then became an independent liquor trade

consultant), I worked with

the world's largest liquor

store.

I participated in the

planning and stocking of the

new shop – which opened in

April 1979 – created and

maintained the Mont d'Or

winerange and developed

the glass department (which

became a s i gn i f i c an t


Our house wine Mont d’Or, which translates to Mountain of Gold, or in South Africa “Gold Berg”, being shown by a slimmer Stanley

56

contributor to bottom line profitability). I helped in the

implementation of what I believe was the first fully computer-

managed empties department as well as the first computerised stock

management and online cash register system in supermarket

retailing.

It is impossible to quantify the benefits I derived from the close –

and sometimes very intense – working relationship with the Goldberg

family. I was given absolute freedom to manage my own areas of

responsibility, to grow and develop new departments, to convert

ideas to reality.

The Goldbergs are uniquely trusting human beings – they gave me

the tools and the authority to grow, and they didn't interfere with the

process. In that sense they were a truly empowering force in my life.

They were also a second family - not only because life at the store

sometimes seemed to replace the home environment but because

the give and take reflected a family dynamic rather than the normal

way of corporate life.

We are still in touch with quite a few of the students we employed and

are in awe of the great success that some of these young men and women

have achieved since those days, all professional, with many degrees, some

living here, some overseas.

A friendship that developed round then was with Kevin Hedderwick of

Distillers Corp who, like the university students, claimed to have learnt a lot

from me. He said that maybe he was just lucky or maybe he was just blessed

but somehow there was an instant chemistry between him and the Goldberg

family - Stanley also worked in the business at that time.

"Of course they drove a hard bargain," Kevin wrote to us, "but here

was a family which was about fairness, honesty, respect, integrity

and loyalty. Part of my success during my career with Distillers Corp

can be attributed to what I learnt from ‘Boss Benny’ as he over time

became affectionately known to me.”

In 1976 dissatisfaction against the Nationalist Government’s

repressive apartheid policies had reached bursting point. It began as a

disturbance in Sowetan schools on 16 June over a decision to enforce

Afrikaans medium education. The police fired canisters of tear gas into the

The next generation

57

crowd of school children who retaliated by throwing stones. The police

opened fire on the crowd, killing a great many. (By 24 June the official death

toll was given as 140 although it was estimated that many more had died.)

After the initial shooting, riots broke out. These were riots looking for a place

to happen and they spread like wildfire. Liquor stores were prime targets for

looters. That day Mark was positioned across the road from the store,

armed, to ensure our safety in the business. As our staff were getting very

nervous, we took the decision to close the store at 3pm to give everyone a

chance to get home safely.

One of the victims who lost his life whilst trying to bring aid to so

many in Soweto was Dr. Melville Edelstein, and on the following morning, 17

June, we received a tearful call from Mrs. Edelstein, in case we hadn’t

already heard the tragic news, requesting that we cancel the batmitzvah

order for their daughter’s party for that weekend. Here was a man who was

always willing to help the underdog. June 16 is now commemorated as

Youth Day.

When Mark matriculated in 1975, he did his compulsory national

service the following year by going into the Navy. He was sent to

Simonstown where, besides Military Training, he was introduced to the way

of life in Cape Town. This later contributed to the fact that he eventually

chose to live there.

After his military service he did several marketing and

communication courses and was then offered a job with the Premier Milling

Group, the largest national consumer goods listed company in South Africa,

merchandising retail brands in national supermarkets, thus gaining

experience to apply to Benny Goldberg's later.

In mid-1978, Mark, too, joined us in the business full-time with

interest in marketing and store design. He went to Stellenbosch to study

Viticulture and marketing and became heavily involved in advertising

playing an integral part of the business.

Now the entire family was involved in 24-hour non-stop shop talk.

Naturally we were totally engrossed in the affairs of the business and we

carried on at meal times where we left off in the store. Time at home, after a

long day, often finished with a business meeting at the dinner table, instead

of a regular family meal. This proved to be advantageous to the business but


58

deprived us of precious quality family time, particularly for the boys who

were trying to have some normal social life before the next morning’s early

start.

Despite what Mark regarded as his limited social life, he was non the

less selected for inclusion in an

article on South Africa’s "Eligible

Bachelors" in Style magazine that

featured his photograph and a

write-up.

Mark has moved from

Johannesburg to Cape Town and got

involved in market ing and

communication businesses. He has

pursued a career in real estate and

property development, as well as

spacial design.

He also does community

work and enjoys the Cape Town

environment and life style. We

always enjoy spending quality time

with him when we are in Cape Town

as well as having family Shabbats

together.

Sylvia and I were both thrilled thto be able to celebrate our 50

wedding anniversary on 15 March

2003 at a party held in a hall in

Johannesburg. This event was truly

unique. There were 5 Goldberg

siblings, all together, in Johannesburg, with their spouses. We were the

most ‘recently’ married, as the other spouses had been married anywhere

from 56 years to over 63 years! Combined, our married years exceedd 280

years. This was the theme of the party and Stanley, in his speech, spoke

about the Big 5. Our guests were simply stunned! Sadly, the eldest and

leader of the clan, Max, passed away a year later.

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59

Mark at home in Cape Town

Mark accepting a CSO community award in 2007


60

All 5 Goldbergs with their spouses, as well as Sylvia’s siblings, were all present at our Golden Wedding Anniversary on 15 March 2003

We then returned to Muizenberg and celebrated a morning tea after

Shul withe Muizenberg Shul community and some friends.

Golden Wedding Anniversary: 15 March 2003

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61

The 5 Goldbergs from left: Cissie, Sylvia, Benny, Hilly,Hilly’s Sylvia, Bunty, Solly Meltzer. In front, Max and Joan

The Big 5 Goldbergs

Benny having a Le Chaim with Mark at our 50th anniversary party

Golden Wedding Anniversary: 15 March 2003


62

Chapter 7

Our staff

We were blessed to have so many good members of staff over a 30-

year period. My sister, Bunty, was the first lady to work with me in the

Highlands North Bottle Store in 1952. Bunty is often referred to as “Benny in

a skirt”. She was most efficient and friendly. As this period was only 8 years

after World War 2, quite a lot of “unknown” spirits and liqueurs started

coming into South Africa, one of these is a well-known Dutch liquor

company called Wynand Fokken.

One day Bunty was standing behind the counter when a customer

walked in. She greeted her and the customer, in a Dutch accent, courteously

requested: “Can I please have a bottle of Fokken gin?"

Equally courteously Bunty replied, "Certainly. Would you like fokken

Gordon’s Gin or fokken Gilbey’s Gin?"

I overheard the conversation and immediately took Bunty to a spirit

section on the shelf and showed her where we kept the Fokken Gin.

Needless to say, the customer was thrilled to be able to take home a little

taste of home.

Even though it was a family business, we employed a small

compliment of staff and besides my sister and my wife – and, much later, my

children - I also employed my brother-in-law, Morry Sacher, who assisted in

various capacities in the running of the business. It was here that he learnt

about discounting, mass-merchandising, negotiating with the suppliers

and, most importantly, that the customer always came first.

“Part of my success and my initial motivation and feel for retailing”,

Morry maintains, “began when I joined Benny and my sister, Sylvia, in their

counter store in Louis Botha Avenue. I saw the meaningful relationship the

Goldbergs had, not only with suppliers, but also with their customers and

this left an indelible impression in my mind.

“In 1972, we moved to Durban, and I started a new baby-store in

Smith Street called Little People using the principles that I had learnt from

the liquor industry.”

63

Today Morry is the group CEO of Redgewoods Pty (Ltd) which

controls 60 stores through Toy-R-Us, Reggies, Baby & Co. and Little People.

"A lot has happened in my personal and business life, from 1972 to

2007”, Morry says, “ I often recall the basics that I was privileged to learn

from these two wonderful people.”

Sylvia’s younger sister, Hazel Rubin, also spent time with us in the

store, when her four children were a bit older. She assisted in the admin

section on a half day basis and also had a great relationship with staff

members and was wonderful with customers. It was good to have yet

another family member in our team.

Most of the staff from Highlands North accompanied us to Lyndhurst,

including our beloved Lily Oshry, who we were blessed to have for 25 years.

Not only was she a loyal and trusted employee of the store but she became a

dearly loved part of the family. She was excellent at her job, and in addition

she absolutely mothered Sylvia and our sons, right down to checking

whether Sylvia had in fact had breakfast before leaving home. Lily was loved

by all the staff and customers and she definitely played an important part in

the expansion of our business.

Even in that era, we were always striving for better service and came

up with the idea that it would be great if the man of the house could

telephone the store at his leisure in the evening to place an order for delivery

the next day. We purchased a “Colindictor” and as soon as Lily arrived at the

store in the mornings, she would play back this “answering machine” and

write down the recorded orders.

One of the ladies under Lily Oshry’s wing was Joan Penny who

attended to the book keeping. Her husband was a bank manager and she

was only with us for a couple of years as she needed to take care of her own

children.

thOn the 15 of March 1970-odd, I arrived early in the morning and told

the ladies in the general office that I was in the dog box as I had forgotten

our wedding anniversary. Sylvia had tearfully handed me her anniversary

gift for me and I had nothing to give her in return. The following year, on the th14 of March, Mr Penny called me to remind me not to forget the anniversary

again. He continued these calls for quite a few years, for which I was most

grateful.


64

A young woman, who lived in Kew, joined us at Lyndhurst Bottle

Store. She had 6 children, was extremely energetic and was also with us for

over 25 years. This was dear Mrs Croukamp, a staunch, energetic lady, who

was eventually fondly referred to as Crowie by all of us as well as customers.

She learned a lot from Mrs Oshry and from Sylvia and from the mid-70’s her

job was exclusively dealing with telephone orders.

I had started a party service and we had printed a list of most of the

items required for any function, from spirits to sherries to beer to wines to

mixers. The list included the party service items that we would lend to the

customers such as different kinds of glasses like wine or beer glasses. There

was plenty of room left to add on any additional special items they required.

This party list was copied into an invoice book where the unit price and brand

names were added.

Mrs Croukamp became a specialist in party orders, helping Sylvia in

this department for weddings, barmitzvahs, business functions, banquets,

etc. We were confident that she could handle a party order to the

satisfaction of any customer. This was proven over and over again by

customers coming to the store on a Monday morning to thank her personally

for a job well done, sometimes bringing her a slice of wedding cake or

flowers from the party.

After Mrs Oshry retired Mrs Croukamp took over her position and she

oversaw the other ladies who were taking orders, as we had 10 incoming

telephone lines and a full-time switchboard operator who would delegate

orders to the order clerks as well as paging on the public address system for

any of us she could not locate on the phone. We all worked under pressure,

particularly over the festive seasons but at all times Crowie could be relied

on to watch over everything with a hawk’s eye. What a welcome early

customers got when they heard her chirpy voice saying, “Benny Goldberg’s

and a veeeery good morning to you!”

One of the other order ladies was an elderly lady who sometimes

could not catch up with writing invoices as well as taking telephone calls, so

she would very surreptitiously place her telephone instrument, with the

receiver off, in her desk drawer and carry on writing her orders undisturbed.

We were all aware of this and amusedly turned a blind eye.

Our staff

65

Another person who was with us for 25 years was Mr Marnie Adams.

He started at Lyndhurst Bottle Store as a co-pilot on the delivery trucks,

then became a driver and eventually became the Despatch Manager. This

position entailed loading orders into many delivery vans, as well as making

up ‘calling orders’ and ensuring that

the customers always received their

exact orders. Marnie, with his team

of workers, managed the Despatch

and Calling Orders Department

amazingly well. It has been good to

reminisce with him over the years

and both Sylvia and I are still

amazed at his great recollection of

those times.

A middle aged man named

Solly Gosher joined us in the late

70’s and he took care of the cigars,

cigarettes, chocolates and bar accessories as well as being a fine assistant in

the store. One day Sylvia was standing right next to him having a

discussion, when a customer came up to him and said, “Hello Mr Goldberg.

What whisky do you suggest I buy for a gift?” And off Solly went with the

customer to the whisky section, happy to be called Mr Goldberg with the

customer happy to have been served by Mr Goldberg.

From the early 1970's, despite apartheid restrictions, not all the

senior positions in my business were held by whites. These appointments

were made on merit, not colour.

One was Moses Maduba who started

with us years before as a delivery

driver and was promoted to become

manager of the counter liquor

store, a position he held for very

many years. Another was Marnie

Adams who became an integral part

of the business, as Dispatch

Manager. The receiving goods


Parking always given priority attention by Benny

Moses Maduba, manager of the Counter Store, proudly showing Benny how efficiently his store was running

66

manager was Michael Kenny who did a sterling job as did his wife Raylene

Kenny, who was in charge of compiling debtors accounts on the early

computers of the 1970’s, and other admin work.

In the 70’s we had parking

for about 80 cars and as there was

constant traffic coming and going

and cars being loaded, one of our

employees, Victor Tshabalala, who

was a packer at the checkout

points, was given this promotion to

be responsible for the loud-hailer

and began to direct the traffic,

managing the job as well as any

fully trained traffic officer. After

1979, with the addition of the big new site, he was managing (with

assistance) close to 300 cars.

On Friday afternoons, Saturday mornings and over busy periods we

employed Robbie Hotz. Robbie has the most amazing and eloquent

speaking voice and he worked part-time for as an announcer on the public

address system. He was the stadium announcer at Balfour Park, one of the

top clubs in the national football league, where he was responsible for

welcoming supporters, announcing the teams and half time scores of the

other fixtures of the day or night. After each match people used to make

their way to the clubhouse either to celebrate the team’s winning

performance or to analyse why their side drew or lost.

One of our employees was Cyril Weinberg who played hockey for the

Balfour Park team. Sometimes he would help out in the club bar. One day

Cyril saw Robbie in our shop and told him that I was looking for an

announcer to work in the store on Saturday mornings. Robbie recalls his

first day with us on 30 September 1972 and for the following 28 years he

was to be a regular weekend announcer. He would stand on the balcony

overlooking the store and would be handed a list of the special items, the

new and recommended items that we wanted him to mention and any other

promotions we had running. In-between doing this, he would greet

customers by name and always made everyone feel most welcome.

Our staff

Original supermarket in the 70’s

67

Robbie’s “mike” skills were also put to use to control traffic in the aisles. He

would invite customers to ask for assistance if it was needed and did a great

job. Robbie recalled those Saturday mornings behind the public address

system.

“Benny Goldberg’s was the place to be. Customers came in droves,

thronging the four-aisle store to begin buying their favourite wines,

beer, whisky and other requirements. More often than not, a lot of the

clients came in because they had heard about fancy liquor or whisky

that could not be found anywhere else. I for one, could not believe the

activity that took place - you see it was the beginning of a new era in

South Africa, the self-service era as we know it today. At Benny’s it

was self-service with a difference - there were floor staff to guide you

and advise you with your purchasing requirements, while making

their rounds. With the added addition of a regular store announcer,

Benny, an outstanding innovator and marketing man, came up with

incredible ideas to give customers all sorts of reasons to buy this

product or that product. Benny innovated the Case Lot concept, “Buy

the case and save even more”, hence the case lot collection centre in

front of the store became very necessary.

Included in the list of all sorts of promotions, specials and random

give-aways, was the birthday or anniversary give-away. Recipients

received a bottle of Cinzano Spumante or Fifth Avenue Cold Duck if it

was their own celebration day.

“Who’s wearing red socks?” said the announcer.

“Me!” Replied an elderly gentleman, and after displaying his red socks

he would receive an oversized ashtray or a set of glasses. Just

another exciting idea from Benny himself.”

Michael Fridjhon, besides being a gifted, wine connoisseur, was also

imaginative when it came to advertising and promoting our special offers

and he would write excellent copy for Robbie to read over the store’s

airwaves. When Lanson French Champagne was to be promoted, he came

up with the pay off line “Served for centuries by those who know, to those

who count – Lanson French Champagne". Or, "MADE with the RECIPE of the

AZTEC Gods of old – Kahlua Coffee Liqueur".


68

Robbie was not the only one to use the public address system. I would

take it to make announcements and to ensure that the staff were always

attentive to customers. Perhaps not so eloquent or polite as Robbie.

Anand Reddy worked closely with Sylvia. He handled the

administrative bookkeeping and was an important member of the team,

well liked by all the staff. We are still in contact with him.

The four-aisle store was definitely a must visit and a must see on

liquor buyers' lists. The four-aisle store soon became a six-aisle store, and

with another two aisles came more staff. The added space carried an

outstanding range of mainly French and other imported wines as well as

South African wines.

While sitting in my office one day there was a knock on my door and

when I looked up I saw a young lady dressed in blue jeans and a T-shirt. She

had come to ask for a job. I was immediately impressed by her French

accent.

"Do you know anything about wines?", I asked.

"Non. I am from Mauritius, not France. I know nothing about French

wines." Then she added, "But I am willing to learn.”

That reply, together with her enthusiasm and her accent was the

clincher and I employed Jocelyn Robert immediately. For the next month all

she had to do was to read the various wine books, which I handed to her.

After a month she duly returned with some knowledge and I passed her over

to Michael Fridjhon for further training. Naturally, with such a knowledgeable

teacher, she was soon able to go onto the floor to assist customers with their

needs and purchases. She did so confidently, knowing that Michael was close

by in case of need. Our customers were fascinated by her strong French

accent and enthusiasm and Jocelyn wanted to learn more and more. She

eventually became well known in wine circles throughout South Africa after

starting with no knowledge whatsoever. After very many years, she has

recently contacted us and expressed her gratitude for ALL the help she

received from the whole Benny Goldberg crew.

Michael Fridjhon correctly said that I would never have described

myself as a political liberal, but I have a deep sense of what was just and fair,

and I applied these principles independently of the colour of those with whom

I dealt. My father’s principles had made an indelible impression on me.

Our staff

69

According to Michael, I had black senior management running

divisions of the business long before it was fashionable to do so, and my

logic was indisputable.

“His appointees – Benny said – were the best people for the job and

they were entitled to management seniority irrespective of the colour

of their skins. This attitude provoked a degree of resentment from

white staff who found that the

position they assumed were

reserved for whites were not

automatically theirs for the

taking. Sometimes the white

m i d d l e m a n a g e m e n t

complained – more often

than not they remained

silently resentful. However I

do remember one white

cashier expressing outrage to

Benny one morning when she

discovered that her Indian colleague was banking exactly the same

rate for the job that she was earning. Benny was unmoved, but

irritated and disinclined to engage with her at length.

“‘Listen,’ he said, “is she doing the same job?’

When the cashier replied in the affirmative he simply said,

“Then she’s entitled to the same pay.”

From 1979, our total staff compliment was 165 people and managing

this amount of people was challenging, not only from an administrative

point of view, but also in terms of social interaction between the staff which

sometimes required arbitration. Sylvia often felt that she would have been

better equipped if she had had a nursery school diploma to appease any

differences amongst staff!


Different angle, showing the 16 checkout points at the exit

70

Chapter 8

Our customers

Customers enjoyed the experience of going through the aisles,

discovering such a large variety of liquor never before seen in South Africa.

They never ceased to be fascinated by the selection available. This

encouraged me to procure an even more unusual range of cosmopolitan

spirits, wines, liqueurs, etc. South African estate wines were given great

exposure and with the additional discount on all unbroken case lots, sales

were increasing.

Numerous customers came to express their shock at finding on our

shelves wines that they had specially brought back from the various wine

estates whilst on holiday in the Cape and they told me what a hassle it had

been for them to arrange for its delivery to Johannesburg when all the time

these same wines were available in our store and, in practically all

instances, at even cheaper prices. What a lesson they learnt. It was

definitely not practical for them to try to transport wine up to Johannesburg

in those days, as it was all available locally at Benny Goldberg’s and in a

greater variety than they thought existed.

Our customers not only enjoyed their shopping with us, they also

found it to be a fun experience, and I always ensured that there was staff

available to assist them, notwithstanding that it was a self-service store. I

enforced a strict rule that the staff was never to point out an aisle number

but were always to take the customer directly to the product needed. Of the

16 tills in the new store from 1979, till number one handled the large orders

and when the store was very busy, we would steer those customers to till

number one where Sylvia would sit and would attend to their checkout, their

paying and exit in a most efficient and friendly manner.

Robbie Hotz described her “not only manning Checkout Point Number

One every weekend, which was situated near the entrance, but also

greeting the customers as they came in – part of Benny Goldberg Liquor

Supermarket personality-image way.”

Although at this stage I was long passed an era of hard selling, every

now and again the bug would bite. One Saturday morning – perhaps 30

71

minutes before closing time – I was leading a customer around the store and

helping him to fill his trolley when I saw that Michael Fridjhon was doing

much the same thing himself.

”My guy will buy more than yours,” I whispered to him as we passed in

one of the aisles.

When closing time arrived, his customer and mine were both

standing at the check outs with several trolleys and flat beds groaning under

the weight of their purchases. It was not a bet I cared about winning – and,

as Michael was quick to point out, as the owner of the business, I won

whoever sold the most liquor – but I enjoyed the challenge and I was keen to

prove that I had not forgotten how to close a sale.

As previously mentioned, in 1965 I had already started to display the

bottles in large, eye-level, three-tier vegetable baskets, rather than

standing upright on shelves in the traditional fashion so that it would be

easier for the customers to browse. Every few days a well-spoken

gentleman, who was obviously highly educated, used to spend quite some

time going through the contents of the baskets. He was certainly not a big

spender, but really seemed to enjoy the new shopping experience. Sylvia

often came forward from behind the counter to speak to the gentleman and

she was fascinated with his wealth of knowledge and gathered quite a lot of

information from him about the products displayed. At this stage, having to

multi-task and have a handle on all areas of the business, she had not yet

started to discover the joys of wine drinking. These visits continued for

many weeks.

We later read in the newspaper that Mr Braam Fischer, the leader of

the underground Communist Party, had been discovered hiding in our area

and had used various forms of disguises. A leading defence counsel, the

grandson of a Boer Prime Minister of the Orange River Colony and the son of

the Judge-President of the Orange Free State Supreme Court, Abram

Fischer had headed the defence team in the Rivonia trial defending leaders

of the African National Congress including the world-renowned hero Nelson

Mandela, the Indian National Congress and several Jews. When his secret

identity was discovered in 1964, he was arrested only to jump bail in

January 1965 and go into hiding. With his patrician background, the

Afrikaner establishment regarded him as a traitor to the volk. To us, he


72

represented a defender of the underdog.

It took nearly a year before the police caught him in November 1965.

We only then realised that this was the same courteous bearded gentleman

with whom Sylvia had spent so much time conversing. He must have

enjoyed his forays in disguise to the haven that our liquor store must have

represented, where he could participate in an informed discussion about a

subject he loved – wine. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and died of

cancer ten years later still under the sentence.

It was at around this time that we introduced the colindictor. This

service also provided an opportunity for our customers to “play the fool”. We

received many funny messages, and some actual orders too. One customer

was learning to play the mouth organ. He took advantage of what he

considered a “willing” ear and would phone on a regular basis and play a

tune to the colindictor. We soon began to recognise when he was learning to

play a new tune. After some time, he left a final message thanking us for

listening and asking whether we could notice the improvement.

The Gallon jars, which were the equivalent of 4.5 litres or six bottles

of dry wine, were very popular amongst customers originating from Italy,

Portugal and other European countries. Sometimes customers came in with

a half-empty bottle or even a ¾ empty gallon jar of wine, with a complaint.

Their complaint? The wine that they had previously purchased - now less

than half full - was "off". There would be very little left inside the bottle

because they had obviously consumed the rest. These complaints were the

bane of the staff's lives and they would unwillingly bring them to either

Stanley or Mark, and to appease the customer, a brand new Gallon jar or

bottle was handed to them free of charge. This was done because this was

the policy that Mr G insisted on.

My staff quite rightly never approved of my reaction but I

remembered my father's “sardine story”, and instructed them to replace the

wine without question, and would send away another satisfied - if deceitful -

customer.

I have already mentioned the party service that I had initiated, as a

result of which we became intimately involved in our customers' rites-of-

passage celebrations, from births to wakes, from marriages to divorces and

remarriages, from births to graduations and significant birthdays. All these

Our customers

73

celebrations formed an important part of our work.

This party service developed into an association between the

customer and ourselves and by sharing in the planning of their celebration a

sense of loyalty and close relationship would develop between the customer

and us. One Monday morning, a customer I did not recognise, walked up the

stairs to my office and asked if he could speak to me.

"You know, I am very happy with the service I got from you folks, but

you know it rained damn hard yesterday. This really put a damper on my

daughter's engagement party because many of the people we invited did

not pitch so we did not use all the cubed ice. I ordered three containers but I

only used one container of ice. Can I have a credit for the other two?"

This left over “ice” was now just water that would immediately be

thrown out when the container was cleaned. Remembering the sardines,

and amused by his chutzpah, I agreed to deduct one Rand from his account,

being the credit for two buckets of ice at 50c a bucket. Here again, another

happy customer left, and naturally we later did the order for the wedding

reception plus ice.

Apart from these social functions, we catered for large corporate

affairs as well as for many Johannesburg mayoral functions.

A week before Sun City opened early in December 1980, we received

a call from Mr Chris Trimble, the food and beverage manager, asking us to

supply them with an opening order. We asked him to telex the order through

(there were no fax machines or e-mail facilities in those days) because we

were rushed off our feet with our December busy season. Sylvia and I

looked at the order that night and after numerous discussions with Mr

Trimble, we were in a position to have his order ready in time to be collected

by his own transport. This exercise proved to be an advantage for Sun City

because it was a “one-stop shop” for them saving them having to deal with

many different suppliers to consolidate and fulfil their requirements. For the

first six months of their existence we were the sole liquor supplier.

Often on a Saturday morning Sun City would rush a truck through to

collect a large order of beer as there was nowhere else they could obtain

large quantities of stock over a weekend.

Because we had the facility of the Bonded Warehouse, we were able

to supply the diplomatic corps as well as to export products. Among these


74

customers were embassies in Johannesburg and Pretoria as well as the

government-owned diplomatic guesthouse.

In 1979, an American diplomat from Lusaka, Zambia, visited Pretoria

and whilst there he heard about our liquor store and decided to pay us a

visit. He walked into the store and introduced himself to us. We took an

immediate liking to one another. He explained to us the difficulties in

obtaining various essential household commodities and asked if we could

assist them by procuring goods to be included in the delivery of their initial

liquor order. Arrangements were made for an order to be sent by road

transport to Lusaka. This required a lot of paperwork for the Customs

Department. He also told the other consuls in Lusaka, Zambia, about the

service we offered. Arising out of the recommendation, orders started to

arrive and from then onwards our customer base increased, not only with

the consulates but to other African states supplying hotels and restaurants.

As he was staying in Pretoria and obviously, apart from the Embassy,

knew very few people in South Africa and as we had family there, not only

did we invite him to our home in Johannesburg, but he spent time with the

family in Pretoria too. His name was Roy Hermansman and his charming

wife, Margaret, was an older version of Grace Kelly.

After the Hermansman couple returned to Lusaka, our main means of

communication was via telex and Roy told quite a few other people in the

diplomatic corps of his great “find” in Johannesburg. Because of the

shortages of food and many other items in Lusaka at the time, we gladly

offered to purchase outside items and pack these with their order to go in

the same road transportation. Requests often came through. One April we

were asked to send sweets or chocolates which their children had not seen

since December the previous year. Soap was required, and most urgently,

toilet paper. We found it fascinating that here we were sending rolls and rolls

of toilet paper to the diplomatic corps… heaven alone knows how the

ordinary people managed to get their supplies.

A telex arrived one day in 1980 informing us that Roy would not be

coming to South Africa, but one of his senior assistants would be arriving in

his place, and would we be good enough to fetch Tiebor and Jane Nagy from

the Johannesburg airport. We went off to fetch them with no idea what they

would look like, and found this young American couple, both blond with Jane

Our customers

75

a typical Alice-in-Wonderland look alike. They were staying at the embassy

in Pretoria and Jane was going to see a gynaecologist whom she called, in

her American accent, Dr. Johan van der What. There were 2 doctors van der

Wat, practising at the Parklane clinic, father and son, both specialising in

infertility.

We assisted Tiebor and Jane with information about the best places to

shop. They explained to us that they, like most diplomats, spent three years

in a country before being moved on, and in the nine years that they had

been married, had lived in three countries and had consulted gynaecologists

in all those countries.

After the consultation Tiebor mentioned that Dr. “van der What”

wanted to see Jane in 2 months time and asked if it would be possible for her

to stay in Johannesburg as she would be on her own. During this visit the

Nagy’s met some of our friends and members of our family and they

endeared themselves to all. One of our friends who was considerably

younger than we were, offered to put Jane up in her home. Our friend also

spent some time during the day at home and could give her visitor more

attention.

What excitement there was on Jane’s return visit to Dr van der Wat,

when she was told that she was pregnant with twins. The embassy in Lusaka

started telexing us with many additional requests. It was no longer just soap

and toilet paper that was needed. For two additions to the Nagy family they

would be requiring cots, prams, nappies and all the other paraphernalia that

come with babies. This was mainly purchased by the US Embassy in South

Africa and we helped with the transportation. Tiebor and Jane then decided

it would be easier for Jane to have the actual birth in Harare, Zimbabwe, as

this would be nearer for Tiebor to travel.

One morning we arrived at work and there was a telex waiting for us.

Jane had given birth to triplets! PLEASE could we arrange for another set of

EVERYTHING with the assistance of the local embassy. There was no rush as

the two boys were of a reasonable birth weight but the little girl was tiny and

would definitely not require any of these necessities at present. The

diplomats’ wives, who mostly had grown up children, made themselves

available to assist Jane with her three bundles of joy.


76

For many years after that, we received an annual Christmas card

from the Nagy family, the first one showing Jane and Tiebor holding these

three tiny human bundles. Two years later when they had been transferred

to the Seychelles, we were able to see how truly delightful these three

children were and the card also included an invitation to visit with their

family in the Seychelles. Because of the pressure of work, this never

happened.

After 27 years of moving to a new home in a new country every three

years, and after having lived in nine different countries, Roy and Margaret

Hermansman, became adamant that they wanted to own their very own

permanent home, and they built a lovely home in Maryland, in Washington.

When we travelled to the United States in 1981, the Hermansmans insisted

that we had to be guests in their home in which they were now settled and

extremely happy.

We visited after a business trip to the United Kingdom and travelled

from London to Washington in three hours on a Concorde flight, which we

found most exciting. Because of the time zones of the UK and USA, we arrive

in Washington three hours earlier than our departure time from London! We

could really see that the earth was round. We received such a warm

reception from the Hermansmans and were proudly shown to the guest

suite with its own bathroom. Roy quickly opened the bathroom cupboards

where there must have been at least 18 rolls of toilet paper. They were

determined never, ever, to run out of so essential an item in their lives.

Approximately once a month we received an export order to Zambia

to a hotel and liquor store named Capiri Mposhi and we always received

prompt payment. The store had an agent in Johannesburg who sourced

other items for them as well as placing a duty-free liquor order with us. After

all the documentation was ready, their agent sent their own transportation

truck and the procedure was that all documentation had to be stamped at

the border proving that it had left South Africa and was then stamped again

on arrival in Zambia to prove that it had got there. This documentation was

always brought back to us and we then handed it back to Customs to

complete the whole process.

Early in January of 1981, while we were having a well-deserved rest

staying with Sylvia’s cousins in Muizenberg, we received a call from our

Our customers

77

store telling us that a Customs official had come in to notify us that much of

this liquor had in fact never left South Africa and the Customs stamps were

fraudulent. Cases of liquor with our markings had been discovered on sale at

one particular bottle store only a few kilometres away from us. I am not

quite sure if other stores were also involved. The Customs Department

wanted a cheque for duty of R74 000 immediately as we were the exporters.

What a shock! This was an ENORMOUS sum of money, which was almost

enough to purchase a small house at that time.

Arrangements had to be made to enable us to pay this enormous

amount. Naturally we immediately contacted the agent who said that he

would make sure that the entire amount would be repaid but that it would

have to be over a long period of time. While we had to pay the R74 000, the

liquor store that had been buying our “duty-free” liquor at a reduced price

was not affected one bit (some people have all the luck!). After dozens and

dozens of calls, Sylvia managed to get this money paid back to us in dribs

and drabs over a 3 year period.

I think that this was one of the first times that Customs and Excise

“discovered” what loopholes there were with goods crossing the border.

From then on, for the entire country, whenever any goods were exported,

full duty had to be paid. Only once the genuine authenticated documents

were handed back to Customs could we get a refund of the duty and were

able to pass it on to our exporters or back to ourselves.


78

Chapter 9

Our Suppliers

When we started in 1953, our little shop on the corner of Louis Botha

Avenue did not warrant us getting any special attention from the suppliers,

but as we grew and as they realised I always lived up to my obligations and

responsibilities, they began to show some interest.

Suppliers came to realise that both Sylvia and I were people of our

word and because of our increased buying power and Sylvia’s astute

mathematical brain, whereby she would negotiate a better rebate, we

developed an amicable relationship to our mutual benefit. Suppliers knew

that we were not greedy and that they would be given great exposure while

our low profit mark up would eventuate in large volume of sales.

We had a very strict rule in the organisation which applied to the

Goldberg family as well: nobody went out with suppliers to be wined and

dined for lunch or any other time. Of course, we did not expect anyone (staff

or reps) to have any alcohol during working hours.

Robbie Hotz remembers the time that the Viceroy Brandy rep, Gus

van Rooyen, walked into Sylvia’s office carrying a glass of brandy, and was

told curtly,

“Gus, do not come into my office with that glass otherwise I will take

your product off the shelf!”

On one occasion, the South African representative of Martini

Vermouths, told us that his principals would like to take us to lunch, to which

I replied that they were welcome to come to the store and we were happy to

have them sit with us in our small dining area. Two Italian gentlemen duly

arrived, laden with Italian delicacies that they had purchased and were soon

very busy arranging everything on the table so that we could spend some

time with them even though we always had a telephone near us if we were

needed.

The very first person who really showed faith and interest in us was

Fred Voget, the credit and sales manager of a firm called Castle Wine and

Brandy who, in December 1958 gave us credit to the value of £20 000.00 to

79

allow us to get back onto our feet. An arrangement was reached whereby we

could pay this off over quite a lengthy period whilst keeping our current

account up to date. Sylvia and I will never forget the exceptional kindness

and trust shown because, after all, he was answerable to his company and

we remained very loyal to Castle Wine and Brandy in appreciation from then

on.

Fred became a good friend and we would exchange stories about our

children, schooling, sports, etc, and had the pleasure of meeting his children

and his charming wife, Mavis. They have subsequently both passed on, but

our link in the chain to the Voget family has not been broken as we are now

patients of Dr Stephen Voget, a leading dermatologist in Cape Town and

during consultations we still have a trip down memory lane. He is most

certainly a chip off the old block.

During 1974 we were approached by Alan Bell, MD of Gilbeys with a

tempting offer to buy 49% of our business, as we would retain 51%, we

would have free reign without any form of interference. There was also a

“PUT” clause that we could buy back the balance of our business at any time.

This partnership was very pleasant and of mutual benefit to both of us.

The giants in the liquor trade were SA Breweries and we were in

contact with a variety of people through them over the many years including

Eddie Barlow, Piet Greyling, Colin Hall, Gavin Scott and Roy Coverly. What a

thrill it was for us to receive a “telegram” from SAB’s chief, Peter Savory,

congratulating us on being the first to achieve the sale of one million litres in

a December month. We were fondly known as Number 1 for many years. A

million litres of all brands of SAB products consisting mainly of cans,

dumpies and of course, quart bottles filled many a “blue bird” - a big SAB

truck.

Some of our sales representatives included well-known cricketer

Eddie Barlow and rugby player Piet Greyling. During Piet’s stay at SAB, we

would see every Monday morning when he arrived, that he sported another

injury from the weekend. A cut eyebrow was a regular occurrence and when

Sylvia saw him, she would remark that now that he was married with

children, it was time for him to leave the sport. His reply was that he got the

same strong advice on the weekends from his wife, Judith, and on a Monday

from his customer, Sylvia, and enough was enough. We have been in contact


80

with Piet and are delighted that he has continued to grow from strength to

strength.

The SA Breweries credit controller was an elderly Scotsman and

Sylvia and he were in close contact to make sure that the payments were

made in time. On a few occasions, to pull his leg, Sylvia called him

pretending to be phoning from overseas long distance call,

“Can you hear me? This is Sylvia Goldberg. Benny and I are out of the

country and there will be no cheque for you this month.”

When Sylvia heard his distress, she would tell him not to panic, she

was just joking and naturally, he could relax, as his payment would be on

time.

Roy Coverley recalled Sylvia’s comments when he was the SAB

representative and would come for the cheque for that month’s purchases -

one can imagine the cheque size – ours was the world’s biggest bottle store!

“As regular as clockwork, Mrs G would say to me, “Roy, I hope you are

not going back to the office today, and you will only give Mr Seath (the credit

manager) the cheque sometime tomorrow. REPEAT NOT TODAY”

From 1969 the person who was responsible for the Beer Division of SA

Breweries was Colin Hall and we soon developed a close relationship with

him. When the store became much larger, on a day to day basis, we were

looked after by Gavin Scott and Roy Coverley who did their utmost to keep

us happy. On any trips that involved air travel, Gavin and Roy always made a

point of taking us to the airport. Those were the days where you could hand

in your luggage and then sit down and have a quiet drink.

When Roy was promoted to Key Acts Representative in the 1980s

after ten years on the East Rand, he said to Ed Reeler the Marketing Manager

of SAB,

“Thanks for the promotion, but I don’t think that I can handle the

Benny Goldberg account.”

Roy Coverley came in forewarned that Sylvia with her sharp

mathematical brain was a force to be reckoned with. He was also told that

neither Sylvia nor I approved of sales reps who drank beer or spirits during

the day.

Our Suppliers

81

Gavin Scott, who had held the position before Roy, warned him one

Thursday that on the following Monday he would be introduced to Benny,

Sylvia, Stanley, and the floor managers. Roy was told that in order to meet

us he had to be properly attired.

1. Have haircut

2. Wear white shirt

3. Pin–striped suit

4. Tie not too loud

5. And do not visit Sylvia if he had had a drink.

Roy remembered that Monday vividly. “ Monday arrived, my blood

pressure going up and up, sweaty hands, waiting for the call to please come

up to Sylvia’s office – 32 steps to her office, and panic all the way. What a

relief when Sylvia said to Benny that I had passed the test.”

We only recently discovered that our staff used to terrify Roy for fun,

telling him that he was in for a real torrid session. They would get him into

such a state that he would take a Valium before coming up the formidable

stairs leading up to the executive offices.

“At times, Mrs G and myself had to discuss confidentials, this was

always a pressure meeting for me as she would try and squeeze me

for a better percentage than I could offer, and I appreciated the

challenge as she was trying to sell more beer for their vast liquor store

and I would be selling more beer for my company. At one of these

pressure meetings, I was extremely fortunate that Benny sat in.

After about one hour in the ‘pressure cooker’, Benny intervened and

said to me:

“’Roy, what Mrs Goldberg is saying is that we appreciated the packet

of sweets you gave us, but can you sometimes add a few chocolates

on top of the sweets?’

“It was always Benny’s vision to have the biggest bottle store in the

world, which Benny achieved with honours and I have had the

privilege to have been the SAB rep throughout this transition period.

After a few years of calling on this outstanding outlet, I had reason to

see Mrs G late one afternoon. On her table was a bottle of a new

liqueur to be launched by Distillers and left by the representative for


82

Mr and Mrs Goldberg to sample. Mrs Goldberg asked me to get two

liqueur glasses so as to join her in sampling this new product.

Although it was just a small sip, it was certainly an honour for me

which I will never forget. My association with the Goldberg family was

not just business, but on a social front as well.

“Another great occasion for me was, being short of two trucks of beer

with three days left in a volume target incentive competition which

carried a prize of a trip to Mauritius for me and my wife. My only

chance was to talk to Mr and Mrs Goldberg. They gave me that vital

order with a lot of pleasure and wanted absolutely nothing in return. I

shall never forget.

“’This, Roy’, they said, ‘Is for you and your wife’”.

It was not only Roy who was afraid of us. One of our suppliers, Kevin

Hedderwick, who became one of our caring friends, said that when he

arrived on the Reef in 1980 as a young sales manager for what in those days

was called Distillers Corporation, just the sheer mention of the name Benny

Goldberg, used to instil " fear " in the hearts of many of the liquor salesmen.

When he heard that I had decided to record my memoirs Kevin wrote

to me about his own recollection of meeting me, and said:

“It was with great trepidation that I set off soon after taking up this

post to meet with the legendary Benny Goldberg, a man who had

completely revolutionised the retail liquor industry in South Africa

and who attracted attention from across the globe. I soon realised

that my information had been wrong about Benny Goldberg. He was

an absolute 'pussycat' - but it was one Sylvia Goldberg who could

strike fear into the heart of the most hardened salesman."

In 1988, when we had been out of the industry for nearly six years,

we were invited to a special lunch given for us at Isando by our SA Brewery

friends including Gavin, Roy, Peter Savory and those secretaries from

dispatch and other departments with whom we had been in close contact.

They really made us feel so special. Not everyone was a fair weather friend.

They presented us with a clock, flowers for Sylvia and they later sent us a

photograph of the whole group at this memorable lunch.

SAB had a department called Special Events, which supplied chairs,

tables and barrels of beer for large fLtes, sporting events and outdoor

Our Suppliers

83

functions. Once a year, we prevailed on them to lend us trestle tables and 3

dozen chairs when we celebrated our Jewish New Year dinner at home.

When we thanked them for the service, it became known that the chairs had

been personally monogrammed for us as SAB stood for Sylvia And Benny.

Stellenbosch Farmers Winery brought into South Africa an aperitif

called Campari. I took a liking to this product realising how versatile it was

as it had a lower alcohol content and was great mixed with soda, orange

juice, tonic water or dry lemon. We printed a cocktail recipe book and

Campari, Martini, and various liqueurs were well featured in both simple and

exotic cocktails.

Through our various promotions the sales of Campari began to climb

steadily and we helped to introduce this “pleasant” lower alcohol content,

lunch time drink to many of our customers. Over the years, some of the

principals of Campari had been out to South Africa and had come in to see

the store. We were treated royally by them when we went on a visit to Italy

as part of the Wine and Spirit Guild of America tour.

The House of Seagram was renowned as one of the most prestigious,

international liquor producers. Their brands included Chivas Regal 12 year

old as well as 21 year old Royal Salute - each bottle was packed in a velvet

draw string bag - as well as 100 Pipers and Loch an Ora. Sabra Liqueur

which was made in Israel. Even though it was marketed internationally by

Seagram, any profit from Sabra went back to Israel. The respect

internationally for this company and it’s founder, Edgar Bronfman, was so

immense that when Mr Bronfman passed away in Montreal, the city of

Montreal closed, out of respect, while his funeral was taking place.

We were Seagram’s largest individual customers in South Africa.

There were no other stores who could take a container consisting of 1100

cases of Chivas Regal. The South African representative was Derek Stretton

who was always most attentive and assisted us in marketing the Seagram

products. We had the pleasure of being entertained in New York in their

Park Avenue building (I believe they owned the entire skyscraper).


84

When our new store was opened in 1979, they gave us a special

plaque, mounted in Perspex, that stated “Presented to Benny and Sylvia

Goldberg, on the opening of the store 27 April 1979, whose dedication and

integrity made possible the opening of this, the world’s largest liquor

supermarket."

Our Suppliers

85

86


Portrait of Benny which greeted visitors entering the new store, above a plaque commemorating the opening of the store on 27 April 1979 by Minister of Finance, Senator Owen Horwood

Chapter 10

Fighting a price war

In 1976 I was visited by two members of the then Witwatersrand

Bottle Store Keepers’ Association, viz. Mr Natie Mathieson and Mr Monty

Sidelsky. The purpose of the visit was to inform us that we had to agree to

raise our prices to conform to the price structure of all the other members of

the Association. Mr Mathieson threatened that if we did not comply with

their demand they would start a price war and put us out of business.

As there were quite a few groups of bottle stores that belonged to

producers and individuals, who were members, they would have the power

to remain in a price war with some of the chain stores indefinitely. As we

were totally on our own there was no way that we would survive. He told us

emphatically that all the big liquor producers and wholesalers had large

stores and it would not affect them one bit to arrange to sell their goods at

cost in their few bottle stores that were closest to us.

As they were giants with a tremendous amount of clout and power

and we were only a one-man show, what chance would we have? Either we

raised out prices or we would go bust. The Association had already

succeeded in getting other stores to conform to their pricing structure or

else had made them insolvent.

My reply was to order them to leave our premises immediately

without further discussion.

As I had no intention of heeding their request that we conform to their

“suggested” retail pricing, we simply carried on as usual.

The following night round about 11 p.m. I received a telephone call at

home from The Rand Daily Mail, which was then a daily morning newspaper,

informing me that five or six stores in our vicinity were going to “war”

against us because they had the power to carry on selling liquor at cost as

long as it would take until we capitulated.

I was simply “stunned” to learn that my good friend Mr Sam Linz who

owned Rebel, had actually put the Rebel Rosebank branch into the price war

against us. Our families were friendly even though there was a vast age

87

difference, and Linz had learned a tremendous amount about the liquor

industry from me. Some time before Gilbeys had offered me the Smugglers

stores to run - these were a small chain of not very successful stores - and I

had brought Linz in to be a partner with Gilbeys and me and help with

running them. I must admit he was a very fast learner and an astute

business man, but to go into price war with a friend and partner was not

what I would have expected from him.

This situation put me into a quandary making me give serious thought

to the entire situation. Fortunately I did not panic. My first call the next

morning was to Mr Alan Bell, managing director of Gilbey’s, to inform him

that one of the stores taking part in the price war was Rebel, in which

Gilbey’s had a share. His reply was that as he was only a 49% partner in

Rebel, there was simply nothing that he could do. My immediate reply was

that obviously the same applied to my store, as Gilbey's also only held 49%

of my store. I told him that in view of all this I would immediately exercise

my right to buy back their shares. (Rebel stayed on with Gilbeys.)

Now that I was once again going to be a sole owner, I had to think of

my survival in the liquor industry. I decided to phone Dr Mouton of the Board

of Trade and Industry in Pretoria. He took my call immediately when he was

told who the caller was. I explained that I did not expect anyone to defend

me in this “price war” but only wanted to know if the Witwatersrand Bottle

Store Keepers’ Association was able to “force” me to increase my prices to

comply with theirs.

"Such action," said Dr Mouton, " would be an infringement of Resale

Price Maintenance legislation.”

He added, "Would you be prepared to make a statement to the South

African Police Commercial Branch?”

I said, "Willingly! And I must thank you for giving me the opportunity

to take the matter to you and for giving me the assurance that I am

definitely within my rights.”

"I am going to send somebody to see you. I want you to give him a

statement, I must say I have waited a long time for someone with the

gumption to stand up against the Association.”

Shortly after that call a Lt Heystek of the Commercial Branch phoned

and made an appointment to see me. Sylvia was at my side all the while and


88

when I gave him the facts of what had happened, he emphasised that he

would be dealing with the Association from then onwards and we should just

concentrate on keeping our liquor store going.

The very next day Lt Heystek paid a visit to the offices of the

Witwatersrand Bottle Store Keepers’ Association. He went through their

records and impounded their minute book in which it was clearly stated that,

at a meeting held two days before his visit, the directors of some of the

liquor chains belonging to the Association had said that it was time to get

Benny Goldberg into line.

Lt Heystek contacted those directors concerned requesting them to

come to Marshall Square, Johannesburg’s largest central police station, to

have their fingerprints taken. He informed them that a case was to be laid

against them personally as they were guilty of infringing the Resale Price

Maintenance law. Among those directors were: Sam Linz and Syd Selati of

the Rebel group; Norman Kramer and John Hooper of the Solly Kramer

group; David Magid and another of the Western Province group.

The press took up this story about the price war in front page articles

describing it as a David and Goliath story. It praised us for the courageous

stand that we had taken in not giving into the demands of the large chains

bearing in mind that this so-called price war was being waged by them

against one loner.

In the meantime it was business as usual for us. I had always been

recognised as giving excellent service and very fair prices, which I

constantly tried to reduce. No prices were changed in the store and we

carried on as before. In my operation any changes were dealt with within

minutes. Unlike large corporations I did not have to wait for a scheduled

board meeting. All I had to wait for was Sylvia’s mathematics and the

computers. Most of our customers remained loyal and continued to support

us, as did the press.

How well I recall a visit I had a couple of days into the war from Mr

Barney Kramer, a senior member of the Kramer family, who arrived at the

store with his brother Norman and someone from the Association. When he

saw how busy the store was on a mid-week day as well as knowing the

support I was receiving from customers and from the press, he admonished

his colleagues for having been so short-sighted and having made Benny


89

Goldberg the HERO OF THE LIQUOR INDUSTRY.

Their actions had boomeranged and turned me into a consumer hero.

By now it was obvious that this price war was a futile exercise. It was going

nowhere at all and exactly ten days from its start, it ended with some very

unhappy professional men who were now having charges laid against them

by the Commercial Branch of the SA Police. As for us, we had previously

booked for a short holiday in Spain and went ahead with our plans,

confidently knowing that we had won the fight.

A few months later when the case finally came up in court, there were

some very anxious directors of liquor chains (some of whom were chartered

accountants). If there was a criminal action against them their status as

directors could be affected. Fortunately for these men they got off on a

technicality of the law but they were reprimanded. The court made a ruling

that in the future the Association could only suggest recommended prices,

but could not enforce them.

As a result, to this day the Association cannot force any liquor store to

adhere to their price structure. We personally had nothing to do with the

actual case – after all was said and done it was handled by the Board of Trade

and the Commercial Branch, however one thing was very, very clear - that

nobody would ever be able to try and enforce Resale Price Maintenance in

the liquor industry in South Africa again.

It was ludicrous that some of these self-same directors blamed me for

making them go through the ordeal of the court. They seemed to have

forgotten the incriminating evidence in the minute book clearly recording

that they would all be happy to see me disappear from the competitive

scene, regardless of the fact that some of them were long-standing

colleagues and even partners of mine at that time. Well, that’s life! I

personally bear no malice against any of them.

Fortunately, not only did we have enemies, we also had very many

good friends in retail liquor stores. One friend, Costa Moriates, used to brag

to the wholesale and retail contacts that he had access to the largest

warehouse, namely his good friends the Goldbergs. Other liquor friends

consisted of Abbie Tren, Monty Sidelsky, and Cape Town retailers namely

Abe Cohen, Arthur Friedberg, Sakkie Shakinovsky, Kurt, Michael, and Peter

Sternberg.


90

Now that the dust has settled, I look back at that trying period with

gratitude to the directors for having created all that free publicity which only

resulted in more and more business being sent my way and for having had

an indirect role in a ruling that helped the consumers get a fair deal. Their

intention had been to force me out of business, not to make me renowned.

It gave me a great deal of pride and satisfaction in knowing that I had

been able to achieve this victory single-handedly.


91

92


Chapter 11

Executives’ Association of Southern Africa

In the 1970s through one of my customers, Gwyn Hill-Lewis of Hill-

Lewis Adams, a Venetian blind company, I was invited to become a member

of an organisation known as

Executives’ Association of Southern

Africa.

Th i s was a bus iness

organisation that only accepted one

member from each business field

and it was affiliated on an

international level to executive

associations in several countries.

The purpose of this association was

to help members to network with

one another. The slogan “Business

is our Business”, was indeed

mean ing fu l and presented

members with opportunities to

meet on a senior management

level. Several members became

loyal customers of ours, always

dealing with me personally.

These meetings were held

monthly and guest speakers of a

high calibre were invited to address their prestigious gatherings. Some of

their guest speakers were legends in their time, like Margaret Lessing, Val

Mickelborough, Kate Turkington and Clem Suntner.

In 1978 I approached the secretary to enrol Sylvia as an additional

representative of the company. This application was refused as the

Association only accepted males.

I was totally shocked. I explained that not only was Sylvia a director

of the company but she played an important role in our organisation.

Sylvia in her role as the first female president of The Executives’ Association

93

I presume that the constitution was changed to permit females to

become members and Sylvia became the first representative of the majority

sex to become a member. It was always amusing as guest speakers, on

starting their address, would say “Lady and Gentlemen”.

As I now had the new building plan in my head, I attended fewer

meetings of the Association but Sylvia continued attending meetings and

continued doing a good job. In the meantime a few more women were

admitted as members.

When we visited Dallas for a Wine and Spirit Guild of America

convention. Sylvia was invited to attend a breakfast meeting of the

Executives’ Association. She had to travel alone through Dallas at seven

o’clock in the morning while it was still dark to get to the distant destination

in time and her arrival was greeted with shock.

The audience knew the visitor was coming from South Africa, but

they did not expect their guest to be white or female. All three of these facts

were foreign to that membership, and Sylvia was ignored, but that was in

1980 and things have changed since then, in

South Africa as well as in America.

Sylvia got herself involved to such an

extent that she was elected Deputy President

of the Association in 1980. There was great

excitement as this honour was recognised not

only in South Africa but on a global level too.

In 1981 Sylvia was voted in as the first

ever female President of the Association.

Sylvia proved to be a dynamic president who

had the loyal support of the entire

membership.

During that year her main guest speaker

was the State's first Vice-President and

Chairman of the President's Council, Mr Alwyn

Schlebush, who had been elected the previous

year.


94

Vice State President, Alwyn Schlebusch, guest of honour at an Executive Association function during Sylvia’s reign as President. She is seen here wearing the President’s Collar

This luncheon was held at the new Carlton Hotel and was attended by

about 400 people. Mr Schlebush was impressed with the running of the

Association and admitted to Sylvia that most of his wine purchases for some

years had been done on his behalf by either members of his family or staff at

our store.

That very afternoon he paid a personal visit to the store and

thoroughly enjoyed the fun of shopping there and viewing the large

selection of South African wines. It was most surprising to note the South

Africa’s State Vice-President walking through the store using his own

camera to take photos of Sylvia.

95

Executives’ Association of Southern Africa


96

Sylvia receiving a presentation at the Executive Association lunch

Chapter 12

American Conventions

The Wine and Spirit Guild of America held conventions twice a year,

during their spring and fall seasons. These meetings were of great interest

to all because we benefited from the cross section of ideas that were placed

on the table for discussion.

It was not always possible for us to attend. We did, however, make a

point of going to Hawaii in 1981, accompanied by Michael Fridjhon, an

expert in the wine industry, even in those days, and two gentlemen from a

leading South African winery. Our intention was to promote South African

wines and for this purpose we booked a hospitality suite.

We set ourselves up and invited members to try our wines during their

leisure times. This exercise turned out to be an absolute disaster. Members

did not know what Pinotage was and did not like the taste of it - in fact, they

thought that it was dreadful.

My, my, how times have changed. Not too many years ago we could

not even make sufficient Pinotage to supply the South African market let

alone the overseas market, including that of America.

At the welcoming function by the host Alan Kam, I was placed at the

main table next to Alan and his wife Correne. Sylvia managed to remain

with our new-found friends towards the end of the room. I realised how

different our cultures were, even though we had common liquor interests.

Alan proudly told me that we were having a traditional Hawaiian meal called

a “luah”. This sounded great, until I found out that a “luah” was a roast pig

that was covered in palm leaves and placed in the ground with coals to roast

slowly. I ate all the trimmings and had to do some fancy footwork to hide

some of the pork under lettuce leaves. While I was so embarrassed, Sylvia

and the others were very amused! It was fun at midnight when we all went

off looking for a coffee shop and finished up with cinnamon toast and coffee

for dinner.

It was while we were in Hawaii on May 8 that we got the news that our

second grandson, David, had been born. Bradley, the eldest, was already

three and a bit. Even without cell phones and e-mail we were kept informed.

97

As we were 12 hours behind, the hour of his birth had not been

reached in Hawaii but we were thrilled with his arrival, knowing we would be

back in sunny South Africa in time for his Brismilah (circumcision), which

would be 7 days later.

Quite a few of the members later visited South Africa, several coming

for YPO (Young Presidents Organisation) and the itinerary included a

personal tour of the store by me. Sylvia and I personally hosted Ralph and

Harriet Kaplan from Kappy's Liquors of Boston, together with Joel Gosler,

who was the United States sales manager of Grants Whiskey, and his

charming wife Diane. To this day we are honorary members of the Guild.

Another time we attended a convention in New York. We will always

remember that particular visit. The social events sponsored by liquor

suppliers were spectacular functions.

One of the functions was hosted by Seagrams at the Waldorf Astoria

Hotel Ballroom. These functions certainly were grand, the likes of which we

have not experienced before or since. The Americans sure know how to do

things in grandiose style.

A function we shall never forget took place at the top of the World

Trade Centre and was hosted by Joel and Diane Gosler of Grants Whiskey.

After enjoying hors’ d'ouvres and cocktails, we entered a large beautifully

decorated banqueting hall. On each table stood an imposing statue, dressed

in Scottish attire, holding a bottle of Grants Whiskey. This was so impressive

that I could not take my eyes off these statues. As I constrained myself for a

few minutes, while continuing to stare at the statues, I thought that I saw an

eye blink.

I was so fascinated that I climbed on the table to touch a statue and to

my astonishment I discovered that they were mime artists and shouted out

aloud that they were all alive and real people. This discovery happened a

little earlier than planned by the organisers, but as we all know, I am

impetuous. The mime artists then came off the tables to mingle with the

guests. What a party that was!

We are so sad that those buildings no longer exist. We were horrified

to hear what happened to the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001

when men affiliated to al-Qaeda hijacked commercial jet airliners and flew

these fuel-filled planes into the North and South Towers, causing them both


98

to collapse within two hours killing about 3 000 people. What terrible harm

hate-filled fanatics can cause.

The Guild took a decision to hold the second 1981 convention in Italy,

so we made plans to fly directly to Italy to link up with the Americans. Sylvia

and I joined up with a group from the Wine and Spirit Guild of America who

were doing an extensive luxury trip of the big liquor companies, which had

literally supplied millions of cases of mainly wines and some spirits and

liqueurs to the United States of

America. Needless to say, the

Americans were given right royal

t r e a t m e n t . T h i s w a s a

memorable experience for us.

Here we were, the couple from

Johannesburg, South Africa,

travelling in luxury buses with

about 80 Americans, to wineries

and banquet receptions. We

thoroughly enjoyed all of this and

made many friends with Guild

members.

We travelled with them

from one winery to another.

Towards the end of the trip, the

group went by bus from Milan to

L a k e C o m o , w h e r e t h e

headquarters of Campari was

s i t u a t e d . A f t e r we h ad

disembarked, the welcoming

committee greeted everyone

warmly and then enquired from the group, “Where are the Goldberg’s?”

What a welcome we received here as the only two South Africans

amongst these leading liquor retailers from America. At the luncheon held at

the world-renowned Villa d’Este hotel, we were placed at the main table with

the directors of Campari.


Staying at Villa D’Este on lake Como during Wine & Spirit Guild tour of Italy

99

The directors had heard how successful we had been with the sales of

Campari in far away South Africa and wanted to talk to us about our

promotions. They had also heard that we had promoted Campari personally

by holding tastings at various functions and that we had emphasised that

this particular drink could be offered at any time of day. At that stage no

tastings of wines or spirits were allowed on liquor supermarket premises.

Fortunately this law has now been changed. We had not realised that our

small efforts were known in Italy, the news having even reached the

directors.

During the luncheon, one of the directors said to me that the press

was there and wanted to interview the man from South Africa who had the

largest liquor supermarket

in the world. Sylvia and I

went onto the balcony with

the Campari directors and

were photographed with

them with the beautiful

L a k e C o m o a s a

background. The reporters,

naturally, were all speaking

in Italian, which the

C a m p a r i d i r e c t o r s

translated for my benefit.

They asked me a lot of

questions, including what

the annual turnover of such a store might be and I gave a figure.

That night I woke up with a start and thought what a terrible mistake I

had made with regards to giving a turnover figure as the leftist “Red

Brigade” in Italy was well known for kidnapping and assassinating Italian

government and business leaders. In fact, they were credited with 14 000

acts of violence during the 1970s.

First thing in the morning I called Campari and prevailed on them to

make SURE that no financial figures were printed. They said they would try

to do their best. I never knew if they had succeeded. Campari also

suggested that, instead of returning to South Africa on the Friday, we should


Campari luncheon at lake Como with the Kaplan family from Boston who run a large chain of stores known as Kappy’s

100

spend the weekend at the world-renowned Villa d’Este hotel and they would

ensure that a limousine would collect us in Milan on the Friday and return us

to the Milan airport on the Sunday.

On the Friday morning, a smartly dressed chauffeur in a smart black

limousine with the name of a limousine company inscribed on the door

collected us from the hotel in Milan and we had a luxury drive to Lake Como

on a main freeway going through quite a few toll gates. We thoroughly

enjoyed our weekend at this beautiful venue and were ready waiting, as

arranged, at midday on Sunday to be collected and taken to the Milan

airport.

An unmarked black car pulled up, a driver in a red short-sleeved shirt

got out and put our baggage in the boot and we started the journey which

we knew would be well over an hour. Sylvia seemed to be dozing during this

journey and I suddenly realised that we were no longer driving on a freeway,

but on narrow country roads. Now, the PANIC started! This was in my mind,

most certainly, the Red Brigade who were after us, right down to the driver,

no longer a smartly-dressed chauffeur, but a man clad in a tell-tale red shirt.

I nudged Sylvia awake to impart the news to her that we were being

kidnapped. In case the “kidnapper” understood English, I told her in

Afrikaans that as soon as the car slowed down a little, she was to open the

car door and roll out. She was not to worry about the baggage. What was

important was her life. She must try to escape this terrible event that was

about to take place. As usual Sylvia was much calmer than I was, and tried

to convince me that all was well. My imagination, nonetheless, still ran

haywire.

Eventually we saw a built-up area and lo and behold! We had arrived

at the Milan airport. The driver got out to assist us with our baggage and I

was so grateful to be safe and sound that in great relief I put my hands into

my pockets and handed to the driver whatever I had left in Italian currency.

He was simply astounded at the amount and kept on bowing down to thank

me. He made sure that his charges got into the air terminal safe and sound

for the return flight to Johannesburg. We then discovered that he was a local

man and had taken short cuts through the country to avoid paying the toll

gate fees. How relieved we both were that visions of my wild imagination

were unfounded!


101

That was not the only time that my wild imagination created problems

for me and for those around me. For example, I have always found such trips

stressful, not only because of fear of the Red Brigade, but also because of

fear of the greens. I had had a faulty green motor vehicle that had given me

so much trouble that I developed a complete superstition about anything

green. I also have a phobia about flying a phobia far more common in

those days when plane trips were longer and less popular than they are

today.

In the late 70's, we went abroad on a buying trip, accompanied by our

resident wine expert and “adopted son”, Michael Fridjhon. We travelled with

Michael around the French winelands, namely Bordeaux, as well as to

Reims, a town in the Champagne district, which is the champagne capital of

France. I felt so anxious about this trip that I did not even want a single fleck

of green in any piece of luggage brought along with us. I would not even

pack a green neck tie.

We had not been in Reims long when Michael heard a commotion

coming from our room and knocked on our hotel door, wanting to know if

anything was wrong. He found me most upset. I had just discovered that

Sylvia had had the audacity to bring with her an emerald green dress. I

demanded that the dress be removed from the room immediately. Michael

saved the day by offering to take the dress and he arranged for it to be

packed with shipments of champagne that were being sent to us.

That evening, we were being hosted by Lanson to a dinner at the

Chateau belonging to the controlling shareholder.We had the sole South

African agency for Lanson Champagne which came in bottles of all different

sizes, from the very large salmanazar to the quarter bottles. In French style,

the food and champagne at the dinner were superb. We had already been

offered the use of Lanson's helicopter to get from Reims to Beaune - capital

of the Burgundy wine trade - where we had appointments that same day

with our suppliers, Bouchard Pere & Fils, an offer Michael had accepted on

our behalf, recognising that a short helicopter flight would save us five hours

of road travel.

At the dinner, Lanson's director mentioned that a private helicopter

owned by one of the opposition champagne companies had had a mishap

and had lost two of its customers in the air crash. He continued, by saying


102

that Lanson employed a superb German helicopter pilot. As you can

imagine, this story did little to lift my mood I had felt anxious about the

jaunt ever since Michael had committed us to the helicopter option.

The next morning we arrived at the chateau behind which the helipad

was situated. Michael was the first one to walk to that area, followed closely

by Sylvia and me. Can you imagine my horror to discover that this helicopter

was green? Not only was it was green INSIDE, it was also green OUTSIDE!!

Michael knew me well enough to recognise that a delayed departure

would only give me the opportunity to raise my many objections to the mode

of transport - and to its colour scheme. In fluent French he explained the

situation to our hosts and ensured that, following hurried goodbyes, Sylvia

and I were immediately rushed on board and seated at the back. Michael sat

in front with the pilot. The helicopter took off, went straight up and then

remained hovering in mid-air while the pilot consulted the map and obtained

details from Michael for accurate directions.

That was enough for me. I decided that as it did not look as though the

pilot knew where he was going, it would be far better if he just took us

straight down instead. Here again, Michael translated what the pilot was

saying and the journey continued as planned and, within less than half an

hour, we had arrived at a private airstrip. There, two very attractive young

French ladies dressed in the chic Avis uniform were awaiting our arrival as

Michael had booked a car for the rest of the journey. I confess that I felt most

relieved to get out of that GREEN helicopter.

I do not know how we would we have managed without Michael. He is

truly unique. He is most knowledgeable, kind and caring and is always there

when we need him. Michael and his late father, Harold, had originally

encouraged me to write my memoirs. He has ben involved, on the sidelines,

all the time of recording these memoirs. Meeting him was one of the most

fortunate events in our lives.

Thinking back to our first visit to the Wine and Spirit Guild of America

in Dallas, Mark and our advertising agents had arranged for us to visit South

Fork, the ranch which was used for the then popular TV series Dallas. This

show so captivated South African audiences that almost everything came to

a standstill at 9pm on a Tuesday night when it showed. Restaurants,

cinemas and theatres had to close their doors on Tuesdays due to lack of


103

support. In anticipation of this special trip, Sylvia and I had bought

authentic cowboy outfits, boots and all, topping it with ten-gallon cowboy

hats in Dallas.

Mark had arranged in Johannesburg for us to be accompanied on the

long journey there by a professional photographer as we hoped to use the

photos in an advertising campaign. What a disappointment it was when we

arrived there to find an empty set, consisting of a fence and the facade of a

mansion. We were truly in the “sticks”. The only vehicle that passed us on

that desolate country road was a school bus. We were really disillusioned by

Dallas life. We did not even catch a glimpse of JR lurking around.

Notwithstanding all this, the photographer captured the magic of the

Dallas set by getting me to sit on the fence and he zoomed in on the house,

which on the photographs appeared to be very close up. We were excited

about these but the wind was soon knocked out of my sails and the

disillusionment really set in when we were told that there was a copyright on

the Dallas series and we were not allowed to use the photos. It was fun but

what a waste of time and money.

104


Chapter 13

From Boeing hangar to supermarket

Believe it or not we were once again bursting at the seams and one

day when I was very stressed, a fastidious customer irritated me to such an

extent that in temper I stated that I had had enough of the business and

would like to get out. As I have mentioned, I did have a very short fuse.

"Are you serious?" he asked.

“Yes!”

Two days later he phoned to make an appointment to bring in a

prospective buyer. He introduced us to a charming gentleman by the name

of Tony Bloom of the Premier Group, who as a wine connoisseur was one of

our regular customers.

stThe Christmas season, which for us started on the 1 November, was

approaching. We were so busy making up hampers as gifts for our corporate

customers and making up bulk liquor orders, we had no time for further

discussion and the matter was left in abeyance.

After the end of the busy period, we went on vacation to Muizenberg

to join our cousins, who had a holiday home there. We received a phone call

from Tony Bloom. He said his father wanted to meet us and gave us the

number of his father’s beach box where we would find him.

At that time many colourfully painted small wooden chalets had been

erected on the Muizenberg beachfront, which stretched for miles. One could

let these from the city council to use for changing into and out of swimwear,

for storing beach chairs, umbrellas and some refreshments. Holidaymakers

would sit in front of their regular boxes, and hold court, knowing that their

friends would know where they were.

We soon located Mr Bloom's box and had great pleasure in meeting

Joe Bloom, chairman of the Premier Group, and his charming wife Margaret.

We instantly felt at ease in his company. We sat on the warm sands

discussing the proposition with the sounds of the sea gulls overhead and the

waves in front - this was a business meeting and a boardroom with a

difference and the informality and friendly atmosphere was to be the

105

hallmark of our relationship with the Blooms.

Joe Bloom told us that the Premier Group would consider buying 50%

of the business on condition that the Goldberg family continued to run it as

they were doing at that time. He emphasised that he would instruct his staff

not to interfere in any way in the running of the business.

Upon our return to Johannesburg Tony Bloom again took up the

matter. Once Sylvia and I had had the privilege of meeting these charming

and great businessmen from one of South Africa’s largest listed companies,

I now became enthusiastic at the idea of having Premier as a “big brother”

and a fifty percent stake holder while remaining in the industry.

I already had an idea of expanding onto a huge adjacent site of about

three acres on Louis Botha Avenue. The cash injection from the 50% sale

would enable us to purchase this property so that we could do so. Our deal

was completed with Tony Bloom and the two families merged amicably. I

only have fond memories and utter respect for the Bloom Family.

Shortly afterwards, in March 1978, Sylvia and I attended the second

Nederburg wine auction held at the Nederburg Wine Estate at Paarl. In those

days a sumptuous lunch was served buffet style.

The auction took place in a marquee and as one could well imagine

the heat and the concentration of the bidding took its toll. Patrick Grubb of

Sotheby's of London was the auctioneer and we spent the entire afternoon

bidding successfully for a large

variety of prestigious South African

wines. Just before the auction was

finalised, an announcement was

made by Mr Grubb, that a special

bottle of Martell cognac would be

auctioned at the close of the event,

the funds of which would be

donated to the Southern Cross Fund

which looked after our soldiers on

the Border.

I mentioned to Sylvia that I had decided to buy the bottle and I

opened the bidding at R500. Mr Sam Linz then stood up real tall and said:

“We, of the Rebel Liquor Stores, bid R1 000”.


Benny fervently bidding at the Nederburg Auction, accompanied by Sylvia and Stanley

106

The press and photographers ran towards Mr Linz and all I did was

raise my finger and offer R1 500.

Mr Linz dropped back into his seat and the bid was knocked down to

me. Bedlam broke out because nowhere in the world at that stage had a

bottle of cognac ever fetched the price of R1 500. It was overwhelming. At

this stage, the value R1500 for a

bottle of ANY spirit was a mind-

boggling price. My intention had

only been to make a donation to the

Southern Cross Fund. I had not

anticipated that there would have

been all this fuss.

What with all the interviews

we eventually left Paarl at 7pm and

I said to the family that Tony Bloom

would think that I had gone crazy.

This news item was featured on the

8pm SABC TV news. Just as soon as

we reached the hotel room the

telephone started to ring. The first

call was from Tony. I froze and held

my breath and all I heard was:

“Benny, you are a star!”

The publicity that this charity purchase brought, was something that

in my wildest dreams I neither

imagined nor expected. What a stir

it caused. It even continued until

the 1st Apri l some weeks

afterwards.

With prior notice, a morning

radio show called Radio Today,

phoned me to ask if I would consent

to a prank they were planning

during a live early morning

broadcast. They would phone me to

From Boeing hanger to supermarket

Benny ecstatic after paying top price for this bottle, as all funds went to charity for this item

Benny and Sylvia after the Auction being photographed by the press as being the No 1 buyer

107

enquire if it were true that when I had opened the much-discussed bottle of

cognac it had contained some concoction and not the genuine cognac. I

verily agreed to the prank as an April Fool joke.

Within an hour of the broadcast the local Martell agents called me to

complain about my statement. Then I received a call from Martell Cognac in

France, reprimanding me for having made such a derogatory statement. I

am not sure whether France has an April Fool’s

Day or not.

This new story now hit the headlines in

our daily newspapers AGAIN, where it was

confirmed that this was, indeed, only an April

Fool’s joke and that in fact the actual bottle in

question had not been opened. I believe that to

this day this valuable bottle of Cognac remains

unopened and undrunk, so I am unable to

vouch for the quality of its contents.

For the next 20 years or so, it became a well-known fact that the final

charity item on the auction was always bought by us. The highest price I th thpaid was R20 000.00 for a bottle of genuine 18 /19 century Constantia

made by the Cloetes on the estate established by Simon van der Stel who

was the Governor of the Cape from 1679 – 1699. The bottle came from the

cellar of the Duke of Northumberland and there was some uncertainty about

the vintage. His family had acquired the 1791 and the 1809, but over time

the bottles had been consolidated into one storage bin. Without labels, no

one could say which year was which. I believe the retail and restaurant

liquor trade enjoyed trying to see how far up they could push us.

We displayed that bottle of 200-year-old wine in a special cabinet in

the store together with the other wines bought over the years at the charity

auctions. We left those wines in the store when we eventually sold the store

to the Premier Group, believing they were an integral part of the Benny

Goldberg legend. Unfortunately, the new owner, who hailed from Cape Town

had different views.

One year – at the Nederburg Auction - after a very tiring day trying to

concentrate on the bidding, we found that we had actually purchased 25%

of the entire quantity of wines placed on auction that day. Naturally, we had


From left: Benny, Marlene Steyn, Ghys Steyn & Sylvia with her matching hat, at the Nederburg Auction

108

done our homework beforehand, and as a team, had attended the pre-

auction wine tasting, and had decided on the quantity and price we would

prefer to pay for each different item on auction.

Sylvia, sitting by my side, was quick to calculate when prices and

quantity did not go as we had expected and when, as the only woman buyer

at the auction, she raised the bidding paddle with our buyer's number on it,

Patrick Grubb often remarked, “Sold to the lady with the delightful hat!” and

he always kept an eye open for our paddle.

Whilst most people regarded the Nederburg Auction as a very special

gala day similar to a day at Ascot, we took it seriously and became renowned

for the selection of Nederburg Auction wines that were always in stock in our

store. We developed a clientele, who waited anxiously each year to

purchase “Auction Wines“.

In 1978 Rand Daily Mail newspaper decided to hold the first wine

festival - this was five years after we had started bringing a large variety of

wines up to the Transvaal. Many of the liquor stores were connected to

producers, like Western Province was to Distillers Corporation, and they had

always recommended their own house products.

Naturally we wanted to join this wine festival, however, after the price

war debacle, we were not popular with many of those opposition liquor

stores and we were informed that there were already too many participating

stores holding tastings of South African wines at the festival, but, if we really

wanted to take part, they would only allow us to hold a tasting of sparkling

wines - the name used for South Africa’s own champagne.

The wine festival was held for three or four days and it was held in a

home that had belonged to Charles Engelhardt and had been sold – but the

new owner had not yet taken occupation. As it was a completely new

concept, nobody knew what to expect. We came up with the idea that, as we

were only doing sparkling wine and as we only had been allocated a tiny

space in a room at the swimming pool area, we would put up white Broderie

Anglaise parasols with some flowers.

We managed to find a small ornamental fountain and instead of

letting water pump through this, we naturally came up with a unique idea of

mixing sparkling wine and cassis liquer, this combination is known as "Kir

Royale". What an outstanding success the stall was!!


109

One taste of our Kir Royale and many of the wine tasters decided, “No

more experimenting with dreary other wines. Let's stick to this fun party

drink.”

We were bombarded by eager tasters. We were simply astounded by

this unexpected success and as the first night was a Friday night, and as

everyone had worked very hard all day, this was really strenuous work.

When I together with the boys eventually joined them at the festival

after closing the store, I noticed what great difficulty Sylvia and a female

staff member were experiencing in manning the stall as well as trying to

open the sparkling wine bottles. Naturally I went to the ladies’ rescue and

took over and started popping corks from the sparkling wine bottles. This

proved great fun for me as well, as the corks shot up and hit the ceiling. This

little unplanned extra gimmick was not only great fun for me, but brought

the tasters around to join in these shenanigans.

(The following week was not so funny, when the bill arrived for the

damage that I personally had caused to the ceiling in the Pool and Music

Room. Nothing I could do but pay it with a smile.)

And then in the middle of all the excitement and popping corks the

news came through that Stanley’s wife Beverlee, had given birth to our very thfirst grandson, Bradley, that night of the 6 of February 1978.

The next day the Rand Daily Mail's

headline read

New Champagne born to the

Goldbergs

on opening night of the wine

festival.

Business continued, and as well as

being busy with Bradley - Stanley, Uncle

Mark and the proud grandparents were also

busy with another new “baby” which, when

completed, measured 95 000 square feet

(9500 square metres). The designing and


Bradley, age 5

110

planning of our new building was handled by very efficient professional

people together with Stanley, Mark and myself and we gave them details of

the layout that I required for them to work on and include in the plans. I

wanted to incorporate into this new building so many of the features and

details I had learnt. There were the experiences I had gained from my

existing store, from the actual selling area, from the administration section,

the computers and from the newly acquired National Cash Register points-

of-sale and I knew full well which areas needed improvement.

With Sylvia doing more than her fair share of keeping the wheels oiled

and rolling in the existing store, my two sons and I were given the

opportunity to start planning a very large complex that would finally link up

with the existing supermarket we were in. The entire property would span

over three streets. Eventually with Stanley and Mark’s help the architect got

the plans approved.

The first time that I realised that the show was actually on the road

was when the excavators arrived and dug a huge hole, which was the width

of this entire new site. After that two levels of basements were built and the

construction of the ground level building took place.

When we visited the excavation, the basement area was likened to a

Boeing hangar. The so-called opposition who came snooping around were

happy to pour cold water on my ideas. This “gi-normous” place, we were

told, would become a white elephant. It could only be used as a bowling

alley or even a rugby field. Fortunately once I have thought a thing through,

I am not easily put off. Our amazing, caring partner, fondly known as Papa

Joe Bloom, frequently visited us at the site and he gave us all the

encouragement we so badly needed.

From 1978 building operations took well over a year and while the

new building was taking shape we were continuing operations at the

existing store. What a mammoth task that was, not only for me but also for

Sylvia and the boys as well. Fortunately by now Mark had returned from

Stellenbosch with some knowledge of wines. He came back to this gigantic

new store being built and immediately became involved with Stanley and

me in the actual store design, consulting on the overall ambience, design

elements of the store, including materials, finishes, lighting and, later,

elements of brand building, as well as starting to liase with our advertising


111

agency for Benny Goldberg's marketing and communications.

When we started advertising in the newspapers in the early days,

Sylvia and I always used to come up with the ideas. However placing these

ideas in the papers was not so easy. We had to try to get the best position in

the newspaper, to have the advertisement placed on the day we wanted it

and of course proof reading. We became so brazen that we then decided to

do a double page spread in the Star newspaper. The heading was supposed

to have read, in bold letters,

BENNY GOLDBERG CRASHES THE PRICE BARRIER.

We could not wait for the first edition to come out, and can you

imagine our horror, when we read,

BARNEY GOLDBERG CRASHES THE PRICE BARRIER.

Was this a proof reading error? Somehow, as there was a Barney

Kramer in retail liquor, this error

always remained a mystery. After

much heartache, this mistake was

rectified that same day in the

subsequent two later editions of the

Star.

A month or so later, a young

man came and introduced himself

to me. His name was Trevor

Goodgoll. He told me that he owned

an advertising agency, that he had

no experience in liquor advertising

but asked if I would give him

permission to roam around the

store and at a later stage, prepare a

presentation for me. Trevor did

outstanding work for us and from


An award winning advert

112

then on did all our

advertising and received

many awards for some

of our retail advertising.

With Trevor in charge,

Sylvia and I no longer

had a headache from

trying experiences with

the newspapers. Later,

Mark went on to work

with him and we had a

good re la t i onsh ip .

Trevor now lives in

Canada, but remains in touch with the Goldbergs. He is as successful in

advertising in Canada as he was in South Africa.

When I started planning for the new store there were so many ideas

flooding my head that I had to put them down on paper. Many long and

sleepless nights were devoted to planning the interior of this store and the

family arguments continued until we reached agreement. I got tremendous

support from Stanley in the building operation and the interior had now to

be shaped and moulded to our needs.

Above the ground floor store

another level, designated for

executive offices, board room and

kitchen, was built, as well as a large

room which we envisaged using for

lectures to staff and customers and

for wine tasting, if and when this

would be allowed. When I planned

this room, I was looking into the

future. Wine tasting, at that time,

was not allowed on off-licence

premises unlike in hotels, which were called on-licensed premises.

Fortunately, this has now changed and wine tastings and promotions are

common in many stores. The two executive offices included showers as we


One of our numerous eye-catching busses on the streets of Johannesburg

113

The Grape Trek advert

spent well over 12 hours a day on the premises.

The interior design and furnishings were chosen by Mark and

approved by us all. The first office was mine and had a large glass window

from where I could observe activities in the store below. This was especially

built there for that purpose. There was also a platform that butted out before

the entrance to my office from where the entire ground floor could be seen.

The entire store and offices were air-conditioned, making it a

comfortable work zone. The actual store had a highly specialised electrical

system including a back-up generator for emergencies. In that era, that

kind of system was revolutionary and unique. We also installed a public

address system to give staff instructions and to make announcements to the

customers on specials and other items of interest.

A large despatch area was designated that was to be divided into

three sections: one for calling orders, the second for deliveries and the third

for returns. Another section was created for glass washing machines. The

boys and I put a lot of thought into

creating adequate refrigeration for

beers and wines. We were delighted

that we would have our own bonded

warehouse on the premises, which

was approved by the Department of

Customs and Excise.

Now came the mammoth

task of planning the layout of the

fittings and the width of the aisles

required. It was finally decided to

display South African wines in

alphabetical order as there was

such a tremendous range. This was another first in the industry, which made

it so much easier for customers, as well as being a boon for our sales and

packing staff. Then space had to be allocated for French wines, which

required a fair amount of place, as they had to be sorted into regions. In the

bulk beer and whisky section we had to ensure that the floor was reinforced

sufficiently to take the weight of our bulk stock.


114

Interior of new store Wine Aisle, where all wines were displayed in alphabetical order. Note the wide aisles for easy access

Provision also had to be made for a case lot section. This was an area

allocated close to the tills, which was fully manned at all times so that

customers could order their case lots requirements while they continued

with their single bottle shopping. Suppliers recognised our large volumes

and accordingly gave us rebates and incentives.

One gondola was for various glasses – drinking, champagne, beer,

and sherry – for home bars. I started a cigar section with a superb selection.

We also sold cigarettes at cost.

Because of working on one level we had a whole maze of conveyor

belts leading from the basement to various areas of the store. The cases

were brought up from the basement by conveyor belt and placed for the

customer’s convenience in a trolley to be taken to the tills with the balance

of their purchases. We had 16 checkout points and worked out the

measurements so that the customer could not push a trolley through.

Purchases would have to be off-loaded and then re-loaded onto another

trolley. For the convenience of our shoppers we provided a parking lot of at

least one and a half acres.

It was truly to be the largest liquor supermarket in the world!

From Boeing hanger to supermarketFrom Boeing hanger to supermarket

115

South African wine section with Cape Dutch gable


116

Just another view of the new liquor supermarket

One of the well known slogans of the store

Chapter 14

The world's largest liquor supermarket opens

The time had arrived to start planning the opening ceremony for what

was to be a totally new concept in selling liquor - a liquor supermarket. It

was most important to work out

what sort of specials to offer that

would entice both loyal old

customers and inquisitive new

customers into the new building.

I came up with the idea of

opening our modern 1979 shop

using 1959 prices, which would only

apply to certain lines of brandy and

whisky. Red-hot specials would

follow. This entailed many meetings

to negotiate the opening prices and

it was time for Sylvia to sharpen her

pencil to see what could be

achieved with the suppliers and the wine farmers in order to get large

quantities of their products at very special prices. This was not too difficult

because of the good record we had

with our suppliers and because they

knew that this time we really meant

business. Many meetings and

bargaining sessions took place and

amicable arrangements were

agreed upon.

A hectic time followed with

the existing store still in operation

and the month-end rush looming;

there was the work involved with

our advertising agents producing

the special supplement to the With Stanley and Mark, making up the entire Goldberg team

Ron Kapon’s article in the American magazine, Wine Spectator

117

Sunday Times; planning the newspaper advertising campaign; making

arrangements for a large official opening; receiving incoming stock for the

new storerooms; getting the

gondolas filled; filling shelves and

bins and organising point of sale

signs.

Mark worked closely with

Trevor Goodgoll, managing director

of Goodgoll, Said, our advertising

agency, for the big launch in April

1979. They were a great innovative

team and our advertising campaign

after being steered by Mark, as well

as the rest of the Goldberg team,

resulted in superb creative work and immediate brand recognition. Mark

had the pleasure of working with them for the first single retail store to go on

South African National TV to promote the largest liquor store in the world.

This advert flighted on national

television and proved an amazing

success.

Mark did not work full-time

for us for long. He went to work for a

short time at the advertising

agency, as a holiday job, to

understand the entire marketing

process. He related so well to it and

was offered a fulltime marketing

position. Despite working on

progressively larger accounts, he

still continued to spend Saturday

mornings, busier times and

Christmas working at Benny

Goldberg's.

I just don’t know what I

would have done without the help I


This shot of the store was part of the TV advert

Not quite sure how we managed to look so fresh, having worked days and nights to be ready for this great opening

118

received from Sylvia, from the boys and from my devoted staff. Very little

sleep was had by us all. I would go so far as to say that the excitement of this

new challenge charged us with extra energy enabling us to cope.

thThe official opening took place on the morning of the 27 April 1979

and what an exciting and memorable event that was.

The “Benny Goldberg Express”, a South African Airways flight from

Cape Town, brought many of the wine farmers and other prominent people

from the Cape liquor industry. Riaan Cruywagen, a popular TV personality

was our Master of Ceremonies.

Many of our guests, including the

wine farmers and the upper

echelons of the liquor industry were

thrilled to be able to meet him in

person as well as Vera Johns, a

South African beauty queen, who

was also there. All members of our

immediate family as well as close

friends attended this function,

which ended with a sumptuous

brunch. All this took place in the actual store.

The largest liquor supermarket in the world was officially opened by

Senator Owen Horwood, the Minister of Finance, who unveiled a plaque in

the entrance at the front door. In his address to the gathering, Senator

Horwood was very complimentary about what had been achieved including

the extent of our range and our export department. I then replied and

addressed our guests.

Every guest present signed the Visitors Book and now that I look back

through the pages it is heart-warming to read remarks such as:

Breathtaking Magic Super Stuff

Impressive to say the least

Cheers to the Leader of Liquor

You achieved the impossible

Larger than Life

The world’s largest liquor supermarket opens

119

VIP Grand Opening of the store

And from a guest from a distillery in Ireland –

I have been in stores all over the world

but never in a store like Benny Goldberg’s

One of the guests, a friend of the family, and a particularly good friend

of Stanley and Mark’s, had brought a lovely young lady to the opening on

their first date, and signed the book, ‘Mr and Mrs’, with a rave report. The

young lady was quite stunned by this assumption, but happily, they were

married a short while later, with Mark as their best man, making the guest

book perfectly correct.

Out of the many gifts, flowers, plaques and letters from all over the

world one gift of an onyx pen stand that was bought from Katz and Lourie

read:

BENNY GOLDBERG

THE UNDISPUTED LEADER OF THE WORLD

A MAN OF GREAT COURAGE AND DETERMINATION

FROM A LONGSTANDING FRIEND AND ADMIRER.

Another plaque says:

PRESENTED BY

SEAGRAM OVERSEAS SALES COMPANY

TO

BENNY & SYLVIA GOLDBERG

WHOSE DEDICATION AND INTEGRITY MADE POSSIBLE

THE OPENING OF THIS,

THE WORLD’S LARGEST LIQUOR SUPERMARKET

thAPRIL 27 1979

We kept many of these mementoes and enjoy the memories they

bring back.

While on this high, the adrenaline flowed and we all worked the entire

weekend to be ready for the grand opening week, starting on Monday, the th30 April, 1979.


120

The Sunday Times

carried a supplement we

had prepared on the new

liquor supermarket, and

the front page featured

our wedding photograph,

with a headline asking

what this couple had done

during the past 25 years.

My old golfing

friend Bob Connolly, the

cartoonist, featured the

opening in his Breakfast

Quip in the Rand Daily

Mail. His cartoon featured

a conversation between

two men. The questioner

asked why did Senator

Horwood open the Benny

G o l d b e r g L i q u o r

Supermarket in the

m o r n i n g a n d t h e

Johannesburg Stock

Exchange in the afternoon of the

same day and the answer was that

he did the one with the largest

turnover first. That was some joke

that was!

The festive atmosphere of

the grand opening lasted the

entire week during which certain

items were sold at the actual price

they had gone for in 1959, 20

years previously. During that week

a total of 40 000 people went


Pylon to be seen from far away and the parking stretching from two streets up to the largest liquor supermarket

121

Store buzzing during the opening week

through the supermarket. Lengthy queues formed because we could only

admit and handle a few hundred people at a time and strict control had to be

enforced. Customers were only allowed in once trolleys became available.

The climax of the

week was on the Friday and

Saturday. The Traffic

Department was out in full

force to control the flow!

The queue stretched from

our front door right down to

Louis Botha Avenue! We

had to close the doors and

only allow a limited amount

of would-be customers in at

a time! We were forced to

control the crowd entering

the store as all the trolleys

were being used!

Fortunately we were able to keep everybody happy. I do not think

any of my staff will forget that week. Robbie Hotz described it like

this:

“WOW! What an eye-opener and what an opening. Speaking of

personality, there were plenty of them, such as Bill Hailey & the

Comets, rugby players, politicians, and there was even a full

Dixieland band – what a vibe! What a buzz! I was in the store for ten

solid days, the specials were INCREDIBLE, Corona Brandy – R1.69,

top of aisle seven. Once the gondola bins were empty, customers

were hanging on for new stock to be delivered. It reminded me of

people hanging on to an overcrowded train or bus. Other specials that

come to mind include Johnny Walker Red at R4.99 a bottle.”

We placed a sign saying ‘Maximum 2 bottles per customer’ above one

of our red-hot special bins which contained an absinthe called “Pernod”, with

a flavour of aniseed, which we were selling at an extremely low price. Whilst

our staff were trying to fill the bin, we overheard quite a few people saying,

“Great! We managed to get 2 bottles of Pernod! Not quite sure what it is, or


122

Store buzzing during the opening week

how to drink it, but a bargain is a bargain!”

What a week that was! How we and our staff survived was a miracle,

even with the many extra helpers, students, wine promoters and anyone

else who was prepared to help. I had one very big stipulation that applied

to each and everyone working in the store and also to any liquor reps visiting

– they were NOT allowed to park in our large parking lot, as this was

reserved for our customers to make it easier for them to gain access. How

our suppliers were able to continue delivering more and more goods to us

was a bigger miracle, because we sold out just as fast as stock arrived.

Throughout this time we were struggling to get in more deliveries,

bearing in mind that we had stocked up as much as we possibly could before

hand. On the Thursday we actually ran out of Castle cans and were told by

SA Brewery, Isando, that they too were depleted of stock, due to our

demands. We gave this information to our disc jockey, who broadcast the

fact that we had sold out of Castle cans and that there was no more stock left

in the Transvaal. Wow! Unbeknown to us someone from SA Breweries was

in the store at the time and, being most embarrassed by this

announcement, immediately arranged for further supplies to come to us,

overnight, from their Durban depot. Our main concern was that we had to be

able to keep the promises we had made in our adverts and supply our

customers with all their needs. This included searching the basement for

rare stock for clients, and checking on Despatch orders.

Mark described me “ as constantly standing on the balcony, with a

hawk's eye, directing staff like the captain of the ship, making sure that

every customer's needs were always catered for.” The balcony had a

maritime theme and was decorated with an assortment of maritime

attachments like compasses, clocks, buoys marked SS Goldberg and the

like.

Benny Goldberg’s Liquor Supermarket became a legend, with a most

upmarket status. Restaurants, pubs and clubs bought from us, considering

us as a one-stop shop. They came from far off places to get supplies.

Suddenly I found myself a role model for aspirant businesspeople.

All our married lives, Sylvia and I, were ardent Frank Sinatra fans. I

loved to use the famous words from one of Frankie’s songs:

“I DID IT MY WAY.”


123

In 1980 I had a visit from Professor Sandra van der Merwe who, with

her husband André, headed the Witwatersrand Graduate School of

Business. She was impressed by the store and with the progress that I had

made and invited me to address the

Business School. Tony Factor was

also chosen to attend.

In introducing us to their

final-year MBA students, Prof Andre

van der Merwe said that Tony and I

were exceptionally good marketing

men. He emphasised that neither of

us had had a formal education. This

created a great deal of interest and

we were bombarded with a lot of

questions which we answered,

illustrating various experiences. Tony and I were presented with black

leather writing pads in appreciation, which I still have today.

In 1980 we had the chutzpah

to go onto national TV with an

advert showing a shuttle landing on

the moon with voices from the

shuttle asking what it was that was

so fascinating south of the Tropic of

Capricorn.

Another astronaut answered

that it was the Benny Goldberg

L i q u o r S u p e r m a r k e t i n

Johannesburg, the largest liquor

store in the world.

The shuttle then zoomed

downwards and in a flash a

motorised camera platform was

zapped down a very long aisle,

creating an illusion of length. This

advert caused a great stir and was


Our very own astronaut - Benny

Serious buying going on in Benny’s office with Michael, Sylvia and Stanley with one supplier

124

the talking point of the time all over South Africa and brought in many more

customers.

Benny Goldberg's Liquor Supermarket

became so much of a talking point that it

became recognised as one of the landmarks of

Johannesburg and a tourist attraction in itself.

When it was decided to launch a minitown as a

fund raising project to raise funds for the South

African National Tuberculosis Association,

SANTA, one of the prominent Johannesburg

landmarks the organisers decided to reproduce

in miniature form was Benny Goldberg's. A

small scale model of the existing exterior of the

building, with all the details has been built.

There, alongside historic buildings like

President Kruger's House, the Union Buildings, the Castle of Good Hope,

Groot Constantia, the Rissik Street Post Office

and the Table Mountain Cableway, stands

Benny Goldberg’s!

It attracts many delighted children and

their parents, both tourists and locals. Who

would have thought that a model of my shop

would one day be part of a successful

Santarama Minitown fund raising project and

that the funds collected from the entrance fees

would bring in a considerable amount of money

to assist with the fight against tuberculosis.

In December 1981 Erica Platter, a

journalist, approached us with a view to spending a day with Sylvia in order

to see what made her tick. She arrived at our home bright and early and

joined us for breakfast at 7am. Well fortified, we left for the store where she

made herself comfortable on the couch in Sylvia’s office, ready to listen,

look and take note of all the happenings as they occurred.

She made copious notes and at about 3.30 that afternoon she came

to me and begged to be taken home as she was just too exhausted to carry


Benny on the bridge overlooking the store where he either made announcements to customers or gave instructions to staff

125

Fair Lady article by Erica Platter, “The Workaholic”

on. She said that she was worn out and her head was buzzing from all the

activity she had seen. She was absolutely amazed at the way Sylvia, much

older than her, was able to multitask and cope with all the demands made on

her, notwithstanding the interruptions by telephone calls and staff queries.

Shortly afterwards an article entitled “Who is Sylvia?” appeared in the

magazine Fair Lady.

Erica’s husband, John was a wine connoisseur who was well known for

his articles on wine. When he published his first wine guide I placed an initial

order for a thousand books. He was totally bowled over but I instinctively

knew that they would be snapped up quickly and how right I was. The book

fitted easily into a pocket or a handbag, and became, and still is, the

reference book for customers wanting to check on John’s ratings.

His second book was an even greater hit and again I was first in with a

massive order, which, as before, sold just as soon as stock hit the shelves.

For well over twenty-five years this book, an annually updated reference,

has become the “bible of the wine industry” and no self-respecting wine

lover would be without Platter’s guide.

A different interviewer was Jani Allan, a well-known journalist and

feature writer for the Sunday Times, who concentrated on business leaders

and whose articles became a talking point each weekend. She was a very

bright woman who quickly summed up what my family and I were like, and

in her article, which appeared on January 3, 1982, she described me as a

Mega Mensch and concluded the article by stating:

“You don’t need road-manners if you are a ten-ton truck. But Benny

has them. It is clear that their home is filled with a rare warmth, love

and respect. He is a very special kind of man and I can only come up

with a slight variation of a description that has been given to him

before:

Benny Goldberg is a Mega-Mensch!”

Jani also included this interview in a book of her interviews which she

published called Face Value.

There was much amusement at an article that appeared in Finance

Week, September 1985.

At a lunch of stockbrokers, attended by Max Pollak the other day, a


126

London guest was having it explained how complex were Sa’s cultural

divisions. It wasn’t only a black/white situation, he was told, but

within the black community there were many tribal differences and

allegiances.

Whereupon the London guest asked the two black waiters in

attendance about their affiliations. Said the one:

“Me, I’m a Zulu. My chief is Gatsha Buthelezi”.

Responded the other:

“Me, I’m from Alexandra. My chief is Benny Goldberg”.

Finance Week

September 1985

In February 1982, an article entitled “Who is Sylvia?” By Jane Fraser

appeared in Style Magazine.

As Jane Fraser said in her article:

In moments of relaxation, they resort to a “Mr Gee” and “Mrs Gee”,

but that’s as far towards familiarity as Sylvia will lean.

Said Sylvia: “How would it sound for me to come over on the intercom

and shout, “Hey! Doll! The trucks are here!’ It wouldn’t do at all.

Sylvia has an almost unnatural photographic memory. This is the

secret of the Goldberg’s success. Sylvia’s incredible memory and eye for

detail and Benny’s consummate ability in the marketing field.


127


128

generous donation

Chapter 15

King of Liquor and Queen of Wine

Life has moved on. We have been officially out of the bottle store for

twenty-five years. We have been blessed with two grandsons, namely

Bradley, who arrived during the Rand Daily Mail wine festival in 1978 and

David who arrived in 1981, the year before we sold the business, while we

were in Hawaii attending a Wine and Spirit Guild Convention, Sylvia has

always been surrounded by her five boys, I think she is hoping to have a few

great- granddaughters that she can enjoy doing girlie-things with.

In 1987, Stanley and Beverlee, Bradley and David moved to

Australia. Then Mark moved to Cape Town. He had moved to a bigger

advertising agency in Johannesburg and worked on different accounts and

then later became a partner with three other people in a newly formed

agency. After spending a few years in this industry, he got tired of the

deadlines and pressures and took a break for a three-month management

course in Cape Town.

He quickly realised what a great life style

Cape Town had to offer, and decided to move

down there permanently. At first he worked in

the fashion world selling textile designs, via his

friend Stan Lurie, whose late father Mike Lurie

had been my good friend. Then, while looking

for a place to live, he decided to renovate an old

house, and ended up on completion, getting a

very high offer for it. As a result, he later

teamed up with Shirley Kaplan Interior Designs

and started working with Shirley, her husband

Syd, and later Benji Kotlowitz, an architect who

became their son-in-law. They bought, rebuilt

and sold properties together, and to this day

they remain very dear friends. Sadly, Sydney Kaplan passed away very

suddenly in January 2007. Mark has been involved in several businesses

since of property development, consumer marketing and electronic media

David, age 2

129

and still lives happily in Cape Town.

We decided to move down to

Cape Town so that I could stay

much longer in my beloved

Muizenberg. We were fortunate in

1981 to purchase an apartment in

what was to me the most wonderful

place on this earth - Muizenberg, a

short drive from the centre of Cape

Town. Finance Week once quoted

me as saying that my apartment at

the coast was called the “cloisters”;

because I lived cloise to the beach,

cloise to the Shul and cloise to the

shops.

Muizenberg has the most

unbelievable beach and is well

known for having the best and

safest bathing. While I was there I

regarded myself as being fortunate

to be able to swim every day, no

matter how cold or rainy it was and I

pushed to stay for six months each

year. The temperature of the water

did not bother me. For the past 20

years I have always swum at 8:30

am. This exercise was wonderful for

me, not only physically but mentally

too, and I was then ready to face the

day joyfully. We were fortunate over

the years to develop a regular

Swimming Club, who all met in our

apartment and then we walked as a

group down to the beach. This was

the highlight of the day for most of


Cruising the Mediterranean Sea and loving it

Proud Benny with his sons and grandsons

Benny’s box - No 15 Surfers Beach about to enjoy his daily pleasure with swimming buddies. This was Benny’s beach residence where friends passed by to say hello

130

the “Club Members”. So much that in

memory of the passing of Roseline

Shapiro in 2006, a bench was erected at

Dalebrook Beach, close to Muizenberg,

with a plaque stating:

“In memory of Roseline Shapiro

from the Cinnabar 8:30am

Swimming Club”

I continued my daily swimming

from 1981 right up until early 2007 but

when the water turned cold during

April/May, I would go into the sea as

Benny Goldberg and come out as Sylvia

Goldberg! This expression of mine

caused much laughter amongst many people.

Even in Muizenberg we maintained our

interest in wines, and being so close to such

breathtaking areas of the Winelands, we

continued to be in touch with quite a few of the

estates. We were always invited to attend the

annual Nederburg Wine Auction. They never

forgot that our charity bids had always been

tops and great publicity for the actual

Nederburg Auction. Obviously our purchases

had contributed to a substantial percentage of

the entire auction. At this annual function,

Sylvia and I were received so warmly by so

many different people - by wholesale liquor

companies, estates, co- ops, the Wine

Magazine publications, Masters of Wine, and everyone connected with the

trade – and they always had an anecdote to share about their experiences

with the Goldbergs.

Not only had we been instrumental in introducing South African wines

onto Johannesburg tables and in introducing overseas wines to the South

African palate, we were also involved in getting South African wines into the


Swimming Club breakfast after 8:30am swim. Fun being had by, from left, Benny, Bradley, Sylvia & dear Roseline Shapiro

131

Benny with “swimming carer” Tyson. Brad named Tyson “Benny’s personal valet”

overseas market. Our involvement with the Swedish market happened quite

fortuitously.

We had known a Swedish lady, for some time. She and her family had,

like us, a holiday apartment in Muizenberg. She had met her husband in

London and subsequently relocated

to South Africa. We were unaware

that her brother, Bertil Nejman lives

in Göteborg, Sweden, where he is

part of a large liquor business

specialising in selling imported

wines to the sophisticated Swedish

market, particularly French, Italian

and Portuguese wines.

In 1990 Bertil asked his sister

if she knew anyone in the wine industry in South Africa. She said that she

knew the perfect people to whom to speak, Benny and Sylvia Goldberg. (By

that stage we had sold Benny Goldbergs.)

She questioned Sylvia about whether she could help to get South

African wines exported to Sweden.

Sylvia used to be very involved in

exporting local wine, but as

apartheid-induced sanctions began

to bite harder, it became very

difficult to do so as most European

countries would not allow any South

African wine into their country.

Sweden in particular was a virulent

opponent of apartheid. On the

strength of her discussion with

Sylvia, her brother, Bertil, came out

on a visit to Cape Town the following

year and, with his sister acting as his interpreter, we took them on a tour of

numerous wine estates.

“This was the first time that I had the pleasure of meeting so many

fine gentlemen in the wine industry", said Bertil, "As soon as we arrived at


Mark joins Benny and Sylvia at the Nederburg Auction, after they had already retired

Michael and Janice Fridjhon join the Goldbergs at the Nederburg Auction

132

the first estate, I knew that I was extremely fortunate to be in the company

of the Goldbergs as it was so obvious that this couple was held in high

esteem by everyone in the wine industry. This was expressed very well the

first time we met Mr. Spatz Sperling of Delheim Wines.

"We met over coffee and cake at the delightful coffee shop in

Stellenbosch called Oom Samie se Winkel. Spatz remarked that if he

supplied me with wines for Sweden, he would not need any trade references

because I was a friend of the Goldbergs, whom at that stage had been his

friends and most worthwhile customers for well over 35 years. I described to

him in detail our customer base and the sort of wines we stocked. Spatz, in

his inimitable way, with his unique sense of humour, kept moaning about the

fact that he would have to pick up the bill for the coffee and cakes the girls

had ordered. As the warm conversation continued, the next thing we knew

Spatz had ordered champagne. After we had

finished off two bottles, we seemed to know

each other very much better, and naturally

Spatz insisted that this was his treat."

At that time Bertil’s brother-in-law held

a senior position at Volvo in Göteborg. Bertil

told his family of what he considered to be his

good fortune in making instant contacts

through us. His brother-in-law mentioned to

his South African agent in the motor industry,

who happened to be in the company office at

that time, that Bertil was interested in

importing wines from South Africa. The South

African gentleman made him promise to get his

brother-in-law to phone him at his hotel that very evening, as he knew the

ONLY people in South Africa with whom he should be dealing. As Bertil’s

brother-in-law was so insistent, Bertil out of courtesy duly called that very

evening and introduced himself. The South African explicitly told him "You

must deal with experts!"

Bertil replied very meekly that he was dealing with the "Family

Goldberg". For a few seconds, there was a dead silence on the phone.


Mis South Africa, Amy Kleynhans, with her arm around a coy Benny

133

“Those were the very people I was going to recommend to

you”, said the stunned South African motor agent sitting thousands of miles

away in cold and snowy Göteborg.

Bertil Nejman made a point of returning the following year, this time

without his sister to interpret.

“I had to try and speak the very best English I could," Bertil

reminisced. " During my trips on the road with Sylvia making conversation

was very difficult because of the language barrier. Whilst we were driving

one day, Sylvia switched on a radio-tape. Frank Sinatra was singing, and,

“guess what?”, apart from wine, we had found another common interest.

Being of a similar age group I, like Sylvia, knew all the English words to any

Frank Sinatra song. So there we were, travelling on the country roads in a

Swedish Volvo, singing merrily to all the Frank Sinatra tunes. I could not

believe my good fortune in finding a lady of Sylvia’s stature who was so

knowledgeable, not only about Sinatra and about wines, but who also

understood how to ship wines from various estates in one container, and

with her astute costing ability, she made quite sure that every possible

space in the container was used to bring down the cost of the shipment,

which was quite costly because of the distance."

Bertil had to explain to the wine estate owners that in Sweden all the

wines that were sold went through a "Systembolaget" or the Government

Monopoly. Some of them were familiar with this system. Sylvia then

introduced him to Michael Fridjhon, who made suggestions to him which

wines he might consider purchasing and described the quality and

popularity of some of South Africa’s top wines. As Sweden is a very cold

country the preferred wine is a good red.

At the beginning of 1993, Denmark lifted its sanctions against South

Africa and Bertil returned to South Africa. This time we took him off to Neil

Ellis of Neil Ellis Wines, Jan Boland Coetzee of Vriesenhof, and Charles Back

of Fairview Wines. He placed an order for a full container to be shipped. He

was taking a chance because he knew that sanctions in Sweden had not yet

been lifted.

" I went back to Sweden”, said Bertil, " knowing that I had left all the

business and shipping details to be handled by this amazing efficient,

Sylvia. How fortunate for me that whilst the wines were on the water,


134

sanctions against South Africa were lifted! I am proud to say that my

company and I were the first people to bring South African wines into

Sweden. “Right from the day it landed, there was great interest from top

restaurants and hotels in these wines. Then the ‘Monopoly’ placed an order

for the first South African wines to be stocked in their numerous government

stores. “

Through us Bertil then met other people in the wine industry, namely

Dave Johnson, whose wines, Cape Bay, he succeeded in listing on the

Monopoly, as he did with boutique wines from Buitenverwachting who made

a superb wine called Christine. Business then continued on a regular basis,

and Sylvia was kept busy liasing with the estates, trying to find the quantity

he wanted of each of their superior wines and getting these shipped as soon

as possible. Once the estates realised that Bertil Nejman really meant

business on his annual visit with Sylvia and Benny to each estate, certain

wines were allocated there and then for Sweden which gave us a certain

peace of mind for that coming year.

In 1999, Bertil hosted the SAS airline wine club members,

approximately 30 in total, including the head of the Monopoly, who

happened to be a member of the club. This time Sylvia assisted him to

arrange a tour for them to the Cape. Bertil’s boss, Hendrik Dunge,

accompanied him. By then Bertil was far more fluent in English and was able

to find his way around the winelands of the Cape.

As far as Bertil and Hendrik were concerned, the biggest love in their

lives, apart from their wives and their wines, was golf. For them to be

playing in superb sunshine knowing that Sweden was snow bound and

below freezing, made their game of golf that much more enjoyable, and

they were thrilled to be able to show off their newly acquired suntans once

back in Sweden. They quite often achieved a red colour, a painful step on the

path to what they hoped would be a golden brown tan by the time they were

home. Naturally they played a lot of golf with their new-found friends in the

wine industry and had a most enjoyable time.

During a visit with the Swedish Airline, known as SAS, Wine Club tour,

Hendrik Dunge turned to Sylvia at a luncheon held at Delheim Estate and

said, to her surprise, "Could you please try and find us a house to buy in

Stellenbosch, as moving from one B & B to the next and trying to find


135

book i ngs i s be com ing an

inconvenience."

Sylvia had absolutely NO

experience in household properties,

as we had been fortunate to live in

one house for the first 35 years of

our marriage, and then moved into

an apartment. Fortunately, with

Mark's property experience, we

started a search. Any excuse for us

to explore the Winelands brought us

great pleasure.

By April 1999, we had found them a

delightful home in Franschhoek that we

simply loved. It was a guesthouse with six

bedrooms, all beautifully furnished. Thanks

to the age of internet, whilst we were

viewing the house in Franschhoek, Hendrik

and Bertil could view the pictures on their

computers in Sweden. Hendrik agreed that

the house was very beautiful, but decided

that the distance from Franschhoek to Cape

Town was too great and Stellenbosch was

where his heart was.

The following month Mark heard

about a home in Stellenbosch. As

soon as Sylvia walked in, she knew

she had found exactly what the

Swedes were looking for. Once

again, the e-mails went back and

forth and very shortly afterwards

Bertil travelled to the Cape to

confirm the deal. Since 2000, they

have had the pleasure of owning

this guest-house, which has quite a


136

Executive Magazine article showing Benny and Sylvia in so-called “retirement” in Muizenberg

Lunch in Stellenbosch with Mark

Benny being showered with gifts on his birthday, enjoying every moment of it

steady clientele and someone to look after the house all year long.

thWhen it was Sylvia’s 70 birthday, the Swedish group were there at

the Nederburg estate to celebrate with us and, in true Swedish style, the

four Swedes stood up and sang ‘Happy Birthday’ and a special tribute in

Swedish to "their" Sylvia.

In 1997, Sylvia went to Sweden, whilst in Europe, on her own, first to

Göteborg, and later Sylvia, Bertil and his wife Anne motored to Stockholm to thcelebrate the 75 birthday of Arne, his sister Ruth’s husband. This time

Sylvia also met his South African sister in Sweden, not Muizenberg. After

spending a few days in Stockholm, Sylvia returned to South Africa, but was

given strict instructions from Bertil that she had to wander around the duty-

free liquor store at the airport before leaving. To her utter amazement, in

the imported wine section she found a "South African wine area" and was

totally moved to tears when to her delight, she found that the eight South

African wines on display were all part of the wines that she had shipped to

Sweden.

Two years later, whilst in Europe, both Sylvia and I went to Sweden,

but only visited Stockholm. Bertil, Ruth and Arne treated us with warm

hospitality and Bertil arranged for the four of us and himself to go to a

special restaurant on a cobbled road that was closed to motor vehicles. He

had booked a taxi to drop us at the nearest point.

“Unbeknown to me", said Bertil, "the

Goldbergs had decided that our warm

hospitality had exceeded anything they could

have dreamt of, and shortly after entering the

restaurant, Sylvia excused herself, presumably

to go to the ladies, during which time she made

arrangements for the Goldbergs to settle the

bill. I suggested that we look at the wine list

and that the Goldbergs could choose the wines

for the evening and then they could take our

recommendations for fine Swedish food. The

wine list included quite a few South African

wines.


137

Sylvia’s 70th birthday

The prices in

Swedish Krone were

high, and with Sylvia’s

quick brain, she realised

that each bottle of South

African wine would cost

at least R700 per bottle.

She subtly suggested

that they could have

South African wines at

home, and she chose a

Chilean wine at a far, far

lower price.

I naturally respected her

request, and after a good evening

was had by all, I was simply stunned

when I called for the bill and was

told that it had already been settled.

"I would like to end my story

with a personal message to Sylvia.

“Sylvia, I know that no one in

the whole world would do

what you have done for me,

for which I sincerely thank

you. What a privilege and

pleasure it has been for me to

know the King of Liquor in

South Afr ica, and my

p e r s o n a l b u s i n e s s

experiences with the Queen

of Wine. Thank you, Sylvia. I

salute you”.

" Bertil was not aware of the

connection between a real Swedish

Queen and South African liquor.


138

Bertil Neijman with us

Benny doing his morning prayers in Johannesburg

Bradley, David and Benny at Brad’s Barmitzah in 1991 in Sidney, Australia

Josephine’s mill (built 1840) and

named after a Swedish queen is

now a museum attached to the malt

house of the Mariendahl Brewery

established by the Swede Jacob

Letterstedt in Newlands, Cape

Town, in 1822. Over the years this

Swedish brewery has been

absorbed into the giant South

African Breweries in Newlands,

which still uses the same spring to

make its beer. To be truthful, Sylvia

would rather be known as a queen

of wine than a queen of beer.

We enjoyed making new

Swedish friends, but we sorely

missed our Australian family and

tried to keep in contact and visited

as often as we could. It was good to

be called King of Liquor and Queen

of Wine by Bertil, but it was even

better to be called Grandpa and

Grandma by Bradley and David.

Naturally we were there to celebrate Bradley’s barmitzvah in 1991 and

David’s barmitzvah in 1994. These events were a great source of pride to

both of us and to this day we are not

quite sure how we managed to

produce such tall offspring, both our

sons and grandsons.

In 1998, Stanley returned to

South Africa, followed shortly

afterwards by David. After his

return Stanley became a strictly

observant Jewish man observing

the sabbath and sporting a long

139

Tall, dark and handsome: the two Goldberg grandsons in 2006

1998: Cinnabar couch. Standing: Hazel, Mark, Sylvia & Stanley. Confortable on the couch: David, Brett, Benny & Bradley

David’s Barmitzvah


black beard, now slightly grey. Fortunately for us, Bradley travels to South

Africa frequently, not only to see his father and brother, but also of course

his grandparents.

We are so happy to have rare occasions when the five Goldberg men

can be together, but our conversation is no longer devoted to liquor. One of

these occasions was my second barmitzvah, which took place on the 20th of

July 2002, and most recently for the Jewish New Year in 2006 and Passover

in 2007. Fortunately, with e-mail, Skype and telephone calls, we are able to

keep close contact with Bradley in Australia and David in Plettenberg Bay,

140

David’s Barmitzah


Stanley wishing his parents a fond, sad farewell on their departure after David’s barmitzah in Sydney, Australia in 1994

Stanley with his two sons at David’s barmitzah

David’s barmitzah 1994: Ben, Sylvia, David, Brad and Mark

Stanley and Mark with Benny at his second barmitzah

141


142


Bradley’s comments on his grandfather which appeared in the Sunday Times issue of 26 September 1982

Chapter 16

A toast to my customers and friends

I have been blessed with many good friends and my life in the liquor

business has given me some wonderful memories and I have touched some

lives.

I was moved by an appreciation that our friend Kevin Hedderwick sent

us in which he mentioned that even though his career had taken him out of

the liquor business we have always stayed in touch. He wrote that he

regretted that the Benny Goldberg landmark in Louis Botha Avenue had

ceased to exist and said:

" I count myself privileged and blessed to have been associated

during my life with this giant of a man and his remarkable wife Sylvia.

In more recent times as my professional life has developed they have

always found time to drop me a line saying how proud they are of me.

If only they knew how proud I am to make them feel proud of a young

Sales Manager who during his early career years passed through their

hands.

Over the years Mr and Mrs G, as they have become affectionately

known to me, have become friends of my family. They will always

have a very special place in my heart and I will always regard myself

as having been better off because of my long and special relationship

with this amazing couple.

God bless you both Benny and Sylvia.”

Kevin said that when he arrived on the Reef in 1980 just the sheer

mention of the name Benny Goldberg , used to instil fear in the hearts of

many of the liquor salesmen. When he got to know me better he decided I

was an absolute 'pussycat'. Sunday Times called me a Mega-Mensch, but

whatever I am called, I am a sucker when it comes to helping people in

need. I find it difficult to turn people away if the cause is genuine.

143

Thus it was that when Sid Melman, the PRO for the Glenoaks Lions

Club, asked me to implode the cooling towers of a power station – legally - I

agreed. He had had the brainwave of trying to get money for charity out of

this act of demolition and had approached the Johannesburg City Council for

permission to allow a non-official to “push the button” and pay for the

privilege.

It appealed to my sense of fun and nonconformity. After all, how

many people are able to blow up a building that was known either as a

concrete monstrosity or as a valuable relic of Johannesburg (depending, of

course, on which side was

presenting the argument for the

preservation of the Newtown

Cooling Towers)?

The cherry on the top was

that the money I was donating for

the privilege of changing the skyline

of downtown Johannesburg forever

would go towards two of the

Glenoaks projects – their Operation

Bright Sight which manufactured

and donated spectacles to the needy and the Alexandra Old Age Home.

Vision and the aged - two very needy causes. I was glad to help. Whether or

not one agreed with those implosions, at least this time some very needy

people were able to benefit and that in itself made it worthwhile.

So, one Sunday morning we assembled on the roof of the municipal

housing department’s building with a number of dignitaries. They were

there to watch the demise of two of the Newtown Cooling towers. I was

there to do the job. Just a little turn of a handle and those huge structures

were demolished. It gave me a sense of awe. Fifty years previously it had

taken many labourers 128 weeks and much effort to erect those two towers

and that Sunday it took 12 seconds for them to collapse. I watched as the

buildings staggered, sagged and crumbled to the ground.

I was not the only one. Hundreds of mums, dads and small children

were also watching, as well as camera-carrying lovers of spectacle. After the

dust had settled on the destruction of one of Johannesburg’s historical


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Benny, having pushed the lever, watches the Newtown towers crumble

landmarks, the crowd clapped and we dignitaries on the roof settled down to

mark the event with champagne and smoked salmon.

Ironically it cost more to have the towers imploded and the rubble

removed than it took to build them fifty years previously. This event was

screened that evening on the main SABC Evening News. Naturally, we

recorded this programme. What fun this was for our grandsons, Bradley

and David. They watched the implosion and collapse of the towers with

fascination, and then they rewound the tape to watch the towers erect

themselves again in slow motion. This gave them hours of pleasure!


145

One of the well known slogans of the store

In another vein, I felt it a privilege to be the recipient of an ode written

for me by a liquor friend. Not many liquor dealers have poems dedicated to

them.

ODE TO BENNY GOLDBERG

Way, way back many eras ago

Not long after discounts began

Big "B" dwelt in the town of Jo'burg

A fine example of a business man.

Ably assisted by Sylvia, his wife

They said this booze business must get a life.

Together they built the biggest store

That held the whole wide world in awe.

Traders came from all over

Paying homage to Benny's name

And BG told them his conditions,

Discounts, deals and double commissions.

Buyers arrived from near and far

By train, by plane or in their cars

Buy in bulk - get one free

Great times at Goldberg's jamboree.

The business grew, and grew, and grew

It became too big - the Goldbergs knew

So they sold out to some clever masters

With obvious results – disasters


146

I remember, in 1999, I was the recipient of another poem this one

composed by another Sylvia, my sister-in-law and my brother Hilly for my th80 birthday. Having left school early, I am not prepared to propound on the

poetic merits of either, but here it is.

We are pleased to announce

That Benny has made it

Although in fits and starts

Because it is not all purely Benny

But a collection of spare parts

Never satisfied with saying please

He always had to go down on his knees

So wear and tear took their toll

But it also helped to improve his soul

The teeth were to fly away

So they had to be buttoned down

For him to be able to have his say

He is one up on having one kidney

The rest of us are obliged to have two

But as a person he is unique

For fun and laughter and some cheek

He had to share himself between

The Cape and Gauteng to be seen

To be fair to the home and the holiday scene

Big boy Benny we love you still

For you are top of the pops and top of the bill


147

148


The kidney was removed in 1969. When Sylvia had a minor operation

performed at the Brenthurst Clinic in 1970, an elderly night sister walked in

one evening when I was visiting her, and said to me,

"Oh, Mr Goldberg! I am so happy to see you alive! Last year when you

had your kidney removed, we thought we were losing you."

I was delighted to prove that they were wrong and I am with G-d's

help still alive and will soon turn 88.

From walking on my knees, which always brought much laughter, I

eventually had to pay the price and have had two knee replacements.

Unfortunately, dental implants were not meant for me and I

eventually gave up on them.

I would like to propose a toast to my customers and friends –

LE’CHAYIM – To LIFE!!!

Insert of a youthful Benny

Chapter 17

The end of a legend

Benny’s ambition was to write his memoirs and he started doing so in

about 2004. He proudly announced to his family and friends that he was

writing his life story and that he would make sure that they received a copy

of his book. We had both decided that the book would not be for general

publication but would just be for our nearest and dearest.

After giving most of the facts, he left the “embroidery” and editing of

the book to me. He constantly wanted to know when the book would be

completed, and in July 2007 I was happy to be able to show him a nearly

completed version. Being impetuous, as is well known, Benny had already

compiled a list, in his head, of well over 100 people to whom he wanted to

present this book.

I have tried my very best to do this and sincerely hope that this is the

way that Benny would have liked to see the completion.

thBenny spoke about his ambition to spend his 90 birthday in

Muizenberg and was planning to hold a special lunch on his birthday at the

Muizenberg Shul. Naturally a swim in the sea formed part of the celebration

he planned for that day

Each year towards the end of May as our departure from Muizenberg

began to draw near, Benny would constantly say that he would love to stay

in Cape Town all the year, but that it was “his wife” who made him go back to

Johannesburg. He loved teasing me.

During the last two years of his life, Benny’s mischievousness

remained. Apart from his love for his entire family, the most important items

in his life became his cigars, a little alcohol and annoying me by NEVER

wearing socks, not even if he was quite formally dressed.

One of his antics was that as soon as I popped out to do some

shopping, he would quickly pick up the phone to Stanley and Mark, like a

naughty boy, reporting to them that as I was not at home, he could merrily

smoke ANYWHERE inside the apartment, knowing full well that I would pick

up the smell as soon as I returned! He always reported his dress attire for

149

the day, which was normally shorts and a T-shirt, and for “formal” wear, a

tracksuit. Benny remained a non-conformist in every way until the very end.

In 2007, Benny, who had deteriorated visibly and was not swimming

as much as usual had started complaining of dizziness. After trying

numerous medications for dizziness there was no improvement and he went

for medical check-ups to his dermatologist and his “guru” and most

respected, specialist physician pulmonologist who had years ago fondly

summed up Benny in two words “Geriatric hooligan”. This name was very

apt. This physician wrote to me, after Benny’s demise, to tell me that he had

noticed a vast deterioration at the end of May 2007, and that he knew the

end was near as “the body was tired”. He agreed that Benny was well

enough to travel back to Johannesburg and wished him well, and, as always,

begged him ONLY to cut down on his cigar smoking – NEVER to give it up, as

he was not prepared to take away one of Benny’s great pleasures.

thOn Sunday the 10 of June we returned to Johannesburg and went to

see our local GP, a brilliant diagnostician. He felt there was nothing he could

possibly do about the dizziness and recommended that Benny see a thcardiologist. On Friday the 6 of July we saw the cardiologist who was

extremely friendly as he had known and respected Benny’s late brother

Max, who was the medical TB Officer of Johannesburg. After numerous

tests, he said it was amazing that Benny’s heart was as strong as the heart

of a much younger person. As there was certainly no blockage, he

suggested that we see an ENT surgeon who might just find that the cause of

the dizziness lay in the semicircular canals in his ears.

thOn Sunday the 8 of July, we had a fun breakfast at Sandton City with thour dear friends of so many years. On Monday the 9 of July, we managed to

get an appointment with the recommended ENT surgeon, who after a

thorough examination, assured Benny that he had a cure for his dizziness.

As we were leaving the clinic, I called Mark, who had arrived in

Johannesburg an hour earlier, and told him the good news that the dizziness

would probably disappear. This was our celebration afternoon. I mentioned

that the doctor had given Benny a script and we decided to meet Mark at a

coffee shop that Benny liked in the Killarney shopping centre, and I would

collect the prescribed medication from the nearby chemist.


150

Mark and I ordered waffles and cappuccino and our Benny naturally

went for his most favourite food which was a hamburger, chips and Coca

Cola. We all felt very optimistic and were enjoying this outing. Mark went

off to do some shopping in the centre, I went off to the chemist, and Benny

was left sitting at the table still finishing his food.

When I returned, Benny was half way through his second Coca Cola

and had already paid the bill, but he did not look well. I suggested that we go

home and, as one of the waiters was helping me, to assist him from his chair,

I noticed that his left leg was sliding and realised immediately that

something was wrong. With the kind assistance of the staff, I put him back

onto the chair and saw that his left hand was also clenched.

I immediately phoned Mark who returned in less than a minute and we

were able to contact our own General Practitioner on his cell as the time was

now after 5pm. What a boon cellphones are!

We are truly fortunate in Johannesburg to have an organisation called

Hatzolah, which is a voluntary ambulance service renowned for its speed

and efficiency. Because of bad peak hour traffic, it took Hatzolah about ten

minutes to arrive and they then went into action with great efficiency. I

travelled with Benny in the ambulance, with the siren going, Mark following

behind in the car.

During this ride, the dedicated band of young men were checking his

vital signs all the time and relaying the information to the emergency

section of the clinic we were going to, while Benny continued to answer the

questions put to him. Fortunately, our GP was also in contact with the clinic.

On arrival the young Hatzolah men rushed Benny straight through to

the X-ray department where a brain scan was performed, after hours, and

such was the efficiency between them and Mark, that within three quarters

of an hour after the incident, Benny was in a bed in the ICU. The neurologist

on duty confirmed that Benny had had a slight stroke and that the prognosis

for a complete recovery was good. Whilst Benny was being made

comfortable, I went down to the Admissions Desk to fill in the necessary

paperwork, leaving Mark with Benny in ICU. I was then informed that only

Mark and I would be allowed to visit him during visiting hours only - between

7 and 8 pm.

The end of a legend

151

When we returned at 7pm, we found Benny as cheerful as could be

and he was comforted that at least he had his plastic cigar holder which had

a vial of nicotine in it. Benny told us that he had had a minor stroke and

would be fine.

The next morning, he was moved to a private ward and after

requesting that I bring him another cigar holder, he was perfectly relaxed

and chatted to us and to the staff and doctors. By that afternoon he found

that he could easily move his “lame” leg, which was a very encouraging sign

for a complete recovery.

Coincidentally, Bradley, who had been in Spain on business, had

arranged to return to Australia via South Africa. He arrived the day after the

stroke and spent a lot of quality time with his beloved grandfather in the

hospital, often arriving as early as 7:30am and Stanley and David came up

from Plettenberg Bay.

Stanley, Mark and I met with the rehabilitation team, consisting of a

physiotherapist, an occupational therapist and a speech therapist, who

assured us that recovery would be complete in about twelve weeks. Stanley

then returned to Plettenberg Bay feeling a little more relaxed, and Bradley

had to return to Australia.

In his normal way, Benny soon endeared himself to most of the staff

and they were fascinated that this little man with so much humour was in

fact THE Benny Goldberg. They had all heard of him. The site of the store

was a landmark, referred to as the Benny Goldberg Corner and they had

grown up thinking he was a legend.

Even though there was always a nurse in attendance, I spent at least

12 hours a day attending to his needs. Mark and grandson David were

always there or on call, particularly to drive me home at night.

th thAs Benny’s 88 birthday would be falling on July the 24 , and as we

realised that he would still be in hospital, we started planning what simple

things we could do to make his birthday special. By this stage, Benny had

become rather quiet and was being fed intravenously.

rdThe night nurse on duty on the 23 vows that at a minute before

midnight, she heard a gruff voice (due to the pipes) saying:

“Happy birthday to me”.


152

She switched on the lights to make sure she wasn’t dreaming! Benny

was wide-awake and had actually sung his celebratory song. The next

morning, we put balloons and HAPPY BIRTHDAY signs in the ward, we had a

party for the nursing staff, and many calls and some gifts were received.

However, Benny remained silent all the time.

The following day after tests were completed, it was established that

there had been complications. There had been an infection and Benny had

gone into renal failure very quickly. He was immediately transferred once

more to ICU where he remained on dialysis for 12 days, with no change to

his condition whatsoever. During this time, our Rabbis visited him and

prayers were constantly said. Benny’s heart remained strong right to the

very end, and the family all knew that Benny would decide when it was time

for him to go. The family had all spent private time saying their own personal

goodbyes.

Rabbi Aharon Rose of Waverley Shul spoke at Benny’s funeral. He sent

the family the eulogy he made but emphasised that as his words had came

from his heart, he could not remember everything he said.

Mark and Stanley felt that Rabbi Rose’s eulogy made it seem that

Benny was there smiling down on all of us. There was a smile on most

people’s faces, very unusual for such a sad occasion. Knowing and loving the

man as we all did this was a typical Benny event, everyone smiling at him.

Benny Goldberg was literally ‘larger than life’. His name became

a company, then it became a concept. But it wasn’t just Benny,

as the name might have you think. It was Benny and Sylvia,

working together and going home together.

Their marriage wasn’t just from 5 to 9 – it was 24 hours a day. So

their 54 years together were more like 108 years of marriage for

the rest of us! They forged a wonderful partnership; Sylvia

providing the grounded and stable influence that enabled

Benny, well, to be Benny; to be ‘out there’ coming up with new

ideas, creating.

But Benny was more than just Sylvia’s life-partner; he was a

The end of a legend

153

loving, caring and demonstrative husband. Benny was also a

loving father; loyal, approachable and a best friend. He was

always involved and wanted the best for Stanley and Mark. As

his boys would say: “If I can be 10% of the father he was…”

Benny adored his grandchildren Bradley and David; he was kind

and loving, in fact, he spoiled them, yet he taught them solid

values.

Benny had a unique sense of humour – in pain and with his world

narrowed to that of his hospital room, Benny looked at one of his

nurses and commented on her hairdo, asking her if she was

aware that she had a flower pot on her head. Only Benny could

say such things without any trace of nastiness, bringing a smile

to the listener’s face and brightening one’s day.

Benny endeared himself to everybody and connected with

people because of his wonderful sense of humour. Benny never

judged people by sex, age or colour and earned everyone’s

respect because he respected them. In time we came to view

Benny as a father or grandfather and therefore Sylvia was our

mom or grandmom.

Benny has been described as the doyen of the South African

liquor industry; he was the first to do so many things! He was

the first to import kosher wines to South Africa. He opened the

first liquor supermarket in South Africa.

Even after 25 years out of business, “Benny Goldbergs” remains

a Johannesburg landmark; people will direct you to travel via a

supermarket that doesn’t exist any more and hasn’t existed for

years!

Benny taught the ground-breaking idea that the customer is

king; when customers in “Benny Goldberg’s” wanted to find

someone who worked there to help them, it was Benny who

would appear before them, saying, or more importantly

demonstrating, that “I work here”, taking charge, taking

responsibility, taking care.

He was also strong willed, impetuous and impulsive; when an

idea formed in his mind he would pursue it no matter what


154

obstacles loomed ahead. With a Standard 6 education, he

eventually lectured final year MBA students at Wits

BusinessSchool.

One of Benny’s great passions was his love for Muizenberg;

swimming in the sea everyday until a couple of months before

he passed away, or just taking a walk on his beloved beach. He

was known as “the Mayor of Muizenberg”.

He derived great pleasure smoking cigars (somehow he even

managed to have one sneaked into hospital after his stroke) and

drinking whisky; he wasn’t exactly a walking advertisement for

a healthy lifestyle…

Benny was a proud Jew, comfortable in any shul, attending

regularly. He gave tzedaka generously and never turned away

meshulachim who asked for assistance. One of the highlights of

his life occurred in 1982 when he went to visit the Lubavitcher

Rebbe in New York with his family. There he was treated like

royalty, and while the Rebbe was addressing some 5,000 people

standing around and in front of him, Benny was invited to sit on

the stage with his two boys near to the Rebbe; a rare honour.

He was loved at his home Shul, Waverley Shul, and much

honoured by them, for he was involved at Waverley until

physical weakness prevented him from attending. He donated a

Sefer Torah to it and donated the first Aron Hakodesh (Ark) to

the Youth Shul. It was no surprise when Benny was invited by

Waverley Shul to lay the stone at the opening of the renovated

Shul.

In the same way, Benny became the Grandfather at Muizenberg

Shul during the six months of each year he and Sylvia spent at

the coast; Benny sat at the main table at every simcha held at

Muizenberg Shul. Perhaps the greatest tribute we can give

Benny is simply to quote The Sunday Times, which referred to

Benny as a “Mega Mensch”.

When Benny passed on, I was overwhelmed by the attendance at the

funeral and prayers daily, as well as the condolences that poured in from all

The end of a legend

155

over. I only have vague recollections of some of the people and often ask

my sister if somebody came to our home during that time. I had not realised

how many lives Benny had touched. Benny would be proud to know that

both of his sons, Stanley and Mark, attend Shul every day to say Kaddish.

I am including a few of the messages of condolence I received, firstly

because I found them meaningful and secondly, because they reveal

different insights on Benny’s effect on people.

One of the letters received was from Muizenberg friends who wrote

that they had just heard the news and their first reactions had been that

Muizenberg would now not be the same anymore as far as they were

concerned. They went on to write that each day over the past 30 years on

their walks they had watched Benny swim and had lately seen him being

taken for swims by a gentleman from the car park.

They thought Benny’s love for life was amazing and observed that

even when he could hardly walk he would not be deprived of his love for the

sea in Muizenberg.

They added that “Benny was just a great guy - a man’s man and his

love for you and the kids was special to say the least. We remember him well

and we shall all miss him.”

There were some messages from family and friends who tried to give

me comfort by acknowledging how difficult it would have been for us to have

lived with the consequences of a stroke, like:

“…but Benny with his energy and short fuse, would have hated to be

shackled to a semi-paralysed body and as long as he did not suffer, it was

probably for the best.”

“…We have an enduring memory of a very special lady, whose

devotion, attention and care to her ailing husband was awesome. And we're

very much aware too that it was a particularly difficult labour of love,

especially in Benny's latter years.”

“Our thoughts are with you. Draw comfort from the wonderful

memories you have of all the years you were blessed to share. You can feel

proud of how you stood by him and cared for him through thick and thin.

Syl, you are truly an aish et chayel.”

There were condolences from people who remembered his warmth


156

and humanity like:

“Benny was a real mensch and he made me feel great, even when I

was a little kid."

"It is so hard to imagine a world without Benny. He was so loved by so

many people. I remember when I first met you both. It was love at first

sight and is still like that.”

Some who mentioned “the enormous love that all that had the

privilege of knowing him felt for him.”

“ I feel extremely privileged to have been able to meet such a great

man, and to have been personally involved with both of you in recording his

amazing life.”

“He really was a special personality, and this is borne out by the

enthusiasm with which everyone welcomed him, whether from the Gaboyim

in the Muizenberg shul, or whether purely on the social scene. He just drew

people to him.”

There were those from people who appreciated what he had achieved,

like:

“What he achieved in his life span, with limited education but

unlimited vision, originality, creativity, practicality, drive and guts. Of course

he was blessed to have you behind him and it was a blessed partnership in

every way. It will be difficult for you without him because he was larger than

life.”

“He achieved more in his life span than many ordinary men put

together.”

Some appreciated his talents, like:

“In his own way Benny always had some words of wisdom and,

without forcing the point, he made his thoughts clear.”

“I was always inspired by his tenacity to succeed, great sense of

humour and his love for life and his family."

There were some from people who appreciated Benny’s originality

like:

"Our memories of Benny will be of one of those ‘characters’ that one

comes across so rarely in our lives. “

The end of a legend

157

”I have wonderful memories of him at his nuttiest! And we got to go

through all the albums, which took us down the liquor store memory lane. "

There were those messages from people who had worked for him,

like:

"It was a privilege to have known and worked with Benny, he was an

absolute gentleman, always with a smile on his face and just a lovely

person. Sylvia, you will miss him terribly - the two of you were an example to

us all. “

And, “Yes, he was a Mega Mensch and a legend in his lifetime and will

be remembered by all with whom he was in contact both in the business field

on the social side as well.”

I was moved to receive this “Tribute to Benny……AND Sylvia Goldberg”

from Colin Hall who had been responsible for the Beer Division of SA

Breweries from 1969:

“SA Breweries was then far and away the Number 1 Brewing Company

in South Africa and predictably it wasn’t long before I called on my

Number 1 customer – Benny Goldberg’s Bottle Store and met my

match in Sylvia and Benny! SAB vs. S & B. Power versus sheer savvy.

It was a potential battle I had no wish to engage in – so I didn’t.

Instead I got to know and love two remarkable warm straightforward

people who functioned in a partnership that was as loving as it was

formidable.

“On the mezzanine floor of what was then described as “the biggest

bottle store in the world” I learnt so much – how to understand and

treat our biggest customer as a unique customer. And how to treat

the smallest customer as a unique and special customer too. In fact,

how to respect and value and, if possible, love every customer.

“On that floor over Sylvia’s teas and sometimes a drink I learnt that a

word must be a bond – that there was no need for written agreements

because they could be torn to shreds by lawyers, but trust could be

built and built to last. “I learnt that we could reframe any relationship

– even between a huge powerful monopoly and a small struggling

outlet – as a team game in which the ultimate customer is the winner.

Neither SAB nor S & B, but the proud father buying for his daughter’s

wedding, or a thirsty passer-by who needed to recharge his batteries.


158

I left a fascinating challenging career at SAB over 27 years ago and

lost touch with Benny and Sylvia – lost touch maybe but never forgot.

You just can’t! Nor would you want to.”

There were more letters from relatives and friends, not in

Johannesburg.

“I was always proud to tell people I was family of the Goldberg’s, you

know Benny Goldberg from the liquor store.”

“Our Beloved Uncle Benny…was truly a blessing. May he Rest in

Peace.”

“As I look back over the years, I consider myself privileged to say that

I am a friend of the Goldberg/Sacher clan and how fortunate it was to have

spent quality time in your home from time to time.”

“We have lost a wonderful friend whom no one can replace. Benny will

remain in our hearts always. May you draw comfort from the many

wonderful memories you have of Benny.”

“Benny was a gem, a wonderful man. Removing his name from your

e-mail address was not an easy thing to do - it will not remove him from our

minds.”

A niece who lives overseas wrote to me saying:

I know, I know. The funeral and the prayers are going on without me

and I am so sorry not to be there to give you a hug and to thank you

from the bottom of my heart for a life time of laughter, caring, nudging

and loving you gave to our wonderful and quirky Uncle Ben.

I hope that you find happiness and freedom in your life now, and don't

feel lonely too long. You have been the live wire, the brains and the

drive in our little tribe and we admire you so much. Uncle Benny was

so funny, so beloved, and has left behind memories etched forever.

I recall your house in Waverley very clearly. Firstly there was some

kind of tree that had black berry-like fruit on it I thought was amazing.

I recall receiving liquid of any kind in good glasses. I remember Uncle

Benny walking on his knees with a funny voice. He must have been at

eye level for me because it was a bit frightening but I knew he was a

magician with a voice to match the size of the small dynamic man he

became. I recall the boys bouncing on the trampoline. I remember

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159

Mrs. Sacher, your mom, making fabulous food, pickled fish, and all the

really good Jewish fishy things I loved. That wonderful trip I took to

Muizenberg where Benny thought it cool that I came out with

stragglers every time I went in the water. I miss you at times like

these.

A second cousin who was compiling a 126-page family tree called

from abroad last year, at the same time as we were writing this book, and we

spent a lot of time rounding up the Goldberg family, children, grandchildren,

great-grandchildren and all their history. This family tree stems from

Benny’s late mother, Rebecca and twin brother, Ben, and in this process,

purely by e-mail, we had a lot of fun and got to know each other. She wrote:

I have no words that can express how truly sorry I was when I heard of

your loss .In doing the family tree, I got to know so many wonderful

people, but the ones that made the greatest impression on me were

you and Benny. I know how much you meant to each other. I am so

grateful that I had the opportunity to learn a little about him. He was

truly a great man and as Jimmy Krikler said in his book “a remarkable

character”. Benny's absence will be felt by many people.

There is an African saying “When an old person dies, it's like a library

has burnt down”, and I think you have done the greatest mitzvah by

writing Benny's life story, so his memory will always live on.”

The major Sunday newspaper, the Sunday Times, carried an obituary thon Sunday, 26 August, written by Chris Barron in which he encapsulated

Benny’s life and contributions. It was entitled:

Benny Goldberg

Owner of world’s largest liquor supermarket

Benny Goldberg, who has died in Johannesburg at the age of 88,

revolutionised liquor retailing in South Africa and created the world’s

largest liquor supermarket. Goldberg was born in Johannesburg on

July 24, 1919 and left school in Standard Six because, quite simply, he

couldn’t see the point of it. He worked as a bottle washer, commercial

traveller, stationery salesman and as a men’s outfitter - and didn't do

particularly well at any of them.


160

When his father, Sam, who was in the hotel business, died suddenly,

Benny helped run Bertram’s Hotel in Johannesburg and decided the

liquor industry was where his future lay. He got his first bottle store

licence at the age of 33 and started his business with a few hundred

pounds.

A year later he made one of his wisest moves when he married his wife

Sylvia. Goldberg was streetwise and obstinate but he had no

arithmetic skills. “If I buy this for 90c and add 10%, can I sell it for less

than a rand?” he once asked a schoolboy doing a stint at his store.

Fortunately Sylvia, who had worked for an auditing firm, did know her

figures, and they made a formidable team. She had a genius for

m a n a g e m e n t a n d

a d m i n i s t r a t i o n w h i l e

Goldberg who hated shopping

had a genius for knowing

what customers wanted.

One of the things he knew

they did not want was to

stand in a queue. “If there are

eight checkouts and eight

customers, then there must

also be eight cashiers,” he

said, “I hate queuing. I

couldn’t expect anyone

shopping at my store to wait

unnecessarily.”

He built what he boasted was the longest counter in the country, some

20m long, manned by enough staff so that no customer was kept

waiting. In 1969 he built the country’s first liquor supermarket, named

after himself. He got rid of the counter, introducing self service so that

the customer could browse.

He made his staff wear T-shirts with the words “I WORK HERE”

emblazoned on the back. What he hated about supermarkets, he

explained, was not knowing who to ask about something.

Goldberg blew the whistle on the Witwatersrand Bottle Store Keepers

The end of a legend

161

Picture of Benny that appeared in the Sunday Times obituary

Association for running a price fixing cartel. He also opened the

world’s largest liquor supermarket 8 800m², in 1979, and he and

Sylvia were invited to join the Wine & Spirit Guild of America, the only

non-US retailers to qualify.

In 1982 he sold out to Premier.

Goldberg is survived by two sons and his wife Sylvia.

This Sunday Times article was read by Derek Watts, the presenter of

the prime television programme Carte Blanche, who then mentioned him on

Carte Blanche. This is what Derek said at the end of his recorded

programme:

“I saw in today’s paper that Benny Goldberg had died in Johannesburg

at the age of 88. Many people will remember Benny for revolutionising

the liquor trade in this country. At one stage he owned one of the

world’s biggest bottle stores. He was a wonderful character. I

remember him well in that store.”

th(Carte Blanche, Sunday 26 August 2007)

Benny was a wonderful character. He was unique and unforgettable

and most certainly a legend in his time. He will always be remembered with

much love by Stanley, Mark, Bradley, David and I, and every time we either

think of him, or speak of him, we automatically smile.

Our eldest grandson Bradley announced his engagement in Australia

to Yasmin Moddel and we look forward to their marriage in February 2009,

knowing full well that Benny will be celebrating receiving such a lovely

granddaughter and knowing how she has made Bradley so very happy.

Farewell, to my true partner of 54 years. We shared 24 hours a day

together, every day of those 54 years.

I will always love and miss you, my darling Benny.


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The end of a legend

Photograph by Brett Rubin

the memoirs of benny goldberg

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