Leo Kahn (entrepreneur)
Leo Kahn | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 31, 1916 |
| Died | May 11, 2011 (aged 94) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Harvard University (B.A., 1938) Columbia University (M.S., 1939) |
| Occupation(s) | American businessman and reporter |
| Known for | Co-founder of Staples Inc. |
| Spouse(s) | Dorothy Davidson Kahn (1963-1975), Emily Perkins Gantt Kahn (1976-2011) |
| Children | 3 (including Joseph Kahn) |
Leo Kahn (December 31, 1916 – May 11, 2011) was an American reporter and businessman. He is credited as the co-founder of Staples Inc.[1][2] Kahn is also considered a pioneer of the natural and health food supermarket industry, founding the Fresh Fields and Nature's Heartland chains, which are now part of Whole Foods Market.[1]
Biography[edit]
Early life[edit]
Kahn was born in Medford, Massachusetts, as the younger of two brothers.[1] His parents, who were Lithuanian Jewish immigrants, owned a wholesale food distributor.[1][3] Kahn graduated from Malden High School in Malden, Massachusetts.[1][4]
Kahn received a bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 1938.[1] He then obtained a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University in New York City in 1939.[1] He worked a reporter in New Bedford, Massachusetts,[2] and practiced public relations for political campaigns until he was drafted into the U.S. military in 1941 as the U.S. entered World War II.[1] He was stationed in North Africa, Europe and Asia as a navigator for the Army Air Forces.[1]
He and his brother, Albert Kahn, took over the family's wholesale business following the end of World War II.[1] He became the sole owner of the business when his brother left the company to become a professor at Boston University.[1]
Kahn married his first wife, Dorothy Davidson, in 1963 and had three children.[1] The family resided in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, until Dorothy Kahn's death in 1975.[1]
Purity Supreme[edit]
Kahn continued to operate his family's wholesale food distributor. However, he also launched a new grocery retailing division, which became known as Purity Supreme.[5] The company initially opened small groceries, but then expanded to supermarkets.[5] The Purity Supreme company also included the Heartland Foods Warehouse, which was called "the first successful deep-discount warehouse supermarket in the country" by Inc Magazine.[5]
One of Kahn's biggest rivals was Thomas G. Stemberg, the owner of a competing New England supermarket chain called First National Supermarkets. At one point, Kahn and Stemberg engaged in a price war over the lower price for Thanksgiving turkeys.[5]
Kahn sold Purity Supreme to the Supermarkets General Corporation in 1984 for $80 million.[5] Through the transaction, Kahn became the chairman of Supermarket General.[5] Privately, Kahn regretted selling Purity, saying he missed the interaction with his employees.[1]
Personal life[edit]
Kahn married Dorothy Davidson. After 11 years of marriage, Dorothy died in 1975. He later remarried Emily Gantt, who survived him. From his first marriage, Kahn had a daughter, Elizabeth, and two sons, Daniel and Joseph. Joseph Kahn is a journalist and the executive editor of The New York Times.[6] His stepdaughters were Lisa and Xandria Birk. Kahn had eight grandchildren and three step grandchildren.[7] Leo Kahn was on the board of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America.
Death[edit]
Kahn died at the Springhouse care facility in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston from a series of strokes on May 11, 2011, at the age of 94.[1][2][5]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Marquard, Bryan (2011-05-12). "Leo Kahn, co-founder of Staples, dies at 94". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
- ^ a b c Shapiro, T. Rees (2011-05-14). "Leo Kahn, entrepreneur who helped found Staples office-supply business, dies at 94". Washington Post. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
- ^ Alan D. Abbey (May 23, 2011). "The Eulogizer: Staples co-founder Leo Kahn, violinist Endre Wolf". JTA. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
- ^ » Is Leo Kahn Jewish Jew of the Week
- ^ a b c d e f g Martin, Douglas (2011-05-12). "Leo Kahn, Trailblazer in Big-Box Retailing, Dies at 94". New York Times. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
- ^ Grynbaum, Michael M.; Windolf, Jim (2022-04-19). "Joe Kahn Is Named Next Executive Editor of The New York Times". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
- ^ Martin, Douglas (2011-05-12). "Leo Kahn, Trailblazer in Big-Box Retailing, Dies at 94". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
- 1916 births
- 2011 deaths
- Staples Inc. people
- American company founders
- American grocers
- Jewish American military personnel
- United States Army Air Forces officers
- American newspaper reporters and correspondents
- American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent
- American retail chief executives
- Businesspeople from Boston
- Harvard University alumni
- Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni
- People from Chelmsford, Massachusetts
- People from Medford, Massachusetts
- Businesspeople from Newton, Massachusetts
- Retail company founders
- United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II
- People from Jamaica Plain
- 20th-century American businesspeople
- 21st-century American Jews
- Military personnel from Massachusetts