Jack H. Brown's management philosophy as chairman and chief executive of Stater Bros. Markets stems from his experience as a youth working for a grocer who gave away strawberry pies to discontented customers.
Brown, 71, was taken back when a woman who received a pie he delivered to her doorstep complained that it didn't come with whipped cream. He was more amazed when his boss instructed him to return to the woman's house with the topping.
"I never forgot the lesson," Brown said. "You take care of customers right and they will take care of you."
Caring about customers and employees is the most important quality of a grocery store executive, Brown says, and has enabled Stater Bros. to thrive since he took over its reins in 1981.
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