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Mona Golub-Ganz has a special connection to her family's history. Last year, she and her husband, Marc, bought her grandparents' former home in Niskayuna.
Golub-Ganz says she enjoys fixing up the house she visited as a child.
A similar sense of connection to family and traditions extends to working for Golub Corp., the Rotterdam-based operator of Price Chopper Supermarkets. Golub-Ganz, manager of community and government relations, says the company flipflops on its history: Its origins date to William and Bernard Golub's 1932 retail grocery business or to the wholesale business that their father began.
Whether Golub-Ganz and her cousins count themselves as the third or fourth generation in the grocery industry, the company is not having any trouble keeping the next generation involved in the business. in this at least, Golub Corp. is different from many family businesses these days. Golub-Ganz is the daughter of Neil Golub, the company's president and CEO. Jerry Golub and David Golub, managers in the company, are the sons of former CEO Lewis Golub.
Golub-Ganz hasn't worked outside of the company since ending her stint as a camp counselor during her college years. She says she originally thought she'd "get her spurs" working for a supermarket chain in another region before settling down at Golub Corp.
Instead, her supervisor in the company's grocery marketing division, where she had been working during summers, asked her to be a grocery sales promoter, communicating the company's weekly promotions to stores and helping them highlight the specials. She did, and worked her way up through grocery division merchandising, buying and category management.
Working for the family is not harder than working anywhere else, says Jerry Golub, the company's vice president of administration and strategic planning. But there is a sense of increased scrutiny Golub-Ganz handles that pressure well, demonstrating the team-oriented, participative approach the company encourages, he says.
"Mona's been good at doing the work and also being a role model," he says.
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