Person:John Berberian (1)

About John Berberian

Mr. Berberian married Esther Terzian on 18 September 1976 in Los Angeles County, California [California Marriage Index, 1960-1985].

John served for many years on the Board of Directors for wholesale cooperative Certified Grocers {later Unified Grocers, which was acquired by rival grocery wholesaler Supervalu in 2017}. He was first elected to Unified's Board of Directors in 1991. He became a highly-respected leader in the supermarket industry and serve5 on the Board of Directors of Memorial Health Foundation, Campbell Hall High School, AGBU Manoogian Demirdjian School, and has served as city commissioner for the Department of Transportation for the City of Los Angeles. He also is a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

John Berberian passed away on 12 March 2019 after suffering a heart-attack at his home in Beverly Hills, California. He was a smart businessman, gentleman and will be missed by all that knew him in the food industry for many years to come.

1.   United States. U.S. Naturalization Record Indexes, 1791-1992: (Indexed in World Archives Project). (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010).

   Name: John Berberian
   [Houhanes Daniel Berberian]
   Birth Date: 2 Apr 1951
   Age at event: 24
   Court District: California
   Date of Action: 14 Nov 1975

2.   Unified Grocers Website.

   John Berberian
   
   http://webdevspt03.uwgweb.dev/AboutUs/Management Pictures/berberian_john-sm.jpg
   Job Title: President, Berberian Enterprises, Inc.
   http://webprdspsrch04.uwgrocers.com/AboutUs/Management%20Pictures/Berberian.jpg
   Short Bio
   John Berberian was first elected to the Unified Grocers Board of Directors in 1991.
   Long Bio - John Berberian was first elected to the Unified Grocers Board of Directors in 1991.
   
   John is the co-founder of Jons Marketplace, a family owned supermarket chain with fourteen Southern California locations serving Los Angeles (4), Van Nuys (2), Glendale (2), West Hollywood, Winnetka, North Hollywood, Simi Valley, Westminster, Reseda. Since its founding in 1977, Jons has adapted to the changing demographics of the region and successfully competed and grown in the communities they serve.
   
   John currently serves on the Board of Directors of Memorial Health Foundation, Campbell Hall High School, AGBU Manoogian Demirdjian School, and has served as city commissioner for the Department of Transportation for the City of Los Angeles. He also is a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
   
   http://www.unifiedgrocers.com/EN/AboutUs/Lists/Management%20Bios/DispForm.aspx?ID=7&ContentTypeId=0x010048497D64611A544EB1617303CAE11F3500F9ABF2BF6837E947A9F1DAB2BB160164

3.   Edgar Online.

   JOHN BERBERIAN
   (Incumbent)
   Berberian Enterprises, Inc.
   dba
   Jons Markets
   Los Angeles
   
   Mr. Berberian is currently a member of Certified's Board of Directors where he serves on the Nominating Committee. Mr. Berberian also serves as a member of the board of Grocers Specialty Company and Grocers General Merchandise Company, two of Certified's subsidiaries.
   
   Mr. Berberian is the owner and president of Jons Markets which operates 11 successful independent stores. Because it is a family-owned chain, Mr. Berberian has acquired experience in all phases of retail operation.
   
   Since 1977 when he opened his first store, Mr. Berberian has been an active member of Certified and has worked closely with them. As Jons Markets grew to 11 stores, Mr. Berberian has learned how valuable Certified is to its members and is sensitive to the many problems facing independents today.
   
   Mr. Berberian believes that his past experience as a Certified board member will enable him to make a positive contribution to the Certified membership.

4.   Los Angeles, California, United States. Los Angeles Times.

   Independent Stores Bag Neglected Ethnic Niche
   Small grocers fill the void left by consolidating supermarkets that have all but abandoned neighborhood marketing.
   August 18, 1999|MELINDA FULMER | TIMES STAFF WRITER
   
   In a recent circular, Ralphs was advertising Roma tomatoes for 99 cents per pound, while Jons was selling these small salad tomatoes at four pounds for 99 cents. Similarly, kiwi fruit at Jons was seven for 99 cents, compared with four for $1 at Ralphs. To get a better understanding of what his customers want, 76-year-old Daniel Berberian, John Berberian's father, visits the stores every Saturday, talking to managers, employees and customers.
   
   "Our philosophy is you can't change the neighborhood, so you have to change yourself and your products," John Berberian says.
   
   Shoppers like Polshina and friend Julia Riabkova say prices for milk, eggs and some other packaged goods can be higher at Jons, but they say they're not high enough to turn them away. "The prices and quality are pretty good," Riabkova says. "And there's a big variety of produce."
   
   A supermarket chain castoff was what helped John Berberian start his grocery business in 1977. When the former catering truck owner learned that Vons was selling one of its smaller stores at 3rd Street and Kenmore Avenue in Los Angeles, he stepped in with family funds, bought the store and simply replaced the Vons "V" with a "J" for his own name.
   
   More than 20 years later, Jons is still around, and it still uses the same red-lettered signs as Vons.
   
   Boutique chains such as Bristol Farms also have gained an advantage by providing specialty products and produce that the larger chains can't.
   
   Bristol Farms sells more than 10,000 gourmet specialty products, exotic produce and prepared foods such as stuffed pork chops, chicken kebabs and homemade bread pudding. And it has an on-site sushi chef.
   
   "Chains are doing the same thing everywhere," Bristol Farms' Davis says. "Niche operators have probably the best opportunity that they have had in the last 20 years ahead of them in the next five."
   
   Because Bristol can provide things the big chains can't, Davis says, it doesn't have to compete on price. Two-thirds of its business is done in high-ticket perishable items, compared with one-third for the average grocery chain, according to Bristol Farms. As a result, its sales of $878 per square foot are more than twice that of the average supermarket, according to information collected by Progressive Grocer magazine. And its gross margins at 43% are almost twice as high as the average supermarket in that same survey.
   
   After almost 17 years in the supermarket business, Bristol Farms is raising the capital necessary for a major expansion. In the next week, Davis hopes to line up the $25 million in backing needed to expand the chain from eight stores to 30 across Southern California.
   
   Already, Bristol has struck deals to open two more stores in the L.A. area--one in Brentwood and another in the landmark Chasen's restaurant building in Beverly Hills.
   
   Its success, and that of others like it, is beginning to spawn imitators. K.V. Mart Co. says it plans a new line of stores called Napa Valley Farms. Its first upscale supermarket will open in Palos Verdes next year.
   
   "The big are getting bigger and more powerful, and the ones in the niches are getting 'nichier' or more clever about marketing," says Gene Grabowski, a spokesman for the Grocery Manufacturers of America. "You're going to see a lot of innovation in supermarkets over the next few years."

5.   California, United States. Federal Naturalization Records, 1843-1999. (Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com, 2014).

   Name: Houhanes Daniel Berberian
   [John Berberian]
   Petition Age: 24
   Record Type: Petition
   Birth Date: 2 Apr 1951
   Birth Place: Erevan, Armenia, USSR
   Arrival Date: 15 Sep 1969
   Petition Date: 18 Sep 1975
   Petition Place: Los Angeles, California, USA
   Petition Number: 365910