From the Publisher: Goodbye Old Friend

I first met Bill D’Alexander on a hot and hazy summer day in Chicago in 2000. He was the owner and publisher of Grocery Headquarters, a magazine that he said was fifth in a four-book field, and he was not happy with it. 

Our first meeting was awkward. I worked for a competitor and he wanted to pick my brain. I wanted to see if there was an opportunity for me at his company, and as they say, did not want to give any intellectual property away for free. 

I joined the team soon after, figuring that Bill had the vision and desire to make some exciting things happen at the magazine. He told me he wanted to hire good people who understood both the magazine business and retail. He wanted people who were willing to roll up their sleeves and use their heads. I fooled him into hiring me. 

Bill owned the company until late 2004, when he sold it to the Macfadden Communications Group, its current owner. In those four-plus years I had the opportunity to work side-by-side with a man who truly cared about the grocery industry and his own magazine, not to mention the people. His rules were simple: Get the job done in the best, most efficient way possible and create a magazine that helps to educate the retail community. Oh, and have fun doing it.

The results are still being felt today, 12 years after he sold the company. Grocery Headquarters went from an also-ran in the supermarket business publication industry to the largest, and I think, the most respected magazine in the field. We did it because of the people Bill hired, many of whom are still with the publication years after Bill left. 

Bill passed away at the age of 89 in mid-July. 

He will be remembered by many for his generosity, caring and hearty laugh. He loved a good Italian meal and may have told the same story once, twice or 10 times too many. He was a great family man, but his family went a lot deeper than his sons and his wife. If you worked for Bill, he considered you part of his family and took the time to get to know you and know your life. 

He also wanted to serve the supermarket industry. He made it a point to get to know retailers around Chicago and find out what issues they had and what kept them up at night. Then he told us to go figure out ways to solve these problems. It was not an easy task but we did the best we could. 

The best way to remember Bill, I believe, is to keep doing what he taught us. Publish a magazine that educates the grocery community, but do it in such a way that is exciting and challenging—and most of all, fun. 

I stayed in contact periodically with Bill over the years. Mostly it was to ask advice when times got tough. He was always there with a helpful idea and still wanted us to succeed even if he was no longer involved. 

Thanks for everything, Bill. You will be missed. Bang the drum slowly.