New Corporate History Published

I’m happy to announce the publication of my 18th corporate history book, The Story of Acker: The 200-Year History of America’s Oldest Wine Shop. This was a terrific project for a number of reasons: the client had very little existing historical material, meaning nearly every stage, from archival research through oral history interviewing and writing, brought a steady stream of epiphanies. I packed four stories between the covers: the tale of an immigrant family; a study of one of the nation’s largest luxury grocers; the profile of an Upper West Side package store; and the account of the creation and explosive growth of the world’s leading auctioneer of fine wines.

Like my other most successful projects, this one was fully supported by top management. Chairman John Kapon worked overtime through the holidays with the designer, printer, and me to finish the book in time for Acker’s gala birthday event on Saturday, February 8. I want to thank the other members of the Acker team and especially Michael and Suzanne Welch at Abzorb Design, Stewart Jordan and the Jamie Stotz at Westland Printers, and Jen Giambrone and Emily Sullivan at HAI, which served as prime contractor for the project.