Making Change at A. & P.

Ralph W. Burger was the personal choice of Brothers George and John Hartford to succeed them as head of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., founded by their father in 1859. But in his six years as chairman-president of A. & P., Burger has had less success with other Hartford family shareholders, who together hold about 40% of A. & P.'s stock. In 1958. at their insistence. A. & P. added outside directors to its board for the first time. Two months ago. the six outsiders vigorously dissented from Burger's selection of Vice President and Treasurer John D. Ehrgott, 67, to succeed him as president. They argued that Ehrgott was too old—and their criticism implied that at 73 Burger was also too old to continue as chairman and chief executive. A. & P. has been slipping in sales and earnings while some competitors marked up gains.

Last week Burger announced that he will soon step down from his job to devote more time to the philanthropic Hartford Foundation. In what seemed to be a peacemaking gesture toward the family, five more outside directors were added to the A. & P. board (bringing the outside force to 11 out of 25 directors), including three of the family attorneys. At this point, it is still unclear whether Ehrgott will step up to run the company or, if not, who will.