During the Great Depression, brothers David and Stanley Golden were struggling to survive, as were most Americans. Their mother passed away while both were very young, which required their father to take on multiple jobs while the boys raised themselves amid the streets of New York City. They learned to rely on one another and to appreciate the value of relationships built on trust. In their late teens, they enrolled in the government’s New Deal programs which sent them all over the country to assist with infrastructure projects, gain a hard-work ethic and a sense of success that included others.

Do the right thing

When David began his first “real job” in the packaging industry and quickly discovered that his employer was cheating his customers — he immediately quit. With a belief that he could provide better service and build a prosperous business with integrity and trust, David partnered with his brother Stanley and Leonard Beckerman in 1939 to open their first packaging supply shop on the lower east side of Manhattan.