returning from a meeting of the automaker's board of directors. George remained as A&P's chairman and treasurer, appointing the corporation's longtime secretary Ralph Burger as its new president. While Burger started with A&P in 1910 as a clerk in Glens Falls, New York, he was a staffer who lacked John Hartford's strategic marketing skills. Under Burger, A&P continued to report record sales and operated with expenses of 12.6% of sales when the industry average was 15%. Burger was also president of the John A. Hartford Foundation started by sons John and George in 1929, assuring Burger's control of A&P when George died in 1957. George's trust was dissolved; the stock began selling on the New York Stock Exchange (under the symbol GAP) at $59 per share. For the first time, A&P elected six outside directors onto its board. In late 1961, A&P stock peaked at $70. The seeds for A&P's 35-year fall from the country's largest grocery to bankruptcy (and later liquidation) were planted in the 1950s: A&P was starved of capital. While A&P was publicly traded, control rested with Burger, who headed both the corporation and the Hartford Foundation. Most of A&P's profit was declared as dividends to satisfy the income needs of the trust and its heirs. A&P also remained opposed to debt financing; the only source of capital was the depreciation account. While competitors invested in larger, modern supermarkets, A&P was slow to update its retail capital plant. By 1970, A&P stores were considerably smaller and mostly older than those of its competitors. A&P placed too much emphasis on private label products. In 1951, the Supreme Court ruled that manufacturers could not establish minimum prices unless the retailer agreed to the arrangement. This decision launched a revolution in discount retailing fueled by the rapid increase in television advertising that raised demand for national brands. Contrary to this, A&P invested substantial amounts of its scarce capital to expand manufacturing, including $25 million to construct the world's largest food plant in Horseheads, New York. Because A&P stores were smaller, its shelves were dominated by private-label products, and customers found that national brands were often out of stock. A&P's labor costs were higher than those of most competitors. Because A&P stopped growing, a rising percentage of its workers were making higher wages due to their seniority. This was not a problem for most of A&P's competitors because they were rapidly