In late August 1945, after the atom bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Japanese had surrendered to Allied Forces, a group of Marines based in the Pacific were discussing what they would do stateside now that the war was over. A 21-year-old corporal, Hillar Moore Jr., who had fought at Iwo Jima earlier that year, was among them.
“I said to everyone, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do when I get home, but I can tell you what I’m not going to do. I’m not going to go into the grocery business.’”
A native of New Orleans and son of a barber, Moore had grown up working at the A&P at Tulane and South Carrollton avenues after school and on weekends, bagging, stocking, and divvying bulk eggs and dry goods into individual cartons and sacks. However prosaic, the early experience ultimately would provide a helpful foundation because the grocery business was indeed where Moore landed, ultimately rising from clerical help to the presidency of two major grocers cooperatives. His career lasted nearly 50 years, including 20 at the helm of Associated Grocers in Baton Rouge, where sales increased from about $50 million to $300 million during his tenure.
But when people mention Moore’s name, they often skip over the part about the impressive career, careening instead into rapid-fire commentary about what a generous, stand-up guy he is.
“I don’t think he’s ever met someone who didn’t like him,” says Moore’s son, East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore III. “His goal was always about doing the right thing.”
“He’s not just a gentleman, but a gentle man,” Associated Grocers President J.H. Campbell says. “He is someone who is genuinely interested in other people and who is very compassionate.”
“He is fabulous,” says Lynn Weill, former vice president for development and chief development officer at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center. “People will do anything he asks because he’s so loved and admired.”
Starting off
Back home in New Orleans in summer 1946, Moore set his sights on college. But as he waited for classes to start that fall, his father, Hillar Moore Sr., had other ideas. An acquaintance of the family’s was looking for clerical help at the Louisiana Grocers Cooperative. With nothing else going on, the younger Moore accepted. It led to an important development. He met a woman named Bernadine Aiavolasiti, whose family grocery on Esplanade Avenue was part of the cooperative. The two fell in love and married in 1948.
Life became serious soon after, with the first of seven children born the following year. Moore also returned to the Marine Corps for a tour of duty, this time in California, where he helped prepare troops for the Korean War. The cooperative held a position for him and, when he returned, he moved into accounting. He made time for college, too, enrolling in night classes in 1951. Juggling a growing family and a full-time job, he graduated eight years later with a degree from Loyola University in business administration.
The 1960s brought more professional advancement. By then, Moore had worked his way up into the high-ranking position of secretary-treasurer with the company. Those years, he recalls, were transitional ones for independent grocers. Supermarket chains were expanding, gobbling up market share with low prices and big advertising budgets.
Nationwide, cooperatives had become the saving grace of independents because they bought direct from producers and suppliers as a group. At Louisiana Grocers Cooperative, Moore was charged with ensuring member prices stayed low, and he helped them transition from a manual to an automated ordering system. Working with so many small businesses, he sharpened his ability to keep diverse groups happy and on task.
It wasn’t unlike his personal life. By then, the Moores had three daughters and four sons, and their home, Hillar Moore III says, was constantly filled with friends, extended family and activity.
“Our house was always the place where people wanted to be,” he says. “My dad was always coaching some kind of team—even when we weren’t on it, and my mother would be up until 2 in the morning cooking for big groups.”
Then, longtime Louisiana Grocers Cooperative President James K. McNamara died unexpectedly. Moore was named his replacement. Over two decades, he had risen from part-time typist to the company’s highest rank.
New Orleans to Baton Rouge
In 1950, 17 independent grocers in the Baton Rouge area banded together to form Associated Grocers, a cooperative whose first warehouse was located in north Baton Rouge on Sorrel Avenue. It was one of growing number of national co-ops intended to help smaller retailers leverage their purchasing power. Membership increased to more than 200 retailers throughout the southeast, and by the early ’70s, Associated Grocers needed to expand. The company bought land on Anselmo Lane and built a new warehouse to house the growing supply goods required to stock retailers’ shelves.
AG President Sam Politz was preparing to retire, and he recruited Moore to move to Baton Rouge to take over. Moore accepted, officially moving into the position in 1976.
Expansion and the need for efficiency defined the era, recalls Moore. “There were more products coming out, and more private-label [Shurfine] items. It was important to get them out as quickly and cheaply as possible,” he says.
“There was a lot of change in that period,” Campbell says. “We went from a small warehouse to a true distribution center. Costs rose because of inflation and the oil embargo. The focus, in those days, was on how we could keep costs structures down for independents and keep them in businesses, and Mr. Moore did a great job of that.”
Giving back
In 1991, well into his career at AG and an involved member of the Baton Rouge community, Moore began helping Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center organize its first charity golf tournament. His parents had died of cancer, and the opportunity, he felt, would bring exposure and new investment in the worthwhile cause. The inaugural event went well, with Moore biting off considerable responsibility, and seeing it through. He planned to continue the following year. Then, in a cruel twist of fate, Bernadine Moore was diagnosed with lung cancer, and Janet Moore Webb, the couple’s oldest child, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Both women died soon after.
As painful as the losses were, Moore never stopped working on the event, instead using it as an opportunity to leave a positive mark.
“It was a chance to help people in similar situations,” he recalls. Seventeen years later, Moore still is instrumental in the tournament’s execution. It has raised $1.2 million to date. Weill, who led development from 1997-2008, says Moore has brought an impressive ethic and commitment to his work at Mary Bird Perkins, constantly exceeding expectations.
“Hillar is always there, never misses a meeting and does whatever it takes,” she says. “I call him a gentle giant. He is very soft-spoken, and so kind and generous, but he knows how to get things done.”
Weill and Moore worked together to expand the tournament’s reach by converting it from a local event to a three-day pro-am that would attract golfers on tour and invite significant corporate sponsorship. Weill recalls that Moore worked tirelessly with current and potential donors to ensure a seamless transition.
“He brought instant credibility, admiration and respect,” says Weill, now vice president/chief development officer at Woman’s Hospital. “He has been such an inspiration to me, and we remain good friends.”
Constant motion
It’s been 19 years since Moore’s retirement from AG, but his family and friends say few people are as busy.
After a 30-year career with the Marines and Marine Reserve, he retired as a sergeant major and still remains active with local battalions. He volunteers with SCORE and Counselors to America’s Small Businesses, and he has served on numerous nonprofit boards including Girl Scouts of America and Brighton School. While at AG, he attended mass daily at Our Lady of Lake Regional Medical Center’s chapel, and he still serves there as a Eucharistic minister and reader. He also drops by the AG warehouse regularly to observe and say hello.
All of Moore’s children live within a few miles of him, and he remains the central figure in their lives, says Hillar Moore III, who lives next door.
“He is the kind of guy who attends all his grandchildren’s events and helps them with their homework,” he says. “Everybody goes to him for advice.”
Including Hillar Moore III. When weighing whether or not to run for DA, he first sought his father’s counsel.
“I told him he was crazy,” Hillar Moore Jr. says. “But I worked on his campaign, and we had a lot of fun.” Hillar Moore III won handily and, after officials swore him in, his father administered a ceremonial oath of office.
Looking back, Hillar Moore Jr. is characteristically humble and quick to divert credit.
“All the people I worked with over the years were great,” he says. “I was surrounded by good people.”
Hall Of Fame Laureate: Hillar Moore Jr.
Age: 83
Accomplishments: Served as president of Associated Grocers in Baton Rouge from 1976-95 after also serving as president of the New Orleans-based Louisiana Grocers Cooperative. Served in the U.S. Marine Corps and Marine reserves for 30 years, retiring as a sergeant major. Volunteers with SCORE and Counselors to America’s Small Businesses and has served on numerous nonprofit boards, including Girl Scouts of America and Brighton School. Is the founding chair of the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center Open, an annual pro-am to benefit cancer patients.
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