FROM MARKETER TO ENTREPRENEUR & PHILANTHROPIST

When preparing a traditional Mexican dish, there are three ingredients in particular that are often called for: cheese, red sauce, and some sort of condiment. Now think about this: those same three ingredients are what make up pizza; a dish Entrepreneur and UND Alumnus, Hal Gershman says wasn’t commonly found in Mexico in the late 1960s.

After graduating from the University of North Dakota Nistler College of Business & Public Administration (UND NCoBPA) with a degree in marketing in 1966, Gershman made his way down to Mexico City for graduate school at the University of the Americas. However, the United States was in the midst of the Vietnam War, so Gershman decided he better go home and apply to both Officer’s Training School and the Peace Corps. Gershman was first accepted to the Peace Corps in Bolivia where he would spend the next 27 months working on tuberculosis control and community development in a small village on the eastern slopes of the Andes.

In 1969, after his time in the Peace Corps, Gershman moved to Mexico City. “When I lived in Mexico City, I could never get a pizza, and I loved pizza,” said Gershman. “So, while I was in Bolivia, I had a tape recorder, and I started to put down some ideas of opening a pizza house in Mexico City when I got out of the Peace Corps, and that’s what I did.”

In 1969, Gershman opened ‘Happy’s Pizza,’ in Mexico. The shop was named after Gershman’s father, ‘Happy Harry.’ He says it was one of the first pizza houses Mexico knew.

“We had the fortune of opening next to the most popular taco place in the city called Ponchos. We made the pizzas right in the front window, so people could see us throwing them up in the air. I was introducing pizza to Mexico and it was a huge success,” said Gershman.

Despite his love for Mexico City, Gershman was required to go back to the United States every six months to re-register his American car. “While

I was in the States, I would buy all of the latest music – Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, all of it,” said Gershman. “I had a great sound system in the 120seat restaurant, and we would play the latest rock music months before the radio stations would have them in Mexico. Over the bar, I had a big projector screen and I back projected silent movies to the rock music. People loved it. Plus, the pizza was really good!”

After living in Mexico City for three-and-a-half years, Gershman and his wife Kathy, who was also a Peace Corps volunteer in Bolivia, made their way back to the United States.

“I opened up a pizza delivery place in Cambridge, Massachusetts that was a failure,” said Gershman. “I started at the top and worked my way down. I spent three-and-a-half years struggling in that business. That really was an education. I don’t wish that on anybody, but that’s absolutely where I learned about business,” he added. “Nothing succeeds like failure, and nothing fails like success.”

In 1976 Gershman’s father became ill with cancer so he and his wife, who had received her masters and doctorate at Harvard, decided to move to Grand Forks to help out. Kathy soon landed a job as professor of education at UND, a position she stayed in for 34 years.

“UND is very significant to us in that it created an interesting life for both of us. So that was a big reason we stayed, because of UND,” said Gershman.

After Gershman’s father passed, he took over the family business in Grand Forks, Happy Harry’s Bottle Shop on Gateway Drive. Gershman continued to grow the business, expanding Happy Harry’s Bottle Shops to five locations, two in Grand Forks and three in Fargo, as well as taking on other business ventures.

“I’ve always been fascinated by the beauty of the architecture of barns. So, when I decided to build my first store in the barn style, I thought it was going to be fun, interesting and kind of an ode to where we are,” said Gershman. “We owe a lot to agriculture and the farming community and it’s an architecture that blends into the landscape of North Dakota. So that’s why we did it. Since you don’t get to build a building every day, you might as well make it interesting!”

Aside from its infrastructure, Gershman says what makes Happy Harry’s Bottle Shop unique is the level of service its employees give customers. All employees operate with the same mentality: “Every customer is our best customer.”

“The minute you put profit above customers and the employees, you do it at their expense,” said Gershman.

In addition to working as a life-long entrepreneur, Gershman is an active member of the Grand Forks community. He was elected President of the Grand Forks City Council in 2000, a position he held for 14 years. Gershman and his wife, Kathy, also chaired the fundraising to convert the Empire Theater to the Empire Arts Center.

“It’s become an icon in the city, so we’re very proud of that,” said Gershman. “We have great interest in the city and its well-being.”

The Gershman’s involvement in Grand Forks isn’t limited to just the city, they are also active at UND. Their latest project at North Dakota’s Flagship University is restoring the J. Lloyd Stone building, which was also the original University President’s residence build in 1903. By the end of this summer, the space will be transformed into what will be named the ‘Dr. Kathleen & Hal Gershman Graduate Engagement Center.’ The Gershman’s $3 million donation received a $1.5 million matching grant from the State of North Dakota. The Gershman’s say they would like for the space to serve as a quiet study place, as well as a space for collaborative work, meetings, small seminars and informal gatherings.

“Right now, graduate students don’t have a place to go of their own to get together for work and fun, but soon they will! I think it will be a good recruiting tool and I think it is always better for education if students engage with each other. It will once again be one of the most beautiful buildings in the Upper Midwest when we’re done,” said Gershman.

Gershman has also spent time in the classroom as a Marketing Department guest lecturer. Students aren’t the only young people Gershman has given back to in the last five years. In 2015 the Gershman’s made the decision to hand the keys to Happy Harry’s Bottle Shops over to their employees. “I decided while Kathy and I were still healthy, that we would manage the change we knew would eventually come,” said Gershman.

Happy Harry’s Bottle Shops is now converting to 100% ownership

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“Here’s what I like to tell people and it’s true,” said Gershman.

“When I was younger, I was a pretty damn good retailer. But this team at Happy Harry’s now--they’re better than I was. I’m so proud of them, they’re just great. And they’re ending up with the business, which is a good thing. They deserve it.”

Gershman - an entrepreneur, philanthropist and proud UND NCoBPA alumnus was not intimidated by the world post-graduation. With his UND Marketing degree in-hand, the Grand Forks native accomplished a number of remarkable undertakings, benefiting his family, the community and the state of North Dakota.

-By Averi Haugesag