Bernard Gelson, co-founder of the upscale grocery chain that bears the family name, died at 84 earlier this week, the L.A. Times reported.

Gelson died of pneumonia at his Encino home on Monday.

He was born in Sioux City, Iowa, in 1920 and learned the grocery business, along with his younger brother Eugene, from his parents. The family moved to Monterey Park in the 1930s and ran a small grocery store there.

The brothers opened their first upscale market in 1951. The Burbank store stocked top-quality merchandise and offered premium service. The success of the venture led the brothers to expand to Encino and North Hollywood in the 1960s. They sold the company to Arden Group Inc. in 1966, and Bernard Gelson operated the chain as a wholly owned subsidiary of the holding company until his retirement in 1988.

The chain now has 18 locations.

He is survived by his wife Ellyn; a son and daughter; three stepchildren; a sister and a grandson.