When the Son Calls The Shots; The former CEO of General Motors now helps his son run an upscale market on Cape Cod. They both had a lot to learn.

Publication: Newsweek

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Byline: Daniel McGinn

Brian Smith was tired of the potato-chip business. It was 1999, and Smith, a marketing executive with Frito-Lay, dreamed of opening a small retail shop and being his own boss. So when he discovered a supermarket for sale on Cape Cod, Mass., he called his father for advice. As it happened, Dad had a good head for business. For nearly a decade, John F. Smith Jr. had been the CEO of General Motors.

The elder Smith, who owned a vacation home near the market, offered encouragement and financial help. So Brian bought the store. And when Smith, now 65,...

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