Ron was born in Des Moines, Iowa, the son of Daniel T. and Selma Daniels who owned a small chain of Iowa-based jewelry stores. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Finance.
After college, Ron returned to Iowa to engage in the Des Moines based family business, which had evolved into multiple 40,000 square foot Ardan Catalog showrooms in three states.
After the untimely death of his father, Ron assumed the presidency of Ardan, which he eventually sold to the Carlson Companies in Minneapolis and stayed on as CEO. Within 6 years Ardan grew from $15 million in annual sales to over $150 million in annual sales generating a pre-tax profit for the Carlson Companies of over $10 million annually.
After giving one-year notice to Carlson, Ron retired at the age of 38 and moved his family to Israel where he still maintains a residence in Jerusalem. The retirement lasted for less than 30 days.
Commuting from Israel to the U.S., Ron partnered with Abe Wolf and started Buyers Realty, Inc. in Des Moines which today owns and manages nearly three million square feet of retail shopping centers and commercial property in five states. Buyers Realty also specializes in securing Midwest locations for nearly 40 retailers including Target, Best Buy, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Whole Foods and the TJX Companies.
“I have been happily married to my wife June for several wonderful decades. We have five amazing children and, so far, 15 fantastic grandchildren. Life is good.”