Christy Mihos

The original store, which was in Brockton, Massachusetts, was opened by his Greek immigrant grandfather, Christy Mihos, in 1934.

Christy Peter Mihos (June 13, 1949 – March 25, 2017) was an American politician and businessman from Massachusetts.

During the 1960s, Mihos father and uncle, Peter and James C. Mihos, expanded the business from a single supermarket into a chain of convenience stores.

In the 1970s, Mihos began running the chain with his brother, Jim.

Christy served as president and chief executive officer, while Jim was the company's chief operating officer and treasurer.

In 1974, Mihos and his wife Andrea married.

During the 1980s he was president of the board of stewards at the Panagia Greek Orthodox Church in Cohasset, Massachusetts.

He was credited with leading the church through one of its most successful financial periods.

During his tenure, the church's interior was refurbished and a parish house was purchased.

Mihos owned the convenience store chain Christy's Markets on Cape Cod.

In 1980 they purchased the Sunny Corner Farms chain of convenience stores, which gave the business 33 stores in the Boston area.

At its peak, the chain included 144 stores found throughout Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maine.

In 1990, Mihos ran for the Massachusetts Senate as a Republican.

He was initially the frontrunner for the party's nomination, as he had more name recognition and financial means than his opponents and had lived in three of the towns in the district (Cohasset, Weymouth and Scituate).

Although Mihos was seen as the most electable Republican in a district that included heavily Democratic towns such as Weymouth and Marshfield, his support for environmental protection and abortion rights, willingness to raise taxes, and contributions to prominent Democrats such as William M. Bulger and William B. Golden caused some Republicans to view him as too liberal.

Mihos lost the primary election by three votes to conservative activist Robert Hedlund, who later won the general election.

In May 1998, Mihos and his brother sold 142 of their stores to 7-Eleven.

Mihos, however, repurchased eight Christy's on Cape Cod along with some real estate holdings.

In 1999, he was appointed to the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority by Governor Paul Cellucci, where he served as vice chairman.

During his tenure on the Authority, Mihos frequently clashed with Chairman Matt Amorello over a number of issues regarding the Big Dig's budget and excessive spending.

In 2001, after voting to postpone a toll hike and seeking to fire Bechtel, the general contractor of the Big Dig, Mihos was fired by Acting Governor Jane Swift, along with Director Jordan Levy.

Mihos sued claiming that the governor did not have the authority to fire them, and it was eventually brought before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Mihos won his case, and both were reinstated to the Authority.

Mihos later sued Governor Swift for violating his First Amendment right to free speech and settled that case in U.S. District Court for $197,000.

In 2004, when Mihos's five-year term on the authority expired, Governor Mitt Romney replaced him with Daniel A. Grabauskas, the 2002 Republican nominee for State Treasurer.

During his term on the Authority, Mihos also served as a trustee of the University of Massachusetts.

In late 2005, Mihos announced that he was thinking of running for governor in 2006.

After Romney announced that he would not seek re-election, Mihos decided to pursue his candidacy further.

He was an Independent candidate for governor of Massachusetts in 2006.

Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey had won the support of Romney and the majority of the state Republican leadership for the nomination, so Mihos decided to run as an Independent, announcing his candidacy for governor via televised interview on March 2, 2006.

The next day, he held a rally at the Massachusetts State House to officially announce his candidacy.

An article published on March 21 in The Boston Globe drew attention to Mihos's interactions with public university professor Lou DiNatale.

DiNatale had involvement in Mihos political campaign, including poll analysis, despite the fact that DiNatale was never employed by Mihos, and the state education system prohibited its educators from being involved in political campaigns.

The Globe wrote that DiNatale had "an unusual relationship with Christy P. Mihos, now an independent candidate for governor."

He ran for the Republican nomination for governor in 2010, but did not receive enough votes at the Republican Convention to qualify for the primary ballot.

Mihos was born and raised in Brockton, Massachusetts.

During his youth, Mihos worked in his family's supermarket.

He graduated from Brockton High School and Stonehill College.

While attending college, Mihos was the part of a Greek wedding band playing the bouzouki, clarinet, and saxophone.

He was also part of a rock band playing the bass guitar.