Arnold Greenberg

Arnold Shepard Greenberg was born in Brooklyn on Sept. 2, 1932, and grew up in the Brownsville neighborhood there. His father owned an appetizing store in the East Village, on First Avenue near St. Marks Place, selling staples like lox, herring and pickles; by the 1950s, Arnold Greenberg was running it. By the 1960s, with the East Village becoming decreasingly Jewish and increasingly hippie, Mr. Greenberg converted the business into a health food store. In the early ’70s he went into business with Mr. Marsh, a childhood friend with whom he had attended Samuel J. Tilden High School, and Mr. Golden, who was married to Mr. Marsh’s sister. When the three men coined the name Snapple, they discovered it was already owned by a small company in Texas, which appeared to have little interest in using it. They bought the name for $500. Mr. Greenberg’s first wife, the former Marilyn Parmet, died in 1993; a son, Michael, also died before him. He is survived by his second wife, the former Roberta Budoff; two daughters from his first marriage, Susan Minster and Robin Nijankin; a brother, Herbert; three stepchildren, Scott Budoff, Gary Budoff and Kim Fields; and 14 grandchildren. A resident of Delray Beach, Fla., who also had homes in Manhattan and Southampton, N.Y., Mr. Greenberg had been ill with cancer for some time, his family said.