Nathan "Nat" Berger was born in Visne, Minsk, Russia on Aug. 11, 1901. He came to the United States in 1906, and lived in New York prior to moving to Mobile, Alabama. On February 5, 1928, he married Leah Vivian Mattes of New Orleans, Louisiana. She was born on March 24, 1910.

Nat bought his first grocery store in 1927. He paid $275 "lock, stock and barrel" for a store at Chatham and Texas Street. The sale price included a register, "icebox", scale, and merchandise.

They later operated the Lincoln Inn, a lounge on Davis Avenue, for a number of years.

Nat died on February 2, 1989. Leah died on March 3, 1991. They are both buried in Ahavas Chesed Cemetery in Mobile.