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Aaron Montgomery Ward, Montgomery Ward, UNITED STATES
American merchant Aaron Montgomery Ward (1843-1913) helped create mail order retailing and built the large mail-order house which bears his name.
Born in Chatham, New York,... |
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Adam Gimbel , Saks, UNITED STATES
Andrew Saks established a successful clothing business in 1867, and opened a store in New York on 34th Street in 1902 as Saks and Co.... |
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Alain Bouchard, Alimentation Couche Tard, CANADA
Alain Bouchard began his career at Perrette Dairy in 1968 as an interim store manager. He then became supervisor and district director until 1973. As... |
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Albert Heijn, Ahold, NETHERLANDS
Ahold’s diminutive core brand Albert Heijn was started by the man of the same name when Albert – who was born in Oostzaan in 1865... |
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Aljekandr Pomeranzev, GUM, RUSSIAN FEDERATION
By the 15th-century Moscow’s Red Square had established itself as a centre of Russian trade, and ever since the times of Ivan Grozny merchants have... |
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André Essel and Max Théret, Fnac, FRANCE
After the Second World War Young Socialists André Essel and Max Théret met up and conceived the idea of forming a new buyers club offering... |
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Anita Roddick, Body Shop, UNITED KINGDOM
Ethical entrepreneur Anita Roddick was for many years the most famous businesswoman in Britain. At its height, her Body Shop empire had more than 2,100... |
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Archie Norman, Asda, UNITED KINGDOM
The origins of the Asda Group are to be found in the efforts of English dairy farmers to protect themselves from falling milk prices after... |
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Aristide Boucicaut, Bon Marché, FRANCE
Aristide Boucicaut was born in 1810 and created what is considered to be one of the original department stores. Born in Bellême, the son of... |
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Arthur Blank and Bernard Marcus, Home Depot, UNITED STATES
Arthur Blank was born in 1942, and grew up in Flushing, New York, with his father, Max, his mother, Molly, and his older brother, Michael.... |
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Barbara Hulanicki, Biba, UNITED KINGDOM
For just over a decade Biba epitomised London’s position as fashion and style capital. Biba was the brainchild of Warsaw-born (in 1936) Barbara Hulanicki, working... |
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Cal Turner Jr, Dollar General, UNITED STATES
Dollar General was founded in 1955 by Cal Turner and his father James after two previous attempts to establish a retail business by James had... |
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Charles Digby Harrod, Harrods
In 1835 Charles Henry Harrod, a tea merchant and grocery wholesaler, started his own shop opposite his home in Stepney, East London. Harrod was worried... |
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Charles Lazarus, Toys ‘R’ Us, UNITED STATES
Toys "R" Us founder Charles Lazarus was born above a Washington DC shop where his father repaired and sold used bicycles. In 1948, after a... |
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Charles Walgreen Jr, Walgreens, UNITED STATES
Charles Walgreen Jr, whose father founded the iconic drugstore that bears the family name, died in February 2007 at his home in Northfield, Illinois. He... |
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Clarence Saunders, Piggly Wiggly, UNITED STATES
Clarence Saunders is credited as the first developer of the modern retail sales model of self service. His ideas have had a massive influence on... |
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David Glass, Wal-Mart , UNITED STATES
When David Glass was appointed president and CEO of Wal-Mart in 1988, sales were only $17 billion; far behind Kmart and Sears. The majority of... |
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Dieter Schwarz, Schwarz Group, GERMANY
Taking over from his father and Josef Schwarz upon his death in 1977, Dieter set about focusing on a discount model similar to that of... |
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Dominique Mandonnaud, Sephora, FRANCE
The precursor to beauty and cosmetics chain Sephora opened in Limoges in 1969 in France's Haute Vienne region. Increasingly frustrated by the counter-service culture which... |
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Don Fisher, Gap, UNITED STATES
Donald Fisher is said to have conceived of the Gap when he was unable to find the right size of Levi's in a department store... |
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Edouard Leclerc, Leclerc, FRANCE
Edouard Leclerc abandoned his studies for the catholic priesthood in 1949 and opened a small grocery store in Landerneau, in the north of France. From... |
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EJ Railo, Kesko, FINLAND
The name 'Kesko' was invented by the company’s first managing director EJ Railo and does not mean anything in Finnish, but phonetically it resembles the... |
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Erivan Haub, Tengelmann Group, GERMANY
Erivan Haub was born on 29 September 1932 and his mother Elizabeth originates from the Mülheimer entrepreneur family Schmitz Scholl, the owner family of the... |
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Erling Persson, H&M, SWEDEN
Erling Persson was born in the small industrial city of Borlänge, Sweden in 1917. Several years after elementary school, he moved to the capital. In... |
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Frank Winfield Woolworth, FW Woolworth, UNITED STATES
Frank Woolworth was born in Rodman, New York, in 1852. A farmer's son, his father had fought in the American Civil War and has raised... |
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Fred Lazarus Jr, Federated Department Stores, UNITED STATES
Fred Lazarus, Jr served as President of Federated Department Stores from its founding until 1957, and thereafter served as board chairman until his death in... |
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George Weston, George Weston, CANADA
George Weston, baker, businessman, and politician; was born in 1865 in Oswego, New York, the youngest of seven children. His family moved to Toronto so... |
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Gerard Mulliez, Auchan, FRANCE
The Mulliez family founded and retains the dominant share of grocery chain Auchan. The family’s first company, Phildar, was founded in 1903 and has become... |
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Giorgio Armani, Armani, ITALY
Born in Piacenza, Italy in 1934 to a father who loved football, films and theatre, Armani initially trained to be a doctor, then gave up... |
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