With deep sadness we report the passing of Frank Furlan, a long-time, respected and popular member of the travel retail, beauty and watches business communities.
He leaves behind four daughters, Katarina (from his first wife Caroline), Victoria, Constance and Lea (from his second wife Helene). We send our heartfelt condolences to his family, including brother Chris, on this terrible loss.
Having studied Marketing & International Business at Boston University, Frank joined the travel retail sector from Bijan Fragrances in 1993 with The Estée Lauder Companies, spending five years with the house as Regional Sales Director and Area Sales Manager.
He then moved to fellow US beauty house Revlon Cosmetics International as International Regional Director Travel Retail before joining Swiss watch powerhouse Swatch Group in January 2000 as Head of Travel Retail and Steering Committee Secretary.
From February 2004 through to June 2016 he held a range of senior positions with Swatch Group, culminating in a highly successful spell as President and CEO of The Swatch Group (U.S.) from January 2012 to June 2016.
He later held several leadership roles including CEO of Perfumania, CEO-USA of Kiko Milano and most recently was a Senior Advisor to YOOBIC in France, The Red Tree in the UK and La Lagune in Switzerland.
The Red Tree Founder & CEO Stirling Murray paid warm tribute, saying: ”Frank was a delightful character, warm and generous in nature and strong and learned in thought. He cultivated an endless list of contacts and I always enjoyed our conversation that would often veer off to things other than beauty or business or numbers. I will miss him. Rest in Peace.”
Martin Moodie writes: I knew Frank very well over many years, both at my former company Duty-Free News International and – more particularly – at what was then The Moodie Report. Frank was a tremendous supporter of my fledging publication with The Swatch Group becoming one of our earliest advertisers (against internal opposition he convinced several group brands to participate), taking a year-long series of advertisements in our then humble pdf, a commitment that he maintained throughout his travel retail tenure at the group.
He was wholly devoted to the Trinity principles of enhanced collaboration between brands, retailers and airports and played a seminal role in the creation of The Trinity Forum in 2003. Frank helped me put together the first programme, and himself spoke with passion and his trademark intellectual intensity at the inaugural event.
Even after he left travel retail we stayed close, sharing many a dram of his beloved Ardbeg Islay Single Malt Scotch whisky.
In 2011 after I had been struck down with stomach cancer, he introduced me to a Switzerland-based Texan businessman called John Wampler who he convinced to invest in my business (and me to divest a majority). With my health at that point tenuous to say the least, it was envisioned that Frank would step in as CEO of The Moodie Report under its new ownership.
While that did not happen – I recovered and Frank became President & CEO of The Swatch Group (U.S.) instead – he continued to advise me on how to develop the business under its new ownership structure.
We lost touch for a while but after I bought back the business from Wampler in 2015 began communicating once more and eventually, I am pleased to say, quite often.
In 2022, when we started a campaign to raise funds for a Ukraine-related humanitarian cause, he wrote: “Totally supported your post today on Ukraine. This is at the brink and getting more dangerous and damaging by the minute. Travel retail, as a rare very global connected community, needs to take a clear stance and support. In my view, we are at the brink of something potentially very dangerous globally. No-one will win.
“You have the power to communicate that in a global way. This needs to stop. You’ve done it before. Go for it.”
That was Frank. No half measures. None more so than when he volunteered to play rugby in the annual Cannes match between the ‘Sexy Saxons’ and the Latin Lovers. He had never played before and he was up against some big bruisers on the other team who had not only played a whole lot but at a high level.
“Where do I stand?” was the none too promising question he asked me and Kevin Walsh as we told him he was playing out on the wing, hopefully also out of harm’s way. Not Frank. He was getting stuck in within minutes, tackling ‘Les Bleus’ as if his life depended on it. That was Frank. Intensity personified. But a team player to the end. Rest in peace gentle Frank. ✈
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