With great sadness we report the recent passing of Joe Venables, one of the pioneering influences in the Americas duty free sector, at the age of 90.
His son Steve, also a renowned figure in the duty free sector, said: “He was a wonderful father, a one of kind man.”
Joe Venables was one of eight children of Irish immigrant parents. Three of his siblings were born in Ireland before the family emigrated seeking a better life in America.
In the early 1950s he was one of New York City’s top high school basketball players at St. John’s Prep which earned him a scholarship to St. John’s University in York. He stayed one year at university before enlisting in the US Navy, going on to serve on USS La Moure County (LST-883), an LST-542-class tank landing ship, during the Korean war.
After returning to civilian life he was based in San Diego and later Honolulu in Hawaii where Steve and Tom Venables (also well-known in the duty free world) were born.
After the war Joe joined Revlon during its dramatic growth stage and would often regale the family with stories of the US beauty house’s legendary founder Charles Revson.
In the early 1960s he introduced French beauty brand Lancôme into top US department stores. He later introduced Pantene hair products into the same channel of distribution when the brand was owned by Hoffmann-La Roche.
The Venables family company Brigade Distributors grew into a major force in the Americas travel retail sector and beyond.
“He had a vision in the early 1980s that the world was getting smaller and luxury goods would be demanded in duty free markets and emerging markets, especially the Middle East,” recalls Steve Venables. “His vision was right on and we introduced Calvin Klein fragrances, Giorgio Beverly Hills fragrance, Society by Burberrys, the Swiss Army fragrances, and Gucci and Fendi timepieces.
The Moodie Davitt Report joins the many people in our travel retail community who remember Joe Venables fondly in expressing our sorrow and deepest condolences to his family on the loss of a fine and charismatic man. ✈
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