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Lars and Beverly at a previous TFWA World Exhibition show in Cannes |
INTERNATIONAL. The travel retail industry is today mourning the tragic loss of one of its most loved and respected figures, Lars Johansson, who passed away in the early hours of Tuesday morning in Cannes after falling ill the previous day.
Lars died in hospital surrounded by friends from the industry and alongside his beloved wife Beverly.
Lars enjoyed a long and successful career in the duty free industry beginning in the 1960s, embracing a number of senior positions with multi-nationals such as RJ Reynolds, Hiram Walker and Allied Domecq. On July 4 1998 he created his own company, Imagination Unlimited International (IUI), with his wife and business partner Beverly.
IUI became synonymous with the phenomenal success of Inniskillin Icewine, a hitherto unheralded Canadian dessert wine. Through a rare combination of imagination, creativity, passion, hard work and business acumen, Lars and Beverly built Inniskillin into an extraordinary market-leading brand.
From small beginnings with DFS – with whom Lars enjoyed a particularly close bond – Inniskillin grew into a true global powerhouse in the travel retail channel.
As he arrived in Cannes for the annual TFWA World Exhibition, Lars was typically full of optimism and new ideas for the future.
His sudden, tragic loss comes as a devastating blow to his countless friends in the business.
The whole industry sends its condolences to Beverly; son Lars-Erik; daughters Laila and Samantha; as well as Lars’ loved grandson Cody.
Visitors to TFWA World Exhibition can pay their respects to Lars in a special memoriam book that can be found on the third floor of the Palais outside auditoriums A and B from tomorrow, Wednesday.
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Lars with long-time industry friends David Bernstein and Harry Diehl |
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Lars’ trademark smile lit up many a meeting at countless trade shows down the years; (Right) Lars pictured dancing with his beloved wife Beverly at the Duty Free Show of the Americas in 2006 | |
COMMENT:
Out through the fields and the woods
And over the walls I have wended;
I have climbed the hills of view
And looked at the world and descended;
I have come by the highway home,
And lo, it is ended. -Robert Frost, Reluctance
The loss of Lars Johansson, that giant-hearted, exuberant, passionate, loving Swedish gentleman, is painfully difficult to report, writes Martin Moodie.
He has been a fixture in our industry for so long that it feels a giant void has been created overnight. For indeed it has.
Lars’ love for the business, for the companies he represented, and for his greatest commercial achievement – Inniskillin Icewine – were all an integral part of what he stood for. But it was his wider human qualities that set him apart from so many men.
To Lars, friendship and loyalty were the most important of all prizes. Integrity was a watchword. And generosity should perhaps have been his middle name.
Those who knew Lars well will treasure many fond memories and recall countless stories of days and dinners and glasses of wine shared with him. What will linger most for me though is his smile, always big, spontaneous and genuine, and the bear hug that inevitably followed when we met again after an absence.
His contribution to our business, across decades and companies, was inestimable. His powers of imagination (captured so proudly in his company’s name) would have filled whole departments in bigger companies. His work ethic was extraordinary; his sense of business partnership acute. And, of course, his love for Beverly was profound.
To me he was mentor, supporter and friend. In our start-up and subsequent development he saw many similarities with the journey taken by Imagination Unlimited International. He never failed to take the opportunity to support, guide or sometimes correct me. Like so many people, I will miss him deeply.
NOTE: Readers can add their comments via the Forum below. All will be passed on to Beverly.
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