INTERNATIONAL. DFS Group Co-founder Robert (Bob) Warren Miller today (23 May) celebrates his 90th birthday, a remarkable landmark for travel retail’s longest-serving individual.
Bob Miller created what would become DFS (at one point Duty Free Shoppers) in the 1960s in partnership with Charles (Chuck) Feeney who sold his share to LVMH in 1996. Miller retains his 38.75% share in the company to this day and remains very much committed to the business.
As reported, his biography, Miller’s Tale – authored by The Moodie Davitt Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie – was published in 2022.
The limited-edition, private placement book tells the rip-roaring story of a New England boy from modest origins who co-founded and helped create a global shopping powerhouse.
The work also details Miller’s extraordinary sailing exploits, including how at 72 he broke the century-old record for a transatlantic yacht crossing, pushing his boat, his crew and himself almost beyond their limits.
“Bob Miller has been a seminal figure in the travel retail industry, a consummate entrepreneur and a giant in terms of sector influence,” said Martin Moodie. “He is a remarkable man who, to borrow his favourite phrase, has lived ‘A good life with courage’.
“We join with his countless friends, business associates, DFS team members and the wider travel retail community in wishing him a very Happy Birthday. To borrow another phrase, this time from DFS, ‘Long may the journey continue’.” ✈
