DFS Group North America Vice President, Business Development Joe Lyons has paid a fulsome and moving tribute to travel retail industry veteran and legend John Gentzbourger, who passed away this month after a short illness.
Tributes have been pouring in via The Moodie Davitt Report’s Disqus reader feedback platform (scroll to foot of that story if you wish to add to or view). Joe Lyons’ words are included there, but due to his long and close relationship with John, we have repeated them in full here.
Joe Lyons is himself a legend in our industry. Late last year he was recognised by DFS Group for his 50 years with the company. And in December, The Moodie Davitt Report named him one of our People of the Year. His words therefore carry particular and poignant resonance.
Introduction to John
I met John on a phone call in September 1961 after I started ‘Cars International’ in Frankfurt am Main in a small office on Hansa Allee.
Helga (Flaiz and later Feeney) ran the office; Chuck visited from time to time as did Bob Miller from Hong Kong. The business targeted sales of European cars to American service men stationed in various parts of West Germany. The cars, such as Volkswagens, Volvos and sports cars such as Jaguars and Austin Healeys were sold for good prices and shipped to the US when the soldiers rotated back to the USA. They were free of duty and taxes. John helped with several of the companies such as Renault etc.
The car business closed in mid/late 1967 when the import car allowances were restricted. John switched his focus to working with suppliers and working with Chuck and Bob procuring Cognac, Armagnac and other spirits.
John had been involved with many activities including selling perfumes in Paris to visiting American tourists.
Optimising the sales of duty free Cognac and Armagnac to passengers from Japan
While sales of Johnnie Walker and scotch whisky in general were robust, John shifted his focus to working with Chuck and Bob to secure Cognac and Armagnac, which was a struggle with major suppliers such as Courvoisier, which was reluctant to supply DFS as the company was short of funds. Courvoisier expected cash in advance of shipment, which was a non-starter for DFS.
Camus: John was a pivotal figure and played a part in convincing Michel Camus to supply Camus Cognac to DFS on manageable $ terms of payments.
Special references: John focused in the early 1970s on developing special references and packaging for DFS operations in Hawaii, Hong Kong and later for Alaska, San Francisco, Guam, Saipan and other locations.
John Gentzbourger: Teacher and trainer extraordinaire
Given the dramatic increase of Asian tourists, someone had to explain the products, and how best to sell them.
John developed a training programme, worked under the name of John Camus and won the heart of management and staff at all DFS operations. Everyone looked forward to the arrival of ‘John Camus’.
Marketing: John also developed marketing programmes for travel agents – the most successful of which was visits to the Camus vineyards and Château, where the agents were taken on tour and presented with Chevalerie du Verre Galant certificates, which drove sales at DFS stores.
John the person
Patriot/Soldier: John served his country in the French infantry during the Algerian war and received well-deserved decorations for his valour and performance.
Family Man: John was a dedicated family man. He was often critical of his US colleagues, including yours truly, with comments that Americans live to work and don’t have the balanced life of a French businessman who works to live and does not live to work.
Arguments went on for years on balancing one’s life. John was a good example of one who lived a balanced life. The family spent time on the water in summer as a family and skied in the French Alps in the winter, where wife Irène showed her professional-like talents as a skier. John spent much time with Marc (Marko) at his schools and attended volleyball competitions in Europe and on the West Coast in California, where Marko studied and competed in volleyball tournaments.
John the father and grandfather: Some time prior to the sale of DFS, both Ariel and Marko married. Not long afterwards, a very happy John Gentzbourger announced on separate occasions that he now had grandchildren, courtesy of Ariel and Marko. Ariel had a very successful career in the beauty business with Shiseido and several years later joined DFS Group, much to the benefit of DFS given her wide experience in the fragrance and cosmetics business. Having inherited her father’s business talents and his ability to drive sales through her ability to motivate and lead her staff, this resulted in both sales increases and happy staff members.
The sale of DFS
Following the sale [by Chuck Feeney, Alan Parker and Anthony Pilaro] in 1996, John focused on his family, spending much time with Marko to develop a marketing and spirits, Cognac /wine organisation with a focus on the PRC, which John saw as presenting many of the retail, spirits, wine and distribution opportunities he experienced years before with DFS.
The company would be effectively led by Marko and his wife with John tutoring both on how best to develop the business in China given the expansion in PRC access to overseas products – somewhat like the Japanese consumers many years earlier.
John poured himself into the task and continued to do so by training his daughter-in-law Kathleen how to move forward following the tragic passing of Marko in 2015.
John Gentzbourger: Leader of the duty free and travel retail lindustry
Everyone who has occupied a major position in the industry knew, respected and liked John Gentzbourger. They viewed him as a leader of the industry with a great grasp of the issues and trends facing the industry and a great sense of humour, who was a bon vivant and the person leaders wanted to join for dinner and or drinks.
The passing of John Gentzbourger
This week, messages were received throughout the industry that John Gentzbourger had passed away. The reaction was immediate: We have lost an iconic member of the industry, entrepreneur, bon vivant, family man and a person revered throughout the business.
At this week’s meeting of International Association of Duty Free Stores (IAADFS), whose purpose is to promote and preserve the duty free and travel retail industry, the sense of loss was evident.
In my case, I have lost a friend and colleague of 50+ years.
May you rest in peace John as we celebrate your achievements while mourning your passing
Your long-term friend.
Joe Lyons
