Article content
W.G. Galen Weston, the Canadian billionaire who built his family’s bakery and grocery business into a global retail empire, died on Monday after a long illness. He was 80.
His contemporaries describe Weston as one of the most formidable and visionary leaders in Canadian business, a man of style and substance who turned Loblaw supermarkets into the biggest player in the country’s food chain.
We apologize, but this video has failed to load.
Try refreshing your browser, or
'A great visionary': Canadian retail magnate W. Galen Weston dies at age 80 Back to video
He was a philanthropist, a handsome and elegant dresser, a solid polo player into his middle age, a friend to the British Royal Family and reportedly the subject of a thwarted kidnapping plot by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in the 1980s. But those who knew him said he was a man most interested in other people, who preferred to spend his leisure time wandering the well-stocked aisles of Loblaws or the perfumed halls of Holt Renfrew, chatting to customers, asking staff questions, or trying out new products.