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W. Galen Weston, the patriarch of the Weston empire that controls Loblaws and other retail holdings, has died at the age of 80.
Known as Galen Weston Sr., he died on Monday, “peacefully at home after a long illness faced with courage and dignity,” according to a statement put out by his family.
“My father’s greatest gift was inspiring those around him to achieve more than they thought possible,” said his son Galen G. Weston, known as Galen Weston Jr., who is CEO of both Loblaws and the George Weston Company Ltd.
“In our business and in his life he built a legacy of extraordinary accomplishment and joy.”
Born in England in 1940, he got a degree at the University of Western Ontario in the 1960s. After a stint in Ireland, he moved to Canada in the 1970s largely to run Loblaws.
Apart from Loblaws, Weston also ran the George Weston Co., a holding company for various food and bakery brands, from the 1960s until 2016, when he retired but kept the title of chairman emeritus. Most of the day-to-day operations of both Loblaws and Weston have been handed over to his son.
In addition to his children, Galen G. Weston and Alannah Weston, Weston is survived by his wife of 55 years, Hilary Weston. Hilary Weston was Ontario’s 26th Lieutenant Governor, from 1997 until 2002.
Although he was born into what was already a significant retail empire, Weston led it through even more expansions and acquisitions.
The Weston empire was founded by his grandfather George Weston, who laid the groundwork in 1882 for a retail empire that owns or controls the grocery chain Loblaws and the food conglomerate Weston, but also the fast fashion chain Primark and the department stores Holt Renfrew in Canada, Brown Thomas in Ireland, and Selfridge’s in the United Kingdom.
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