Réal Lafrance, the discreet founder of one of Canada’s most important clothing retailers, the Marie Claire group, died at the end of June. He was 79 years old.
Posted at 2:00 p.m.
The businessman had suffered for several years from Lewy body dementia, a neurodegenerative disease, his daughter Stéphanie told The Press. She took the reins of the family business with two of her brothers (Sylvain and Martin) in recent years. Their mother Marie Claire is also involved in the business of the retailer, which has 1,500 employees.
“My father was a humble and very discreet man. Showing off didn’t interest him. He was also very gentlemanly, human and close to his employees, ”notes his daughter.
Réal Lafrance had founded his company in Saint-Hyacinthe in 1965, with his spouse Marie Claire.
The retailer now operates four womenswear brands (Marie Claire, San Francisco, Grenier, Claire France) totaling nearly 300 branches in three provinces. Last spring, a collection designed in association with Véronique Cloutier was put on the market. Réal Lafrance was also the owner of the chain of stores Dans un Jardin since 1989. The perfume and body products company had come close to bankruptcy before the family decided in extremis to relaunch it in 2019 and change its name. image.