Dan Paradies, founder
of a chain of airport stores called “The Paradies Shops,”
died this week in Sarasota, Florida.
He was 92.
A World War II aviation hero who, as a flier, was
befriended by Atlanta Mayor Bill Hartsfield, Paradies opened up his
first store at the then-named Atlanta Municipal Airport.
Other locations soon followed at New York’s
La Guardia Airport and Washington’s Dulles International Airport;
thus, The Paradies Shops came into being.
Today, the company operates more than 500 stores—selling
everything imaginable, from clothing, food, and jewelry to watches,
books, and magazines—in over 70 locations across the United States
and Canada, with around 5,000 employees.
“Dan was always a friend of LaGuardia,”
his friend Tim Pierce, the late general manager of LaGuardia, once told
me.
“Did not matter what we needed, support for
our Kiwanis ‘Kids Day,’ a charitable event to help others,
or just about anything, Dan always came through,” Tim recalled.
“Getting old ain’t for sissies,”
Paradies told scenesarasota.com in 2012, at age 89.
Terri Moran, Dan’s personal assistant of 20
years, said he had a way of making anyone feel comfortable in his presence—even
employees.
“It could be a stock boy, a cashier, a sales
person, or a manager,” Terri said. “Everyone had a personal,
almost family-like rapport with Mr. Paradies.
“People everywhere just loved and admired him,”
Terri said.
They admired Dan’s generosity as well.
Retired from the business since 1994 after almost
32 years as president, CEO, and founder, Dan spent much of the rest
of his life turning his attention to helping others.
Dan was once asked how would he would like to be remembered.
“That’s not an easy question,” he
said.
“I guess I’d like to be remembered as
a person who likes to help other people. My parents put that into my
upbringing. I want to be remembered as someone with compassion for people
that have problems. I always believe the best is yet to come.”
Geoffrey
