Pola supermarkets founder passes away
The death of Spanish-born businessman Luis Maria Fernandez Galan (better known as Luis Galan) came as sad news to thousands who knew him. This well-known figure in Santiago passed away in the US on Monday, 4 January 2016. His remains will be brought to the San Ramon Nonato church at Cerros de Gurabo in Santiago where a mass will be held before he is laid to rest in a private cemetery. Luis Galan was a trader, a founding partner of Galerias Domino, a clothing store famous for the quality of its goods. He was also a founding member of the Centro Espanol in Santiago, perhaps the leading social club in the Cibao region. Galan was a forward-looking businessman who teamed up with his schoolmate in his native Asturias, Roman Ramos to open the first La Sirena-Pola superstores in the Cibao. At the time of his death, he was a vice president at the Grupo Ramos.
Galan also headed the expansion of the La Sirena-Pola stores, opening modern shopping complexes in San Francisco de Macoris, La Vega and Puerto Plata and more recently in Sosua and La Romana, as well as two major stores in Santiago. Luis Galan was also a sportsman who played soccer in his youth and golf as an adult. He was a proud member of the Santiago Golf Club. One of the Caballeros of Santiago, he will be truly missed.
Galan was from Pola de Allende in the Spanish region of Asturias, after which he named his Pola Supermarket brand.