Namibian business icon dies

LOCAL retail business trendsetter Konrad Woermann, who was instrumental in building up the Woermann Brock retail empire, died at the age of 86 on Friday at Swakopmund.

“He passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home,” his son Jesko Woermann told The Namibian yesterday. “He had a full and successful life.” In 1960, Konrad Woermann took over the management of Woermann Brock & Co. Under his leadership during the early 1990s, the business, situated along Independence Avenue, was enlarged and turned into a modern supermarket. Then followed an expansion drive, with branches opened in Klein Windhoek, Katutura and Olympia, with stores added across the country over the last two decades. Konrad Woermann was well known in business and political circles.