Success leaves clues. Finance Strategists sat down with Reynald Vito Grattagliano, founder of DutyFreeZone.com. He shared his thoughts on the past, present, and future of the company, as well as the insight he gained from running the business. Q: Who are you and what’s your background? Reynald Vito Grattagliano is an entrepreneur and philanthropist driven to solve the world’s biggest challenges through innovation. A man who knows no limits, Reynald pushes big dreams into action, spurring massive cultural and technological change. His audacious vision and magnetic personality continually inspire others to follow what feels impossible. The founder of DutyFreeZone.com, Reynald sees beyond the current business and technological landscape, creating companies that make a true impact. Reynold’s next endeavor is to travel to the moon with his friend Elon Musk, using lunar resources for innovation here on earth. Whether it’s business or life, Reynald is guided by one firm belief – Our only limit is our imagination. Q: Who has been your biggest influence, and why did they have such a significant effect on you? My mom was the person who had the most influence on me. The second one is my wife Sylvie Grattagliano, who I met in Cannes 10 years ago when I was visiting the Duty Free Show. She is the one who told me to bring DutyFreeZone.com to the next level and to make a marketplace for travelers. Q: Knowing what you know now, what would you have told yourself when you were in your twenties? Work hard, believe strongly in what you are doing, put in a lot of sweat and effort and you will become successful if, and I repeat if, your idea is worth it. Q: What is Duty Free Zone? Q: What makes your company different from its competitors? We are the first marketplace for Duty Free Shoppers who are travelling or want to buy from the comfort of their home. No need to travel to buy duty free, you can purchase on DutyFreeZone.com or DutyFreeFood.com from the comfort of your home. We will deliver your order right to your door at the same cost as if it was picked up in a duty free shop. Shop Duty Free or Duty Paid at same low prices. or Do you know that you can purchase duty paid at *duty free prices? DutyFreeZone.Com is the pioneer of this concept in association with DutyFreeFood.com, soon offering hundreds of thousands of grocery products at Duty Free prices for local or international delivery. Q: What led you to start Duty Free Zone? I started in October 1998. 22 years ago, I had a huge warehouse in Curacao in the Hato Free Zone. I was taking the orders online and shipping them daily with DHL loading. Today DutyFreeZone.com is aiming to be the largest market place on the planet for luxury goods or all kinds of items sold in duty free shops, such as bags, perfumes, electronics, food, confectionery, etc….. We do not sell liquors but we are making a strategic alliance with local companies worldwide to do that service for us. Q: What has the experience of building the business taught you? Be patient. It took me 22 years to make it big. You do not build Rome in a day, and keep an eye on the market, take advantage of the situation. For example today the Covid 19 is helping DutyFreeZone.com a lot while it is destroying many other companies in the same industry. Q: Where do you see things headed for you in the next 5 years? The Duty Free industry is dying because most of all the airports and duty free shops are empty as there are no travelers anymore. Some have lost 90% of their income. The largest luxury brands such as Chanel, Gucci, LVMH, Hermes, Dior, Prada to name just a few have no other choices than to find other distribution channels to continue selling their brands to their international clientele. This is why DutyFreeZone.com is going to become THE marketplace to be featured with. This is the reason why I invite the brands owners to open their own store inside our store, that way they keep their image, integrity and prestige, and they keep control of the distribution.Introduction
Who is Reynald Vito Grattagliano?
Business
True Tamplin is a published author, public speaker, CEO of UpDigital, and founder of Finance Strategists.
True is a Certified Educator in Personal Finance (CEPF®), author of The Handy Financial Ratios Guide, a member of the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing, contributes to his financial education site, Finance Strategists, and has spoken to various financial communities such as the CFA Institute, as well as university students like his Alma mater, Biola University, where he received a bachelor of science in business and data analytics.
To learn more about True, visit his personal website or view his author profiles on Amazon, Nasdaq and Forbes.
