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The single most common word used to describe Harry Hart is "visionary." Time and time again throughout his distinguished business career, the president and CEO of Montreal-based Hartco Enterprises Inc. has displayed an uncanny ability to anticipate and premeditate change.
His business career began in 1960, when, at the age of 31, he opened his first department store in a strip mall in Rosemere, Que. Hart's Department Store became a chain, which today boasts 61 stores across Quebec, Ontario and the Maritimes. One of the keys in growing the business was Harry's fascination with computers, and, ultimately, his vision of their business applications.
In 1968, Harry and his wife were vacationing in England when he experienced his computer epiphany. At the airport, he noticed how simple it was for British Airways, which had created the world's first on-line reservation system, to access all his information on its terminals. He immediately made up his mind that this was the way to go for his department stores and set about learning how it could be achieved. Soon, Hart's stores were the first computerized retail outlets...