The businessman Horst Paulmann, the founder of the Chilean Supermarket company Cencosud, has died on Tuesday at age 89. Paulmann was considered the creator of the Chilean Retail Trade System, known as Retail, which reached exponential growth in the South American country during the last three decades. Behind their management are the supermarket brands Jumbo and Santa Isabel, the Paris Store and the Retail Ferretera Easy. To this are added the Costanera Center shopping centers – located in the highest tower in South America – and Alto Las Condes, among others. The death of the former president of the company, which is present in five Latin American countries (Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Colombia), has been confirmed by the company he created. “With deep regret and affection, we communicate the death of Don Horst Paulmann Kemna, founder of Cencosud. His vision and leadership leaves an indelible mark on the country and in thousands of collaborators, highlighting their passion and dedication for delivering a service of excellence and quality towards customers and the generation of jobs, transforming the supermarket industry, shopping centers and retail in Latin America, ”said the company. Cencosud highlighted Paulmann's work that allowed the growth of the economic conglomerate in the region. “With his label of courage, perseverance and strength he always sought to challenge borders, generating progress and development in the various countries in which he ventured as an entrepreneur. Throughout his more than 60 years of experience, starting with a small business in Temuco, he managed to build one of the largest and most prestigious retail companies in the continent, always worried about the welfare of the collaborators and their families, ”said the holding company. The Horst Paulmann family has also delivered a message for the death of the founder of Cencosud. ”With deep regret we want to share with you that our beloved OPA/ VATI/ HORST has started today in Germany at age 89. Fortunately, his farewell was calm, in peace, while he slept. We have the comfort of knowing that he rested without suffering, but his absence leaves a great void in our hearts, ”he said in a public statement. Paulmann was born in the German city of Kassel in 1935, but a few years later he nationalized Chilean. He was the son of the military Karl Werner Paulmann and Hilde Kemna, who arrived in Argentina in 1948, at the end of World War II. During those years, Horst worked as a telephone and selling wooden toys. The family migrated to Chile in 1950, where it began its business activity. In 1952 the Paulmann bought a restaurant, which ten years later was transformed into a supermarket called Las Brisas, which settled in the city of Temuco, 680 kilometers south of Santiago. From this, Horst along with his brother Jürgen Paulmann built a business that grew rapidly. In 1976 the brothers raised the first branch of the Jumbo supermarket in the municipality of Las Condes. From there the chain of stores expanded through the Chilean territory and then reached markets such as Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Colombia. To this were added investments in the United States and China. The entrepreneur came to have a fortune of 4.8 billion dollars, according to the last estimate of Forbes magazine. He was the second richest person in Chile behind Iris Fontbona, the matriarch of the Luksic family, which is the most wealthy woman in Latin America. Paulmann left Cencosud's directory in 2022 for health reasons. The company was commanded by his daughter Heike Paulmann, who resigned from the company's presidency in 2023.