Martire Honored with 2014 GMDC Lifetime Achievement Award

Energizer Household Products’ Lou Martire, VP Trade Development, was honored at the 2014 Health Beauty Wellness Marketing Conference with the GMDC Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his contributions to the industry.

“This award was developed to honor and acknowledge people who make a real difference in our industry,” said David McConnell, GMDC President and CEO. “They’re just very, very special people.”

A 15-minute video was presented to Martire as a tribute to his great influence on the association and the industry it serves. The video featured congratulatory praises from family members and industry friends, including Kevin Tripp, Bob Richardson, Rich Juliano, Judy Masnsueto, and Bill Anderson.

“This year’s recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award is multifaceted, passionate, and intelligent. He’s a great business person,” the video started. “He cares about trying to help others, whether it’s trying to help build your business or just help you be a better person,” said McConnell.

Upon graduating from Rutgers University, Martire started working for Energizer at the age of 22.

“Lou’s tenure with Energizer is pretty amazing. Forty-plus years is pretty incredible in today’s world where people move around. He was able to transition as the company transitioned … going from being a battery company to a household company, and a personal care company he never missed a beat,” said McConnell.

Joining Martire on stage was his wife Pat Martire and their daughter Lia’s family – the Aldridges, including his two grandsons Luca and Kamden and son-in-law John. Martire’s deep passion and dedication to helping others is instilled across his family, as Lia and John are both retail pharmacists.

The most-recent Lifetime Achievement Award recipients – 2012 award honoree Jerry Brown and Pharmavite’s Skip Aldridge, the 2013 award recipient – were also recognized at the event.

GMDC's Lifetime Achievement Award was created in 1994 to acknowledge individuals who have made major contributions to mass market retailing with a focus on General Merchandise and Health Beauty Wellness categories. The Award recipients represent a cross-section of industry leaders, including wholesalers and retailers, suppliers, trade press representatives and association executives.

To view the video honoring Martire’s lifetime achievements visit GMDC*Connect’s videocast library using the following link http://www.gmdcconnect.org/#!archived-videocasts/cvo5.