Douglas Robert Putman (born 25 March 1984) is a millionaire Canadian business executive. Putman is the owner and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

of the music retailer

Sunrise Records Sunrise Records and Entertainment Ltd., operating as Sunrise Records (trading in different countries as Les Disquaires Sunrise in Quebec and HMV in the UK), is a Canadian record store chain based in Ancaster, Ontario. Currently owned by Douglas ...

, the President of Everest Toys and the owner of hmv UK and Toys "R" Us Canada.

Early life

Douglas Putman was born on 25 March 1984 and raised in

Ancaster, Ontario Ancaster is a historic town in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, located on the Niagara Escarpment. Founded as a town in 1793, it immediately developed itself into one of the first important and influential early British Upper Canada communit ...

. His family owned Everest Toys, which he managed as of 2017.

Career

In 2017, it was announced that Putman had acquired the lease agreements for

HMV Canada HMV Canada Ltd. was a Canadian entertainment retailer, owned by Hilco. The company was originally a subsidiary of HMV in the United Kingdom until it was sold to Hilco Capital in 2011. HMV itself would later be bought by Hilco in 2013. HMV Cana ...

after it fell into

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in c ...

at which time he expanded Sunrise Records Canada-wide. The former subsidiary of HMV UK is now operating as

. On 5 February 2019, HMV UK was acquired by Sunrise Records, owned by Putman, for £883,000, saving 100 stores and 1,600 jobs. The company will continue to trade under the HMV brand. In 2021, Putman, through his Putman Investments, announced he would buy Toys "R" Us Canada from

Fairfax Financial Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited is a Canadian financial holding company based in Toronto, Ontario, which is engaged in property, casualty, insurance and reinsurance, investment management, and insurance claims management. The company operat ...

References

1984 births Living people Businesspeople from Ontario Canadian chief executives People from Hamilton, Ontario {{Canada-business-bio-stub