He describes his earliest childhood memories as being in his home, which was attached to the car lot, and watching his father do business. 

"I was selling cars from the side of the road when I was a teenager and retail is in my DNA, I like the daily challenge of retail," he says.

In keeping with the family history in retail, Mortier's wife Margaret also owns her own flower shop. Mortier has spent much of his career taking on some of the biggest challenges in retailing, heading up development of Carrefour both in China and Japan.

In 1990, Mortier spearheaded Carrefour's move into Japan and spent five years establishing the French department stores there.

He also guided the chain's development in China where its Shanghai stores are the most successful in Asia.

As Carrefour's development director, Mortier arrived in Shanghai in 2001 and oversaw expansion into southern and eastern China.

He worked for the retail giant until 2004. Looking for a change, he moved back to France but says he missed the pace and dynamism of business in Shanghai.

"Business was a bit slow for me, like booking meetings," he says. "In Shanghai I was used to ringing someone and meeting them the next day. But in France it takes a while. The worst experience was seeing a guy flipping pages in his diary to arrange a meeting, and it was January. He said, 'How about March 5'?"

Mortier moved back to Shanghai in 2006, where he managed the move of the Costa Coffee into the city. As development director, he opened 20 Costa Coffee stores citywide.

He came to know the owner of Amorino in China and the pair went into business together. The only outlets so far are in Shanghai.

After a career spent in retail, Mortier says he still gets a buzz from that daily interaction with the public.