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He may be the biggest name in Washington business you never heard.
His name is Iraklis Karabassis, and the pronunciation actually isn't as hard as you'd think it sounds just like its spelled.
Karabassis runs a $110 million company, Georgetown-based IK Retail Group, which is the largest owner of United Colors of Benetton stores in the country.
Some say luck just happens. Some say if you work hard you create your own luck. Things happen because you make them happen. There is no doubt that Karabassis is a self-made man who has worked tirelessly to make his own luck, but he also has an exceptional knack for being in the right place at the right time.
But, he'll tell you, his luck didn't start out so welltimed.
The point at which life's path - and fortunes changed was a tragic one for Karabassis: His father, Dimitri, died of a heart attack at the age of 49. Karabassis was in high school. He still reflects on the moment with a touch of wonder:
"It's unbelievable how life goes;' he says. "The family fell apart. My father was a blacksmith, third generation. This was to be my life. But when he died, this opened up my possibilities. It comes down to that."
An older brother was in college and his mother, Fotini, a homemaker. Money was nonexistent. He knew he had to do something to contribute.
And so after finishing high school, Karabassis left his native Volos, Greece (between Athens and Thessaloniki), and headed for Florence, Italy, to pursue his longtime dream of becoming a soccer trainer. Karabassis already was playing on a semi-professional level, but he didn't speak Italian and the school to which he applied didn't accept him.
Not right away, anyway.
He continued playing soccer - for which he was now getting paid - took Italian-language classes and got into the University...