Trendata Founder Louis Pappalardo Dies

In the US, Louis Pappalardo - the founder and President of consumer market research agency Trendata - has died at the age of 78, following a battle with cancer.

Pappalardo, who was the tenth of 11 children, was born in Elmsford, NY in 1931. After graduating from New York University, he pursued a career in market research.

His first role was with The Nowland Organization, a pioneering firm focused on understanding underlying consumer motivations. After this, he moved on to consumer agency Yankelovich, and then became a Partner at Trendex.

Later in his career, Pappalardo founded Trendata, which delivered quarterly research reports on US home purchase of computers, printers and other consumer products. He continued to manage the firm after it was acquired by Computer Intelligence (CI) in 2006.

After his retirement, he served on the Board of Governors at Shorehaven Golf Club in Connecticut, where he was an avid player.

Pappalardo is survived by Virginia, his wife of 54 years, his two children, Lisa and Michael, and grandchildren Jack, Ben and Grace.

Donations can be made to Hospice of Palm Beach County, 3360 Burns Road, Palm Beach Garden, FL 33410 or The Whittingham Cancer Center at Norwalk Hospital, Maple St., Norwalk, CT 06856.