Sam Taylor, a longtime e-commerce executive and the CEO of Oriental Trading Co., died last week at the age of 56.

Oriental Trading Co. photo

Taylor, who took over as president and CEO of Oriental Trading Co. in May 2008, had been diagnosed with brain cancer in October 2016.

Taylor joined Oriental Trading, No. 82 in the Internet Retailer 2017 Top 500, with a resume that boasted a long line of e-commerce success. He had held e-commerce executive-level roles with the likes of Best Buy Co. Inc. (No. 10), Hewlett-Packard (No. 44) and Lands’ End (No. 49) by the time he arrived at the toy and novelty retailer.

Bill Bass, founder of organic clothing designer and retailer Fair Indigo, worked with Taylor at Lands’ End from 1999-2004. He recalled in an email that even in the early days of e-commerce, Taylor viewed online retail different than most people he worked with.

“He pushed your thinking,” Bass says. “In an industry that tends to get wrapped around the axle on software and hardware, Sam never let his teams lose their focus on the customer. To Sam, e-commerce was not about technology in and of itself, but rather using technology as a tool to serve the customer. The industry lost one of the really good guys.”

Taylor also helped usher Walt Disney Co. into the e-commerce age. In a 2008 interview with Internet Retailer, he recalled an “aha” moment during his stint at the Walt Disney Co. (Disney Store USA LLC is No. 118 in the Top 500) when he realized where retail was headed.

An excerpt from that article:

“’It was 1998, and really, my eye was on the Disney Store online,’ he says. The launch of Amazon.com three years earlier had convinced him that the internet would redefine retail. ‘I knew it was going to be the next big thing and I wanted to be a part of it,’ he says.”

Taylor went on to lead Oriental Trading into the next decade. In 2011, he oversaw the retailer’s emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which it had filed for in August 2010, as well as its launch of a mobile commerce site. In November 2012, he shepherded Oriental Trading Co. through its acquisition by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. conglomerate.

Buffett on Friday told the Omaha World-Herald: “He was a wonderful manager and a wonderful human being.”

Oriental Trading Co. released a statement about Taylor’s death:

“The entire Oriental Trading family is mourning the tremendous loss of a friend, mentor and leader. Sam was so completely woven into the threads of the company culture that his passing leaves an aching grief. On behalf of the entire company, we extend our most heartfelt condolences and sympathy to Sam’s family. Sam will be remembered for his contagious smile and laugh, and his profound love for his employees and the company. We will continue to honor his memory each day by mirroring his abundantly positive spirit, and his legacy of making the world more fun.”

Steve Mendlik, chief operating and financial officer, has held the title of acting CEO of Oriental Trading Co. since at least September.