John Willard Marriott
John Willard Marriott (born September 17, 1900 in Ogden , † August 13, 1985 in New Hampshire ) was an American businessman and founder of Marriott International .
Life
John Willard Marriott was born on his parents' farm near Ogden, Utah . He had to take on responsibility from an early age. For example, at the age of 14, his father sent him to San Francisco on a train loaded with 3,000 sheep .
From 1919 to 1921 he served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in New England.
On June 9, 1927, he married Alice Sheets. The marriage resulted in two sons, J. Willard "Bill" Marriott, Jr and Richard E. Marriott .
In 1935, Marriott was diagnosed with lymph gland cancer, and doctors only gave him six months to a year to live at that time. Despite this dire prognosis, he managed to beat cancer.
Career
When Marriott graduated from the University of Utah in 1926 , he recalled an experience he had made in the summer of 1921 on his way home from his mission in Washington, DC. There he saw someone walking through the streets with a cart full of lemonade and ice cream and selling everything in a few minutes. Because of this experience, he decided to realize his project, the Root Beer Stand , there.
In 1927, he secured A&W Root Beer franchise rights in Washington, DC , Baltimore , Maryland and Richmond . On May 20, 1927, he and his business partner Hugh Colton opened their first Root Beer Stand at 3128 14th Street, NW, Washington DC, which had just nine bar stools. When Marriott started offering Mexican cuisine in the fall of the same year , the Root Beer Stand became “The Hot Shoppe” and developed into a popular family restaurant.
In 1928 he began expanding his business and opened his first drive-in restaurant east of the Mississippi River . In the course of this, Hot Shoppes, Inc. was founded in 1929 in Delaware .
During the Second World War he expanded his company by taking over the catering in government buildings (e.g. Ministry of Finance).
In the next few years his restaurant chain continued to grow and in 1953 he managed to get his company public . In 1957, he expanded his company's business by opening a motel , the Twin Bridges Motor Lodge in Arlington . The company continued to grow and so in 1967 the Hot Shoppes, Inc. became the Marriott International , in the same year the Big Boy Family Restaurants and a year later the Roy Rogers Family Restaurants became part of the company.
Marriott's company continued to expand and began catering for airlines, among other things. In this segment in particular, the company was able to record strong growth and so it very soon took over the supply of some of the largest airlines, as well as universities and schools.
In the 1970s, his company grew in Europe and the company he founded in 1977 scored the 50th anniversary of the company for the first time a turnover of 1 billion dollars . In 1972 he handed over the presidency to his son J. Willard "Bill" Marriott, Jr.
Marriott was a hard worker who, even after the business grew to hundreds of restaurants, visited each one at least four times a year.
At the time of his death in 1985, his company owned 1,400 restaurants and 143 hotels and resorts.
swell
Web links
- J. Willard Marriott biography on the Marriott website
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Marriott, John Willard |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American entrepreneur |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 17th September 1900 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Ogden, Utah |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 13, 1985 |
| Place of death | New Hampshire |