Who founded Dunkin’ Donuts ?
In 1950 Dunkin’ Donuts were founded by William Rosenberg in Quincy, Massachusetts. 4 years earlier he had founded a company called “Industrial Luncheon Services” to deliver meals, snacks and coffee to factory workers. He had so much success doing this that he opened his first coffee and doughnut shop, called the “Open Kettle.” This was the beginning of a company that now has almost 10,000 stores!

Did you know?
The current slogan for the company is “America Runs On Dunkin,” but “You ‘Kin Do It!” is also used. The original slogan was “Sounds Good, Tastes Even Better.” The company sponsors a number of sporting teams including the Boston Red Sox and the New England Patriots.

William Rosenberg also founded the International Franchise Association in 1960 to promote and support franchise systems around the world.

Dunkin’ Donuts have been criticized for the levels of trans fats in some of the products. In response the company has announced plans to reduce the levels from their food. They have been trailing a new cooking oil since 2007.

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Who Founded KFC?
Kentucky Fried Chicken was founded by Harland Sanders, who’s likeness still features on many of their advertisements today, in 1930. He began serving chicken at his gas station and was so successful that, in 1935, the governor of Kentucky made Harland Sanders an honorary Kentucky Colonel. This is why many advertisements make reference to “the Colonel” or “Colonel Sanders.” Shortly after receiving this honor he expanded his restaurant to 142 seats. Unfortunately, the new Interstate 75 highway meant that most travelers bypassed his establishment. He decided to take the money from his first social security check to search the country for potential franchisees. In 1952 Sanders and Pete Harman struck a deal and the first KFC franchise was opened in South Salt Lake, Utah. Only a decade later there were over 600 KFC franchises in the United States and Canada. In 1964 Sanders sold the US portion of the operation for $2 million.

Did you know?
The KFC recipe is so secret that different parts of the secret blend of herbs and spices are produced in different locations. The only written recipe is kept in a special secure vault at the company’s headquarters. It is guarded with security cameras and motion detectors.

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Who founded the Salvation Army?
The Salvation Army was founded in 1865 by William and Catherine Booth as the East London Christian Mission. William Booth was a former Methodist preacher who had a passion to help the poor and destitute people of Britain. He started the East London Christian Mission to preach to these people and offer them some sort of assistance. The majority of the first converts to the church were the outcasts of society who were not welcome in polite Christian society. This included homeless people, alcoholics, drug addicts and prostitutes.

The organization changed their name to the Salvation Army in 1878 and created a military structure for the organization. William Booth became the “general” and the ministers were called “officers.” Other members of the organization were referred to as “soldiers.” They also designed a flag, crest, shield, uniforms and salute. They are also known for creating their own style of Christian music, which was often based on traditional pub tunes. Today, the Salvation Army still holds to many of their traditional military symbols, but there is a push from some members to drop aspects of the military symbolism.

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Who Founded Crayola?
The company was founded in New York City in 1885 by cousins Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith. They named the company Binney & Smith, which wasn’t officially changed to Crayola until the beginning of 2007. Originally the company produced colorants for use in products such as paint and tires. In 1900 the company soon shifted its focus to art products for schools and made a name for themselves in this area when they invented of dustless white chalk.

In 1903 Edwin Binney worked with his wife Alice Binney to create wax crayons that sold under the name Crayola. Alice Binney came up with the name from the French words for chalk (craie) and oily (ola). In 1904 the company won the gold medal for their dustless chalk at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. This helped them immensely with their marketing and the gold medal appeared on their packaging for at least 50 years. Today, Crayola crayons are one of the best recognized brands in the world.

Did you know?
A study conducted at Yale university showed that the scent of a Crayola crayon is one of the most recognizable in adults. In a separate study, the brand Crayola is recognized by 99% of Americans.

All Crayola products are made to be non-toxic and safe for children.

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Who Founded Costco?
Costco was founded in Kirkland, Washington in 1983 by James Sinegal and Jeffrey Brotman, who were both experienced with retailing and distribution from previous experience. The first Costco warehouse opened in Seattle and more soon followed. In 1993 the company merged with Price Club, founded by Sol and Robert Price, to become one of the largest warehouse clubs in the United States. In 1997 the company became Costco Wholesale and all Price Club branded stores were renamed Costco.

Did you know?
James Sinegal started in retailing at FedMart as a bagger in 1954. He worked his way up the company to hold the impressive title of executive vice president in charge of merchandising and operations.

Costco’s own store brand (house brand) is known as Kirkland Signature. This name comes from the location that the company was founded!

Canada has the most Costo stores outside of the United State and the United Kingdom has the most Costco stores outside of North America.

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Who founded White Castle?
In 1921 a cook named Walter A. Anderson and an insurance salesman named Edgar Waldo “Billy” Ingram decided to create a restaurant to change the public perception of hamburgers. At the time people were concerned about the cleanliness of the ground beef industry. They founded White Castle in Wichita, Kansas and focused heavily on the perception of cleanliness in their stores. Their restaurants quickly became a success and they branched out into other areas. Today they have over 420 restaurants. In 1933 Anderson sold his share of the company to Ingram. A year later the corporate headquarters were moved to Columbus, Ohio. Unlike many other fast food chains, White Castle has refused to go down the franchise path and remains a family run business to this day.

Did you know?
Walter Anderson is credited with inventing the hamburger bun as well as the “assembly line” techniques that made fast food possible.

To support their growing business the company created their own bakeries, meat plants and warehouses to keep a constant supply of stock.

White Castle has a group of very dedicated fans who are referred to as “Cravers.”

The burgers at White Castle were sold for 5 cents until the 1940s when they went up to 10 cents!

White Castle burgers have 5 circular holes to help them cook faster and without needing to turn them.

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Who founded United Airlines?
The founding of United Airlines can be traced back to 1926 when American aviation pioneer Walter Thomas Varney created the Varney Air Lines company to deliver mail. In 1928 his company, along with many other mail delivery airlines, was purchased by Boeing Air Transport. In the same year the airline carried its first passengers. A year later Boeing Air Transport merged with Pratt & Whitney to become the United Aircraft and Transport Corporation. In 1931 this company formed the corporation United Air Lines, Inc.

Did you know?
In 1933 a United Airlines plane exploded and crashed after a nitroglycerin bomb was placed in the baggage hold. It is believed to be the first case of air sabotage in the history of commercial airlines.

The founder of United Airlines, Walter Thomas Varney, is also known for founding Continental Airlines. Ironically, the two companies merged in 2010 to become United Continental Holdings.

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Who founded Chevrolet?
The Chevrolet Motor Car Company was founded on November 3, 1911 by Louis Chevrolet and William C. Durant. Louis Chevrolet was a racing driver and automotive engineer and William C. Durant was the founder of General Motors who lost control of the company in 1910. By 1915 the two had a disagreement over a design and Louis Chevrolet sold his part of the company to Durant. Through the dealings of Durant (see below), Chevrolet became a separate division of GM in 1917.

Did you know?
Chevrolet is the most successful manufacturer in the history NASCAR racing. They hold the record for the most number of manufacturer’s titles and the most wins by manufacturer.

William C. Durant used the Chevrolet company to secretly purchase a controlling interest in GM and he took back control of the company. Not long after, he lost control of the company again and would never regain it.

In 2010 Chevrolet released a hybrid electric car, known as the Volt, into the US market. It has won many awards including the 2011 North American Car of the Year.

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Who founded Jenny Craig
The founders of Jenny Craig were husband and wife team Sidney and Jenny Craig. They founded the company in Melbourne, Australia, in 1983 and expanded into the United States in 1985. They chose Australia because Sidney worked for the company Body Contour, which was sold with a non-compete clause in the United States. The company was very successful in Australia and once the non-compete clause expired they returned to the United States and moved the operation of Jenny Craig to California. The founders sold most of their share of the company in 2002.

Did you know?
The company is well known for its use of celebrity endorsements. The most controversial Jenny Craig spokeswoman was Monica Lewinsky who took up the role in 2000. Her contract was for $1 million, but the company decided to pull the advertisements and only paid her $300,000.

Nestlé purchased the company in 2006 for an estimated $600 million.

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Who founded Toyota?
In 1924 a famous Japanese inventor Sakichi Toyoda created the Toyoda Model G Automatic Loom, which was one of the first machines to automatically stop when a problem occured. In 1929 the patent was sold to a British company. The son of Sakichi Toyoda, called Kiichiro Toyoda, decided to use the money from the sale of his father’s invention to begin vehicle manufacturing. The vehicles were sold under the name Toyoda and in 1936 the model AA became the first vehicle produced by the company.

One of the family, Risabur? Toyoda, wanted to change the name to Toyota because it required 8 brush strokes to write in Japanese (a lucky number). The name Toyoda means fertile rice paddies in English, which further convinced the family to change the name. In August 1937 the “Toyota Motor Company” was officially founded and trademarked. The founder of the company Kiichiro Toyoda, served as president of Toyota between 1941 and 1950.

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