Marriott Corporation was a hospitality company that operated from 1927 until 1993, founded by J. Willard Marriott and Frank J. Kimball as Hot Shoppes, Inc. In 1957, Marriott Corporation opened its first hotel in Arlington County,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

as the

Twin Bridges Motor Hotel The Twin Bridges Motor Hotel, later known as the Twin Bridges Marriott was the first lodging facility operated by what would become Marriott International. It opened on about January 18, 1957, shortly before the second inauguration of President Dw ...

(demolished 1990). Marriott Corporation's first international property was opened in

Acapulco, Mexico Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...

, in 1969. Hot Shoppes became Marriott Corporation in 1967, which subsequently split into Marriott International, Inc. and

Host Marriott Corporation Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in hotels. As of February 19, 2021, the company owned 80 upscale hotels containing approximately 46,500 rooms in the United States, Brazil, and Canada. History ...

in 1993.

History

J. Willard Marriott, who had moved away with his business partner Hugh Colton and his wife Alice from Utah to Washington, D.C., in 1927, where he operated a curbside food stand selling

A&W Root Beer A&W Root Beer is an American brand of root beer that was founded in 1919 by Roy W. Allen – A&W root beer's official history and primarily available in the United States and Canada. Allen partnered with Frank Wright in 1922, creating the ...

in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington at 14th Street and Park Road NW. He would later rename the food stand The Hot Shoppe, adding Mexican food items to the menu. Marriott's business expanded to

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore wa ...

, in 1934, shortly after which the company started its food services division. During

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, the business expanded to include the management of food services in defense plants and government buildings, such as the U.S. Treasury. They introduced popular items such as the "Mighty Mo", a double hamburger served in a bun, topped with sesame seeds and divided into three slices. It was stacked with a dill pickle strip in the top layer and tomato, lettuce, and a distinctive dressing on the bottom layer. Very thick milk shakes were served with a long-handled spoon and an unusually wide straw, both of which would stand upright by themselves in the thick drinks. Similarly thick orange sherbet drinks were served in the same tall glass with a spoon and a straw, often called a "freeze". These would become mainstays of the luncheon menu and be imitated forever thereafter. Then in the 1950s, Hot Shoppes, Inc. started providing food services to public schools and to Children's National Medical Center in 1955, a contract which they held for 35 years. The company went public in 1953.Alternate Link
via

ProQuest ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene B. Power. ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for libraries, provid ...

.Alternate Link
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. In 1957, the firm expanded into the

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

industry by opening the first Marriott hotel (actually a

motel A motel, also known as a motor hotel, motor inn or motor lodge, is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having each room entered directly from the parking area for motor vehicles rather than through a central lobby. Entering dictionarie ...

), the Twin Bridges Motor Hotel, in Arlington County, Virginia. In 1964, Hot Shoppes, Inc. was renamed Marriott-Hot Shoppes, Inc.Alternate Link
via

. The company became Marriott Corporation in 1967. In 1967, Marriott acquired the Big Boy family restaurants chain from

Bob Wian Robert C. Wian (June 15, 1914 – March 31, 1992) was the founder of the Big Boy restaurant chain. The restaurant started as a 10-stool hamburger stand in Glendale, California, opening in 1936 with an investment of $300 raised from the sale of h ...

.Alternate Link
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. The following year, Marriott acquired the Fort Wayne-based RoBee's, a roast beef sandwich fast-food chain,Alternate Link
via

. but later discovered that they would not be able to use the RoBee's name nationally. At the suggestion of the new Marriott board member Bob Wian, cowboy actor

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then acting, the rebra ...

was contacted to lend his name to the roast beef sandwich venture, and the

Roy Rogers Family Restaurants Roy Rogers Franchise Company, LLC is a chain of fast food restaurants primarily located in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States. The chain originated as the rebranding of the ''RoBee's House of Beef'' chain of Fort Wayne, Indiana, acq ...

was formed in a few months later by converting RoBee's and a few Hot Shoppe locations. Over the years, Marriott's company interests expanded. Continuing with food services, Marriott eventually became involved with airline in-flight food service. This segment of their enterprise continues to be a large part of their business, providing food services to many major airlines. In 1976, Marriott opened two theme parks called Marriott's Great America in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Alternate Link
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. and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

.Alternate Link
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. Another was planned for in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

but local opposition prevented construction from ever beginning at any of the three proposed sites. The parks had replicas of the first Hot Shoppes. Both parks were sold in the mid-1980s, the one in California was sold to the city of

Santa Clara, California Santa Clara (; Spanish for " Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 census, making it the eighth-most populous city in the Bay Area. Located in the southern Bay Area, the cit ...

and the one in Illinois was sold to

Six Flags Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is an American amusement park corporation, headquartered in Arlington, Texas. It has properties in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Six Flags owns the most theme parks and waterparks combined of any a ...

in 1984. They are both renamed California's Great America and Six Flags Great America, respectively.Alternate Link
via

.Alternate Link
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. In 1982, the company acquired Host International for $120 million and also Gino's Inc., the owner of

Gino's Hamburgers Gino's Hamburgers was a fast-food restaurant chain founded in Baltimore, Maryland by Baltimore Colts defensive end Gino Marchetti and running back Alan Ameche, along with their close friends Joe Campanella and Louis Fischer, in 1957. A new group ...

and

Rustler Steak House Rustler Steak House was an American steakhouse chain. It was founded in 1963 by former professional football player Joe Campanella, who expanded the kitchen offering to steaks, baked potatoes, bread, soups, salads and checkered napkins. Campanella ...

restaurant chains, for $48.6 million. 108 Rustler Steak House Restaurants plus three other restaurants were sold in the following year to two different firms for undisclosed amounts. Newly formed Tenly Enterprises purchased 94 restaurants while

Sizzler Restaurants International Collins Foods Limited is a publicly-listed Australian company focused in restaurant operations. It either operates or franchises restaurants from three brands — Sizzler, KFC and Taco Bell — in Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Thailand a ...

purchased the remaining 17. By 1984, Marriott had formed a vacation

time-share A timeshare (sometimes called vacation ownership) is a property with a divided form of ownership or use rights. These properties are typically resort condominium units, in which multiple parties hold rights to use the property, and each owner ...

division, now called

Marriott Vacation Club International Marriott Vacation Club is the primary timeshare brand of Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation. The brand comprises around 70 Marriott Vacation Club properties throughout the United States, Caribbean, Central America, Europe, and Asia. Marrio ...

, through the purchase of American Resorts Group for an undisclosed amountAlternate Link
via

. and also a senior-living division. In 1985, the company purchased the

Howard Johnson's Howard Johnson's, or Howard Johnson by Wyndham, is an American hotel chain and former restaurant chain. Founded by Howard Deering Johnson in 1925 as a restaurant, it was the largest restaurant chain in the U.S. throughout the 1960s and 1970s, ...

restaurant chain from the Imperial Group P.L.C. of London for $314 million with plans of converting the acquired restaurants to the Bob's Big Boy brand and to make Bob's the largest coffee-shop business in the country. In 1987, Marriott sold the Big Boy restaurants franchise rights to Elias Brothers for an undisclosed amount while keeping 208 company-owned Bob's Big Boy restaurants in California and selected locations on the East Coast. In 1988, Marriott purchased all 91 Wag's restaurants from

Walgreens Walgreen Company, d/b/a Walgreens, is an American company that operates the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States behind CVS Health. It specializes in filling prescriptions, health and wellness products, health information, a ...

Corporation, but dissolved the chain in 1991. The Roy Rogers chain was sold to

Hardee's Hardee's Restaurants LLC is an American fast-food restaurant chain operated by CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc. ("CKE") with locations primarily in the Southern and Midwestern United States. The company has evolved through several corporate ow ...

in 1990 for $365 million in cash. The Marriott Corporation ended its existence as a single company in 1993, when it was split into two separate entities: 1) Marriott International Corporation, which operated the hotel and lodging aspect of the business and

, and 2)

, the new name for the original Marriott Corporation and operating the Marriott Food Services Management. The last Hot Shoppes restaurant, located in the

Marlow Heights Shopping Center The Marlow Heights Shopping Center is an open-air shopping complex located in Marlow Heights, Maryland, on Branch Avenue (Maryland Route 5) at St. Barnabas Road ( Maryland Route 414), and is positioned just south of Shops at Iverson. History The ...

, closed on December 2, 1999.Link
via

References

External links

Marriott CorporationClub Marriott
{{Authority control Hospitality companies of the United States Hospitality companies established in 1927 Marriott International Companies based in Virginia 1927 establishments in Washington, D.C. 1993 disestablishments in Washington, D.C.

History

See also

References

External links