July 9, 1914 – Curt Carlson, founder
and CEO of Carlson Companies, was born in Minneapolis on this date. “Carlson
founded the Gold Bond Stamp Company in 1938. [He] used ‘Gold Bond Stamps,’ a
consumer loyalty program based on trading stamps, to provided consumer incentive
for grocery stores. Carlson was the first entrepreneur to develop a loyalty
program for the grocery chain through the issuance of trading stamps. What
began as a simple loyalty program for grocers in the Midwest grew into one of
the largest service providers of frequent shopper / buyer programs across a
variety of retail and hospitality sectors.
Carlson expanded his offerings by purchasing the downtown Minneapolis Radisson Hotel in 1960 and building it into a national chain. He also acquired TGI Fridays, Carlson Leisure Group and hundreds of other hospitality businesses.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curt_Carlson
Gold Bond Stamps
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gold_bond_stamps.jpg
No comments:
Post a Comment