Word: innning
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...company also lures traveling groups by welcoming them in big, bold letters on the marquee that adorns the towering sign at almost every Holiday Inn; WELCOME CICERO ELKS and similar greetings have become familiar sights. Says Wilson, who has a natural flair for crowd-pleasing showmanship: "People love to see their names on a billboard. Hell, they even come out and take pictures of it." Often the signs carry catchy, outrageously corny messages taken from a company book of sayings...
This accolade came to Wilson because he practically created the modern motor-inn industry. He has transformed the motel from the old wayside fleabag into the most popular home away from home. Until 1952, when he founded Holiday Inns, most motels were of the "no tell" variety, generally shabby and faintly disreputable places that catered mainly to casual lovers and transient salesmen. Wilson was among the first to foresee that the fast post-World War II rise in U.S. personal income would lead to a rapid expansion in both business and leisure travel. He also sensed that people...
Wilson borrowed $300,000 from a bank, and in 1952 the first Holiday Inn opened on Summer Avenue, one of the main approach roads to Memphis. Business was so strong that within 20 months he built three almost identical inns on other roads leading into the city. "You just had to go by a Holiday Inn to get into Memphis," he says...
...typical 100-room motor inn in southern Illinois can cost up to $1,100,000, of which the franchisee group puts up $350,000 or less; on this it can expect an after-tax return of just over $50,000-a handsome 15% or more on its investment. For such a motel, Holiday Inns charges an initial fee of $15,000, plus royalties and fees of 6% on the annual gross. In return, the franchisee gets the marketing advantage of a household name, national advertising and a steady flow of customers provided by the chain-wide referral system. The massive...
Liquor sales are highly profitable. To squeeze the most from each bottle, Holiday Inn bartenders are enjoined from giving freebies to customers, no matter how much they spend. Another taboo: pouring liquor directly into a mixed drink without using a 1¼-oz. shot glass. Thus the bartender must be able to show in his receipts the equivalent of the price of 20.5 drinks for each fifth bottle of liquor sold. Most distillers offer cut-rate prices to get their brands into hotels and motels, but Holiday Inns goes one better: it buys bourbon and Scotch in bulk from Schenley...