Business history of Krispy Kreme

Joe LeBeau, a French chef in New Orleans is credited with developing the yeast-raised doughnut sometime before the Great Depression.

He sold the business in 1935 to Vernon Rudolph who took the business to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. On July 13, 1937, Vernon Rudolph launched a doughnut shop which became known as Krispy Kreme in a rented store on Gallatin Road.

Krispy Kreme also sells doughnuts through grocery stores. And to customers through a window in is small factory. During the 1940s, Rudolph opened other outlets for his doughnuts particularly in the southeast.

The chain became a beloved Southern fixture, selling glazed yeast-raised donuts. During the 1980sm the chain added a neon sign advertising ‘Hot Krispy Kreme Original Glazed Now’ and featured the doughnut machine in the center of the some store.

In 1976, Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corporation became a wholly owned subsidiary of Beatrice Foods of Chicago, Illinois.

For a short time in the 1970s, the Beatrice Foods Company operated Krispy Kreme without success. Krispy Kreme was purchased from Beatrice in 1980s by one of the Krispy Kreme’s largest franchisees.

Krispy Kreme began to expand abroad, ripening it first international outlet in Canada in 2001; subsequently outlets have opened in seventeen other countries, including Australia and Japan.
Business history of Krispy Kreme

History of Kroger

In 1883, Bernard H. Kroger opened his first grocery store in Cincinnati, Ohio with his friend named Brannigan.

He used $372 of his own money and $350 borrowed from his friend to start the business. They opened a small store under the name of the Great Western Tea Company.

The early months of the fledging business were an unmitigated disaster. Two weeks after they opened, their wagon was wrecked and horse killed by a train at a railway crossing.

A month later an unprecedented flood on the Ohio Rover submerged their store causing a heavy loss.

By the end of the year the two partners were on their feet again. It grew to be an important chain for the sale of groceries, bakery products, and meats.

In 1884, Kroger bought out Brannigan’s interest for $1500. After opening 40 stores and expanding into Kentucky, the company changed its name to Kroger Grocery and Baking Co, in 1902.

Four decades later, after an extended period of growth, the name was changed again to the Kroger Co.

In 1972, Kroger opened its first superstore in Barberton, Ohio. Seven years later, it had grown into the nation’s second largest grocer.

In 1999, Kroger shareholder overwhelming approved a merger with the Fred Meyers Corporation.

This gave Kroger a presence in the Western United States in states like Utah, California, Washington and Oregon. Kroger moved to No. 1 spot following this $13.4 billion merger.
History of Kroger

History of Starbucks

Starbucks began in 1971 as one of many grassroots batch roasting firms started by idealistic, dedicated baby boomers rediscovering the joys of coffee made from freshly roasted, high quality Arabica beans.

Three Seattle friends started the company – Gordon Bowker, Jerry Baldwin, and Zev Siegl. Bowler was a writer, Baldwin was an English teacher and Siegl was a history teacher.

The original name of the first store, opened in 1971, was Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spices. Starbucks was named after Starbuck, first mate of the whaleship Pequod in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.

By the time Siegl sold out in 1980, Starbucks had six retail outlets and was selling beans wholesale or restaurant and supermarkets.

In 1984, Starbucks bought out Peet’s Coffee and Tea. Jerry Baldwin decided to focus on Peet’s selling Starbucks for $3,800,000 to Howard Schultz, his former head of marketing.

On April 6, 1986, the first Italian-style II Giornale coffeehouse opened. It was tiny, 700-square food store near the main entrance to Seattle’s tallest building.

On its first day of business, almost 300 customers stopped by. Within six months of opening, it was serving 1,000 customers a day.

In addition to opening stores in the United Sates, Starbucks expanded abroad to Canada in 1987, Japan (1996), the United Kingdom (1998) and then to Continental Europe and the Middle East.

Starbucks opened its first store in China in 1999. By 2010, the company had 400 stores in China and400 more in Hong Kong.

In May 1998, Starbucks acquired the Seattle Coffee Company. At the time of the purchase it had 56 retail units.

By 2005, Starbucks had 469 stores in the United Kingdom, which made it the third largest countries, after the United States and Japan, to serve Starbucks coffee.
History of Starbucks

History of 7-Eleven

History of 7-Eleven
Early days
7-Eleven is the world’s largest operator, franchisor, and licensor of convenience stores, with more than 21,000 stores in 18 countries. The largest licensee is Seven Eleven Japan. 7-Eleven serve approximately six million customers each day. 7-Eleven is known internationally for Big Gulp fountain soft drinks, Big Bite hot dogs, Slurpee beverages, and Café Select fresh brewed coffee.

The company started by John Jefferson Green 1927 as Southland Ice Company in Dallas. In addition to selling blocks of ice to refrigerate food, an enterprising ice dock employee began offering milk, bread and eggs on Sundays and evenings when grocery stores were closed. This new business idea produced satisfied customers and increased sales, and convenience retailing was born!

However the great depression in 1931 plunged Southland into bankruptcy. Despite the financial confusion, profits from the Southland Stores continued to climb, and with the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, ice and beer sales surged.

Rapid expansion
By 1945 Southland owned stores scattered over north-central Texas, operating from 7 in the morning to 11 at night, seven days a week. In 1946 the firm Tracey-Locke, commissioned to create a new name, chose '7-Eleven' to emphasize the firm's commitment to long operating hours to serve customers better.

At the end of the 1950s, John Thompson began to introduce 7-Eleven stores outside of Texas, in Virginia, Maryland, and eastern Pennsylvania. In reaction to mass migration to the suburbs, Southland opened more suburban stores.

Through a new computer inventory system, 7-Eleven was able to pinpoint its strengths and discover that single purchase items were its best sellers. In 1999, company changes its name to 7-Eleven, Inc.
History of 7-Eleven