John Willard Marriott (September 17, 1900 – August 13, 1985) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
entrepreneurAn entrepreneur is a person who has possession of an enterprise, or venture, and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome. It is an ambitious leader who combines land, labor, and capital to often create and market new goods or services. ... The term is a loanword...
and businessman. He was the founder of the Marriott Corporation (which became
Marriott InternationalMarriott International, Inc. is a worldwide operator and franchisor of a broad portfolio of hotels and related lodging facilities. Founded by J. Willard Marriott, the company is now led by son J.W. Marriott, Jr...
in 1993), the parent company of one of the world's largest
hospitalityHospitality is the relationship between a guest and a host, or the act or practice of being hospitable, that is, the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers, with liberality and goodwill...
, hotel chains and food services company. His company rose from a small
root beerRoot beer is a carbonated drink originally brewed using sassafras. Root beer, popularized in North America, comes in two forms: alcoholic and soft drink. The historical root beer was analogous to small beer, in that the process provided a drink with a very low alcohol content...
stand in Washington D.C. in 1927 to a chain of family
restaurantA restaurant prepares and serves food and drink to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s by 1932, to his first motel in 1957.
John Willard Marriott (September 17, 1900 – August 13, 1985) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
entrepreneurAn entrepreneur is a person who has possession of an enterprise, or venture, and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome. It is an ambitious leader who combines land, labor, and capital to often create and market new goods or services. ... The term is a loanword...
and businessman. He was the founder of the Marriott Corporation (which became
Marriott InternationalMarriott International, Inc. is a worldwide operator and franchisor of a broad portfolio of hotels and related lodging facilities. Founded by J. Willard Marriott, the company is now led by son J.W. Marriott, Jr...
in 1993), the parent company of one of the world's largest
hospitalityHospitality is the relationship between a guest and a host, or the act or practice of being hospitable, that is, the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers, with liberality and goodwill...
, hotel chains and food services company. His company rose from a small
root beerRoot beer is a carbonated drink originally brewed using sassafras. Root beer, popularized in North America, comes in two forms: alcoholic and soft drink. The historical root beer was analogous to small beer, in that the process provided a drink with a very low alcohol content...
stand in Washington D.C. in 1927 to a chain of family
restaurantA restaurant prepares and serves food and drink to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s by 1932, to his first motel in 1957. By the time he died, the Marriott company operated 1,400 restaurants and 143 hotels and
resortA resort is a place used for relaxation or recreation, attracting visitors for holidays or vacations. Resorts are places, towns or sometimes commercial establishment operated by a single company. Such a self-contained resort attempts to provide for most of a vacationer's wants while remaining on...
s worldwide, including two
theme parksThere are two amusement parks formerly known as Marriott's Great America:*Six Flags Great America, located in Gurnee, Illinois*Great America , located in Santa Clara, California...
, earned
USD $The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents .The U.S...
4.5 billion in revenue annually with 154,600 employees. The company's interests even extended to a line of
cruise shipA cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience. Cruising has become a major part of the tourism industry, with millions of passengers each year...
s and theme parks.
Early life
Marriott was born at Marriott Settlement near
Ogden, UtahOgden is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, United States. The population was 81,605 according to 2005 Census Bureau estimates. The city served as a major railway hub through much of its history, and still handles a great deal of freight rail traffic which makes it a convenient...
, and was raised on his father's farm. His father gave him considerable responsibility at an early age: he was sent to San Francisco on his own with 3,000 sheep in a
railcarA railcar , is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach , with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railways, e.g. the Great Western Railway, used the term Railmotor...
at the age of 14.
At the age of 19 and as a devout Mormon, he undertook the traditional
missionaryA missionary is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith; someone who proselytizes. The word "mission" is derived from the Latin missioninimus A missionary is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith;...
work of the church for two years, being assigned to
New EnglandNew England is a region of the United States. It is located at the northeastern corner of the US, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and the state of New York, consisting of the modern U.S...
. On his way home after completing his mission, he passed through Washington D.C. during the sweltering summer months of 1921. While there:
- "... [H]e walked from Capitol Hill to the Washington Monument, toiled up the steps to the top, walked back down again, and strolled over to the Lincoln Memorial. Everywhere he went tourists and pedestrians sweltered and sweated in the sultry, humid air. On the way back to his hotel, he just stood there in the street watching the crowds, he couldn't get over it: a push cart peddler would come along the street selling lemonade and soda pop and ice cream, and in minutes he would be cleaned out and on his way to stock up with another cartload" .
Marriott was a brother of the
Phi Delta ThetaPhi Delta Theta is an international fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, Beta Theta Pi, and Sigma Chi form the Miami Triad. The fraternity has about 160 active chapters and colonies in over 43 U.S. states and five Canadian provinces and...
Fraternity at the University of Utah.
After graduating from
Weber CollegeWeber State University is a public university located in the city of Ogden in Weber County, Utah, USA. It was founded in 1889 and is a coeducational, publicly supported university offering professional, liberal arts and technical certificates, as well as associate, bachelor's and master's degrees...
and later, the
University of UtahThe University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
in 1926, Marriott remembered his experience in Washington, D.C. and decided to look into a venture there. He was also a member of the
Alpha Kappa PsiΑΚΨ is the oldest and largest professional business fraternity. The Alpha Kappa Psi Fraternity was founded on October 5, 1904 at New York University, and was incorporated on May 20, 1905...
professional business fraternity.
Business career
In 1927, he secured from
A&W Root BeerA&W Root Beer is a root beer franchise in the United States and Canada that was started in 1919 by Roy Allen. In 1922, Allen partnered with Frank Wright. They combined their initials to create the brand "A&W" and inspired a restaurant chain in 1922. The first A&W root beer drinks were sold for five...
the franchise rights for Washington, D.C.;
Baltimore, MarylandBaltimore is an independent city and the largest city in the state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore City in order to distinguish it from surrounding...
; and
Richmond, VirginiaRichmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. Like all Virginia municipalities incorporated as cities, it is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
; he then moved to Washington to open a nine-stool root beer stand there with his business partner, Hugh Colton. They opened on May 20, 1927 at 3128 14th Street, NW. He returned to Utah two weeks later, and married
Alice SheetsAlice Sheets Marriott was an American entrepreneur and philanthropist. She was married to J. Willard Marriott, founder of the hospitality company Marriott Corp.-Early life and career:...
on 9 June 1927. With the approach of cooler Autumn months, and with the addition of Mexican food items to the menu, the stand became The Hot Shoppe, a popular family restaurant. In 1928, he opened the first
drive-inA drive-in is a facility such as a bank, restaurant, or movie theater where one can literally drive in with an automobile for service. It is usually distinguished from a drive-through. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by staff who walk out...
east of the
MississippiMississippi is a state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The state's name comes from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, and takes its name from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi . The state is heavily forested outside of the...
, and the business was incorporated as Hot Shoppes, Inc. in
DelawareDelaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The state takes its name from Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, a British nobleman and Virginia's first colonial governor, after whom Cape Henlopen was originally named.Delaware is located in...
in 1929. During the Second World War, the business expanded to include the management of food services in defense plants and government buildings, such as the U.S. Treasury.
In 1935 he was diagnosed as having malignant
cancerCancer is a class of diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled growth , invasion , and sometimes metastasis...
of the lymph nodes, and given between six months and a year to live. However, he survived and lived another half century.
Marriott's restaurant chain grew, and the company went public in 1953. In 1957, he expanded his business to
hotelA hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
s, opening the first Marriott hotel—actually a
motelA motel is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having direct access to an open parking area.Entering dictionaries after World War II, the word motel, a portmanteau of motor and hotel or motorists' hotel, referred initially to a type of hotel consisting of a single building of connected rooms...
, the
Twin Bridges Motor HotelThe 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 18th, 1957, shortly before the second inauguration of President Dwight D...
in
Arlington, VirginiaArlington County is a county of about 210,000 residents in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is located directly across the Potomac River to the southwest of Washington, D.C. Formerly part of the District of Columbia, the land now composing the county was retroceded to Virginia on July 9, 1846, in...
. The company became Marriott, Inc., in 1967. Two large chains were added to the group, the
Big BoyBig Boy is a restaurant chain started in 1936 by Bob Wian in Glendale, California, as Bob's Big Boy. Marriott Corporation bought the chain in 1967. One of the larger franchise operators, Elias Brothers, purchased the chain from Marriott in 1987, moving the headquarters of the company to Warren,...
family restaurants in 1967 and
Roy Rogers Family RestaurantsRoy Rogers Restaurants is a Northeastern United States chain of fast food restaurants founded by the Marriott Corporation in 1968 in Falls Church, Virginia. As of 2009, Roy Rogers has 52 locations. In 2002, the Plamondon Companies purchased the trademark from Imasco, the former parent of Hardee's...
in 1968.
Over the years, Marriott's company interests expanded. Continuing with food services, Marriott eventually invented 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. Marriott also provides food services to many
collegeCollege is a term most often used today to denote degree awarding tertiary educational institution. More broadly, it can be the name of any group of colleagues, for example, an electoral college, a College of Arms or the College of Cardinals...
s,
elementary schoolAn elementary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America...
s and other venues.
Marriott was an energetic worker and rarely rested, preferring to run his company. Many attested to the fact that he ate, lived, breathed and dreamed about how to run and improve his company:
- "His managers never knew what time of day or night he’d show up at the kitchen door and go bird-dogging almost at a half-run through the kitchen, the pantries, the storage rooms, the refrigerators, the restaurant itself, running a finger over the shelves to check for dust, checking under tables and in cutlery drawers, checking the ranges, the storage rooms, the trays about to be served, sampling the root beer, and raising hell if everything wasn’t spotless, neat, clean, bright, polished, done efficiently, done well."
Even after the company grew to include hundreds of restaurants and hotels, Marriott vowed to personally inspect every establishment at least four times a year.
Marriott tempered his rigid demands for perfection with devotion to his employees. According to his son, Bill Jr.,:
- "In establishing the culture of the company, there was a lot of attention and tender loving care paid to the hourly workers. When they were sick, he went to see them. When they were in trouble, he got them out of trouble. He created a family loyalty."
According to Marriott himself (from a videotaped segment):
- "You’ve got to make your employees happy. If the employees are happy, they are going to make the customers happy."
Marriott's wife, Alice Sheets, was actively involved in the business, starting as the bookkeeper at the root-beer stand. Despite the demands of the company, she felt her role as a mother to her two sons was her most important calling and balanced the demands of both of her endeavors.
Marriott and his wife had two sons. Their son
Bill Marriott, Jr.John Willard "Bill" Marriott, Jr. is the Chairman and CEO of Marriott International.-Biography:Marriott is the son of Alice Marriott and J. Willard Marriott, the founder of Marriott International. He attended St...
is currently president and CEO of Marriott International. The other son is Richard Marriott, Chairman of the board for Host Hotels & Resorts, formerly Host
Marriott Corporation.
External links