10 Entrepreneurs: What Company Did They Start ? Quiz

Answer: Athens, Greece

Athanassius Karvelas was served up to the world on July 14, 1906. He invented and patented a freezer called "The Custard King" in 1947.
By the early '50s he had sold 25 franchises and by 1985 there were over 850 Carvel franchised stores churning out $300 million in combined sales annually. You could also scoop up his ice cream at over 9,000 supermarkets in the U.S.
A stickler for perfection in his franchised stores, he had all prospective franchisees attend a two and a half week long instuctional training program at the "Carvel College of Ice Cream Knowledge". In 1989 he sold his business to Investcorp, an international investment company for $80 million buckeroos.

Carvel's first retail location in Hartsdale was levelled to make way for a Japanese restaurant (2008).

Answer: Enterprise

He started it in 1957.
As a pilot he won The Distinguished Flying Cross and the Navy Air Medal. He flew his fighter off the deck of, among others, the U.S.S. Enterprise, the aircraft carrier after which he would name his company. (For a brief period it was called "Executive Leasing"). At the time he was planning his start-up, he was working as a car salesman for Cadillac. Enterprise is a private company, but experts estimate that with its over 6,500 locations including over 2,000 at airports in five countries, the company is valued at over $9 billion.
In 2010 "Forbes Magazine" estimated Taylor's net worth to be in excess of $7 billion bucks, making him the 18th wealthiest person in America and the 40th richest in the world.

Answer: Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chippery

When she was 19 Debra married Randy Fields and when she opened her first shop on August 16, 1977 in Palo Alto, CA she used her married name. She later changed the company name because she felt it was too limiting, since she wanted to expand her product offerings beyond just chocolate chips. She grew it into a dessert empire of over 650 stores in more than 10 countries bringing in $300 million annually. She began selling franchises in 1990 and in 1993 sold her company to an investment firm and began her new full time gig of "mom". She is a member of the board of directors for the Outback Steakhouse restaurant chain. One of the two cookbooks she wrote: "Mrs. Fields Cookie Book: 100 Recipes from the Kitchen of Mrs. Fields" sold over 1.8 million copies and was the first cookbook to make it to number one on the N.Y. Times Bestseller List.
She may never have gone to college, but there's no denying she's one smart cookie!
She is also a member of the Entrepreneurs' Hall of Fame.

Answer: They were both ministers.

(William Roy) DeWitt Wallace attended Macalester College, but dropped out and later enrolled at the U. of CA-Berkeley, but again didn't finish. He and Lila got it all started with their first issue of "Reader's Digest" in February 1922. The print run for that first issue was a modest 1,500 and it was printed in their N.Y.C. basement. Just seven years later, the circulation had grown to 200,000. By the year 2000 an astounding 17 million copies were being circulated around the globe in over 20 languages.
Richard Nixon presented Mr. Wallace with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1972.

Answer: Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Bar

The Hershey Bar was the product that made the company what it has become and it was introduced in 1900. The Kisses came in 1907, followed the next year by the candy bar with almonds. It wasn't until 1971 that the Special Dark Chocolate Bar was introduced. How we managed to survive that long without it, I'll never know.
The town of Hershey, PA was named after old Milt and later grew to include Hersheypark, one of America's favorite resorts and a major tourist attraction for children of all ages.
It is estimated that over 3 billion Hershey produced chocolate bars were doled out to our armed forces who fought in WWII.

Interesting note: In 1912, Milton and his wife Kitty were booked to be on the maiden voyage of the Titanic, but had to cancel due to the missus falling ill. Probably something she ate.

Answer: Auntie Anne's rolled their one billionth pretzel.

Their first mall location was in Park City Center in Pittsburgh, PA. Auntie Anne's is now the largest mall pretzel vendor with more than 1,000 locations in over 20 countries. Here are a few notable corporate milestones: Pittsburgh International became their first airport location in 1992.

In 1995 Penn Station in N.Y.C. became their first railroad station outlet. In 2005 they sold over 100 million of their doughy delights, and in 2003 Thailand became the site of their 100th international store. By the way the first Auntie Anne's in Poland opened in 2011. Ms. Beiler wrote a memoir in 2008, "Twist of Faith: The Story of Anne Beiler, Founder of Auntie Anne's Pretzels".

Answer: The Netherlands

It was a Dutch company to which he sold his shares. Mr. Kamprad has a sprawling villa in Switzerland, owns a vineyard in Provence, France and according to "Forbes Magazine", in 2010 he was the world's fourth richest man with a net worth of $33 billion. Despite all that, he is renowned for his very frugal ways of living. For example, he never flies first class, drives a 1993 Volvo and was legendary when running IKEA for telling employees to write on both sides of a piece of paper before tossing it.
Only Lowes and The Home Depot use more lumber annually than IKEA.

Answer: Best Buy

Best Buy's 1,000th store opened October 24, 2008 at The Mall of America in Bloomington, MN. Mr. Schulze's education ended when he graduated from Central H.S. in St. Paul, MN. For about six years he was a peddler of consumer electronics as an independent representative.

He served as CEO of Best Buy from 1983-2002. In addition to the United States, the company operates stores in Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and China. In 2006, Best Buy made the annual list of Most Admired Companies, published by Fortune Magazine. Mr Schulze himself was honored by Ernst and Young, when they named him Entrepreneur of the Year in 1999.

Answer: When you care enough to send the very best.

Mr. Hall, who was named after a minister named Issac Joyce, dropped out of H.S. at age 18. His first company was the Norfolk Post Card Company in Norfolk, Nebraska. Shortly thereafter he expanded his line to include stationery, greeting cards (with envelopes) and cards for special occasions, such as Christmas and Valentine's Day.
From 1910-1966 he was the CEO of Hallmark and at the time of his death at age 91, his company was valued at $1.5 billion.
It has been estimated that 10 million Hallmark Cards are sold annually.

Answer: Bass Pro Shops

John L. was an avid bass fisherman, hence the name of his company. He founded B.P.S. in 1971. There are now over 55 locations, including superstores called Outdoor World in the U.S. and Canada. The original store in Springfield, MO is over 300,000 sq. ft.

In addition to the gear, the stores also feature apparel for both sportsmen and women. B.P.S. has a large mail order and on-line business as well. Some of the larger stores have indoor archery ranges, aquariums, restaurants and even bowling alleys. And if you like fudge "Uncle Buck's" snack bar makes it fresh every day. Their slogan "your adventure begins here" is literally true.