American businessman
William Rosenberg
(June 10, 1916 ? September 22, 2002) was an American
entrepreneur
who founded the
Dunkin' Donuts
franchise in 1950
[1]
in
Quincy, Massachusetts
, one of the pioneers in name-brand franchising, originally named the "Open Kettle" doughnut shop when established in 1948. At the end of 2011, there were more than 10,000 outlets of the chain in 32 countries.
[2]
Early life
[
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]
Rosenberg was born in
Boston, Massachusetts
, one of four children of Nathan Rosenberg, a grocery owner, and Phoebe Rosenberg (nee Swart). Both of his parents were
German-Jewish
immigrants. Rosenberg grew up in Boston's working-class
Dorchester
neighborhood and was educated in
public schools
.
[2]
Due to financial problems, he was forced to leave school by
eighth grade
to help support his family, who had lost their store during the
Great Depression
.
Career
[
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]
After several jobs, at age fourteen, he went to work for
Western Union
as a full-time telegram delivery boy. At seventeen, he started working for Simco, a company that distributed
ice cream
from refrigerated trucks, rising from delivery boy to national sales manager at age twenty-one, supervising the production, shipping, cold storage and manufacturing and managing 40 to 100 trucks.
[3]
At the start of
World War II
, he joined
Bethlehem Steel
in
Hingham, Massachusetts
. He later became the first Jewish
trade union
delegate. After the war, Rosenberg borrowed $1,000 to add to his $1,500 in
war bonds
and used his knowledge of food distribution to open his first company "Industrial Luncheon Services", a company that delivered meals and
coffee break
snacks
to
factory
workers
on the outskirts of
Boston
. Rosenberg created his own catering vehicles, with sides that rose to reveal sandwiches and snacks stocked on stainless steel shelves, an early predecessor to the
mobile catering
vehicle. Within a short time, he had 200 catering trucks, 25 in-plant outlets and a vending operation.
Noticing that forty percent of his revenues came from coffee and doughnuts, he started a retail shop that specialized in those products, opening his first coffee and
doughnut shop
, the "Open Kettle" on Memorial Day in 1948, later renamed "Dunkin' Donuts".
[3]
Instead of the five different types of doughnuts doughnut shops traditionally offered, Rosenberg offered 52 different varieties. In 1955, upon opening his sixth shop, he decided on the concept of franchising his business as a means of distribution and expansion.
[2]
In 1959, after the franchise idea had started to catch on, he lobbied at a trade show for the creation of the industry group that became the International Franchise Association in 1960.
[4]
In the early 1960s, Rosenberg founded a
fast food
chain, Howdy Beefburgers (later Howdy Beef n' Burger), in
Massachusetts
, locating many of its restaurants beside
Dunkin' Donuts
shops so they could share common parking lots to compete with larger chains such as
McDonald's
for retail space and customer draw.
[5]
Howdy Beefburgers was inspired by
The Howdy Doody Show
that had run on
television
from 1947 to 1960,
[6]
and even adapted
Howdy Doody
as its mascot.
[7]
Serving such products as hamburgers, French fries, fish sandwiches and
New England clam chowder
, the chain had restaurants in as many as 27 locations throughout New England before dissolving toward the end of the 1970s.
[8]
In 1968, Rosenberg bought Wilrose Farm in rural
East Kingston, New Hampshire
.
[4]
After being diagnosed with lung cancer in 1971, he was luckily able to catch the disease in time. He began devoting most of his time to the farm, becoming the largest breeder of
standardbred
horses in New England and was inducted into the New England Hall of Fame of the Standardbred Industry.
[3]
In 1980, he donated Wilrose Farm to the
University of New Hampshire
,
[4]
and later became involved in philanthropy, primarily benefiting hospitals.
[9]
In 2001, he published his autobiography,
Time to Make the Donuts: The Founder of Dunkin Donuts Shares an American Journey
, written with the help of Jessica Brilliant Keener.
[3]
Personal life
[
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]
Rosenberg was married twice. In 1937, he married Bertha "Bookie" Greenberg
[10]
and they had three children:
Bob Rosenberg
, Carol Rosenberg Silverstein, and Donald "Don" Rosenberg. They later divorced.
[11]
[12]
In 1978, he married Ann Aluisy of
Farmington, New Hampshire
.
[11]
On September 22, 2002, Rosenberg died of
bladder cancer
at the age of 86 in his home in
Mashpee, Massachusetts
.
[13]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Tierney, Juliet (2013-10-29).
"Things you didn't know about Dunkin' Donuts"
.
Fox News
. Retrieved
2018-03-15
.
- ^
a
b
c
David B. Green (June 10, 2013).
"This day in Jewish history / Dunkin' Donuts' founder is born"
.
Haaretz
. Retrieved
2013-06-10
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Myrna Oliver (September 23, 2002).
"Obituaries: William Rosenberg, 86; Dunkin' Donuts Founder Pioneered Franchising Businesses"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
2013-06-10
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Our Founder"
.
Dunkin' Donuts
. Retrieved
2009-07-07
.
- ^
"About William Rosenberg (1916-2002),"
Guide to the William Rosenberg Papers, 1940-2002
, University of New Hampshire Special Collections, Archives & Museum,
https://library.unh.edu/find/archives/collections/william-rosenberg-papers-1940-2002
- ^
Tierney, Chris, "Remember When? Howdy Beefburgers,"
The Lowell Sun
, January 6, 2018,
https://www.lowellsun.com/2018/01/06/remember-when-howdy-beefburgers/
- ^
Silvia, Joe, "Who Remembers...Howdy Beef 'n Burger?",
NewBedfordGuide.com
, May 9, 2016,
https://www.newbedfordguide.com/who-remembers-howdys-beefburgers/2016/05/09
- ^
Ramsey, Sarah, "What Happened to Howdy Doody Hamburger?",
Wide Open Eats
, May 22, 2020,
https://www.wideopeneats.com/howdy-doody-hamburger/
- ^
Murphy, Bill Jr. (2015-07-07).
"How an 8th Grade Dropout Founded a $5 Billion Company (the Origin Story of Dunkin' Donuts)"
.
Inc.com
. Retrieved
2018-03-12
.
- ^
American National Biography: "Rosenberg, William (10 June 1916-20 Sept. 2002)"
retrieved September 3, 2014
- ^
a
b
University of New Hampshire Library: "Guide to the William Rosenberg Papers, 1940-2002"
Collection number: MC 187
- ^
Legacy.com: "Bertha (Greenberg) Rosenberg"
retrieved September 3, 2014
- ^
"William Rosenberg, 86, Founder of Dunkin' Donuts"
.
The New York Times
. 2002-09-23
. Retrieved
2009-07-07
.
External links
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