Charles Kemmons

Charles Kemmons Wilson

Who hasn't spent a night in a Holiday Inn? What started out as a family vacation led to the world's largest hotel chain for one man. Kemmons Wilson had a vision and he set about making it work. He was viewed as "the father of the modern hotel". After losing his father when he was 9 months old, Kemmons and his mother moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he became an entrepreneur at a very early age.

At the age of seven he was selling "Saturday Evening Post's" door to door. At twelve he had other boys working under him. When he was fourteen he was struck by a car and was told he would never walk again. He missed school for almost a year, however he did recover from the accident. His mother lost her job during the Depression and Kemmons quit school and went to work to support them.

He delivered papers, packed groceries and worked as a soda jerk. He borrowed $50.00 and bought a popcorn machine and sold popcorn at the movie theatre. By 1933 he had made $1,300.00 from his popcorn business and a pinball machine venture. He borrowed money against the house and bought a Jukebox franchise. Later he owned and operated several movie theatres and moved on to work in real estate.

He joined the Air Transport Command during WWII. He also built houses which he leased to the servicemen. After the war he founded Kemmons Wilson Inc. in 1946 and Kemmons Realty Company in 1948. As president of these companies, Wilson built and sold thousands of homes and apartment buildings. He joined in partnership with Wallace E. Johnson, which lasted for 35 years. He became a millionaire by 1950

It was in 1951, while he and his wife and their 5 children were on a family vacation, that something occurred which would have the greatest impact on his career. The family made a trip to Washington, DC. and Wilson was disturbed and upset at the hotels and lodgings available to them. Most of them were overpriced, uncomfortable, lacked cleanliness and he had to pay extra for each of his children. He quickly envisioned the post-war prosperity that would afford middle-class families to travel more. The interstate highways were being completed, most families were beginning to own a car and gas was cheap, hence Wilson saw an opportunity for building accommodations that were clean, comfortable, did not charge extra for children