Carlson Companies
1124730
220787227
2008-06-21T16:03:01Z
Lightbot
7178666
Units/dates/other
{{Infobox Company |
| company_name = Carlson Companies, Inc.
| company_logo = [[Image:CarlsonCompanieslogo.gif]]
| company_type = [[Corporation#Closely held and public|Closely Held Corporation]]
| company_slogan = Building Better Relationships
| foundation = 1938
| location = [[Minneapolis, Minnesota]], [[USA]]
| key_people = Hubert Joly (CEO)
| industry = [[hospitality]]
| products = Hotels, Restaurants, Travel Agencies, Rewards Programs, Cruises
| revenue = $37.1 billion [[United States dollar|USD]]|<ref>[http://www.carlson.com/overview/index.cfm Company Overview<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
| homepage = http://www.carlson.com/
| num_employees = 190,000<ref>[http://www.carlson.com/overview/index.cfm Company Overview<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
}}
'''Carlson Companies''' (sometimes referred to as '''Carlson''') is a [[Corporation#Closely held and public|privately held]] international corporation in the [[marketing]], [[Service Sector|service]], [[travel]], and [[hospitality]] industries. Headquartered in [[Minneapolis, Minnesota]], in the [[United States]], as of 2005 Carlson Companies owned 5,300 travel agencies, an incentive travel and marketing company plus over 1,700 hotels, resorts, restaurants, and cruise ships. It employs 190,000 people in nearly 150 countries and territories; with revenues totaling $37.1 billion in 2006.<ref name=Strib050207c>[http://www.startribune.com/535/story/1156933.html The family business], ''Star Tribune'', May 1, 2007.</ref> It is one of the largest family-held corporations in the country.<ref name=Strib050207a>David Phelps and Rochelle Olson, [http://www.startribune.com/535/story/1156997.html From hospitality to hostility], ''Star Tribune'', May 1, 2007.</ref>
==Portfolio==
The Carlson Companies' subsidiaries include:
*All Aboard Travel
*[[Carlson Marketing Group]] - provider of reward and incentive programs to other companies
*Carlson Restaurants Worldwide
**[[Pick Up Stix]]
**[[T.G.I. Friday's]]
*[[Carlson Wagonlit Travel]]
*[[Country Inns & Suites by Carlson]]
*Park Inn Hotels
*[[Park Plaza Hotels & Resorts]]
*[[Radisson Hotels]]
*[[Regent International Hotels]]
*Peppers&Rogers Group
==History==
The Carlson Companies were founded in 1938 as the Gold Bond Trading Company by [[Curtis L. Carlson]], who used a $55 loan to start his venture.<ref name=Strib050207a>David Phelps and Rochelle Olson, [http://www.startribune.com/535/story/1156997.html From hospitality to hostility], ''Star Tribune'', May 1, 2007.</ref> Founded during the [[Great Depression]], Carlson used "Gold Bond Stamps", a [[Loyalty program|consumer loyalty program]] based on [[trading stamp]]s, to provided consumer incentive for grocery stores.<ref name=Strib050207a>David Phelps and Rochelle Olson, [http://www.startribune.com/535/story/1156997.html From hospitality to hostility], ''Star Tribune'', May 1, 2007.</ref>
Revenue from this business was brisk until the late 1960s, at which time trading stamps began to lose popularity and the company was renamed "Carlson Companies" in 1973 as it diversified into various hospitality and travel industries. In 1962, Carlson purchased its first Radisson Hotel in Minneapolis.<ref name=Strib050207b>[http://www.startribune.com/535/story/1156935.html The Carlson Companies' saga], ''Star Tribune'', May 1, 2007.</ref> It then went on to purchase [[T.G.I. Friday's]] in 1975, Country Kitchen International in 1977, Comfort Suites, and started [[Country Inn and Suites]] in 1987.<ref name=Strib050207b>[http://www.startribune.com/535/story/1156935.html The Carlson Companies' saga], ''Star Tribune'', May 1, 2007.</ref> Carlson's economy brand, Park Inn/Suites, was launched in 1986, and a new upscale brand, Park Plaza, in 1988. In a return to its roots, the Carlson Companies started an electronic consumer incentive program named GoldPoints.com in 1996. The program is not only used at Carlson properties such as T.G.I. Friday's restaurants and Radisson Hotels & Resorts, but also at major grocery, and department stores and major online retailers.
Curt Carlson died in 1999, and the position of CEO was soon taken up by his daughter, Marilyn Carlson Nelson.<ref name=Strib050207a>David Phelps and Rochelle Olson, [http://www.startribune.com/535/story/1156997.html From hospitality to hostility], ''Star Tribune'', May 1, 2007.</ref> Carlson Nelson planned to retire at age 65 in 2005, but was unable due to issues with her planned successor, Curt Carlson's grandson Curtis Nelson, who was fired from the company in January 2007.<ref name=Strib050207a>David Phelps and Rochelle Olson, [http://www.startribune.com/535/story/1156997.html From hospitality to hostility], ''Star Tribune'', May 1, 2007.</ref> Nelson is currently suing the Carlson Companies, claiming a 14 percent beneficial interest; however there is conflict with Curt Carlson's final wishes, manifested in a sophisticated [[Trust law|trust]] structure that impedes the company from being broken apart and sold in a family conflict.<ref name=Strib050207b>[http://www.startribune.com/535/story/1156935.html The Carlson Companies' saga], ''Star Tribune'', May 1, 2007.</ref>
==Diversity==
Carlson Companies was named one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers in 2004 by [[Working Mother]] magazine, and again in 2007. In 2006, Carlson was named one of the “Best Places to Work for GLBT Equality”. Carlson is on the 2001-2004 and 2006 list of Fortune magazine's “The 100 Best Companies to Work For.” Carlson is an equal opportunity employer.
==External links==
{{reflist}}
*[http://www.carlson.com Official Corporate Website]
*[http://www.goldpoints.com GoldPoints.com]
*[http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/061022/30nelson.htm Marilyn Carlson Nelson]
{{Minnesota Corporations}}
[[Category:Companies established in 1938]]
[[Category:Privately held companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Companies based in Minnesota]]
[[de:Carlson Companies]]
[[fr:Carlson (entreprise)]]
[[ja:カールソン・ホテルズ・ワールドワイド]]