Chris 
Staples, Inc. is the world’s largest office supply retail store chain, with over 1,600 stores worldwide, including stores in the United States, Belgium, Canada (as Staples Business Depot or Bureau en Gros in Quebec), China, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The company’s first store was opened in Brighton, …
MGM, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was formed in 1924 when the theater circuit Loew’s Inc., owner of Metro Pictures Corporation, acquired Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer Pictures and subsequently merged the three companies. The Culver City studio soon became one of the strongest and most prestigious of the major production companies, superior both in profits and …
Looking back, the founding of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company in 1898 seems especially remarkable, for the beginning was anything but auspicious. The 38-year-old founder, Frank Seiberling, purchased the company’s first plant with a $3,500 down payment – using money he borrowed from a brother-in-law. The rubber and cotton that were the lifeblood of …
George G. Blaisdell founded Zippo Manufacturing Company in 1932, and produced the first Zippo lighter in early 1933, being inspired by an Austrian cigarette lighter of similar design. It got its name because Blaisdell liked the sound of the word “zipper”. On March 3, 1936, patent was granted for the Zippo lighter. Since 1933, over …
Eastman Kodak’s origins rest with Eastman Dry Plate Company, founded by inventor George Eastman and businessman Henry Strong in 1881. The Eastman Dry Plate Company was responsible for the first cameras suitable for nonexpert use, such as the Brownie and Instamatic. The Kodak company attained its name from the first simple roll film cameras produced …
Max Braun, an engineer, established a small engineering shop in Frankfurt am Main in 1921. In 1923 he began producing components for radio sets. In 1928 the company had grown to such an extent, partly due to the use of certain plastic materials, that it moved to new premises on Idsteiner Strasse in Frankfurt. Eight …