Whatever Happened To…? Iconic Brand$ That Di$Appeared by John H

 Historical Society of Michigan Whatever Happened To…? iconic brand$ that di$appeared By John H. Sicard

Throughout its history, Michigan has been home to many well-known businesses. Some of those once-famous companies faded away as business dwindled. Others were swallowed up in mergers and acquisitions. Occasionally, a lost name resurfaced. These are their stories.

THE BURROUGHS CORPORATION The Burroughs adding machine was once standard equipment in almost every office in the © 2019 United States. Today, only a few dusty relics can be found, mostly in antique malls. In 1875, William Seward Burroughs was working as a bank clerk in Auburn, New York, assigned the tedious task of adding numbers. Some calculating devices Above: William S. already existed, but they were difficult Burroughs, inventor of the Burroughs adding to operate and would often give of Michiganmachine. (Photo courtesy erroneous answers. of Wikimedia Commons.) Years later, Burrough began spending Left: A sketch from Historical Societyhours in his father’s shop in St. Louis, Burroughs’ patent for his calculating machine, Missouri, tinkering with designs issued in 1888. of machines to solve arithmetical problems. His first device proved impractical, but Burroughs was not deterred. He and three other St. Louis men formed the American Arithmometer Company in 1886. Six years later, Burroughs struck gold and patented a practical calculating

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The current Burroughs Corporation building in Plymouth, Michigan. (Photo courtesy of Dwight Burdette.)

and renamed it the Burroughs Payment Systems. As the enterprise diversified, its name was again changed to the Burroughs Corporation, bringing a long history full circle. Ironically, the company is headquartered in Plymouth, Michigan, having returned to the state where William Seward Burroughs’ American Arithmometer Company moved a century before.

FRETTER APPLIANCE “I’ll give you five pounds of coffee if I can’t beat your best device, which quickly became a opportunity to expand into that field deal!” was Fretter Appliance commercial success. Sadly, Burroughs and became one of eight major U.S. founder Ollie Fretter’s pitch in his succumbed to tuberculosis in computer manufacturers. television commercials. But Ed Golick, September 1898 at the age of 43. Seeking a more prominent place co-producer of Detroit Remembers Though he failed to reap the many© 2019in that new and growing field, the When: The History of Detroit Television, financial benefits of his creation, history Burroughs Corporation merged with told a slightly different story. “Initially, has credited him as the inventor of the the Sperry Corporation, a producer of [Fretter] handed out five-pound cans first recording adding machine and a electronics and computer systems for of Maxwell House coffee,” Golick pioneer of its manufacture. the military, in 1986. That marriage explained. “He bought cases of coffee and put his own label, ‘Fretter House,’ In 1905, the American Arithmometer produced a new name—Unisys. It on the cans. The thing is, the cans Company moved to Detroit and also produced a change of address were three pounds, but he put a five was renamed the Burroughs Adding when the old Burroughs headquarters pound label on it….His commercials Machine Company to honor its in the Detroit area was abandoned were as low-rent as they could be, founder. That enterprise eventually and the new company was relocated and that was their charm. It was grew into the largest manufacturer to Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. refreshing. You knew he owned Fretter of adding machines in the United ofUnisys soon becameMichigan the second Appliance—you couldn’t hire anyone States. When the company began major computer manufacturer in to act like that.” offering a widerHistorical range of calculating the country, but such a meteoricSociety and other office devices, it again rise turned out to be a roller coaster Oliver “Ollie” Fretter was an appliance changed its name in 1953 to the ride. Redundant departments were repairman who opened his first small Burroughs Corporation. closed, and employees were let go. store in Redford in the early 1950s. New subsidiaries were acquired, while The success of his business eventually The early 1960s saw the broadening of led to a 22-state chain of 250 the age of computers. Unlike today’s divisions were sold to other interests or spun off as separate companies. appliance and electronics stores. By laptops and smartphones, the first the mid-1980s, Fretter was on a roll— computers were huge, bulky affairs Unisys’ Payments Systems Division but trouble lurked just ahead. Feeling suited mostly for large organizations. was one such spin-off. A private the heat from emerging electronics The Burroughs Corporation seized the investment firm acquired it in 2010 superstores, Fretter decided to join

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the fight by acquiring Silo Electronics [was] just an older-generation store.” meager 43.8 cents a share on the in 1992. It was a move that raised Retail consultant Frederick Marx Nasdaq exchange. eyebrows since that retailer had not summed it up by saying, “Fretter’s The last Fretter store turned out turned a profit in years. troubles [were] the result of increased its lights the following year. With Also contributing to Fretter’s competition, lower profit margins… his empire only a memory, Ollie eventual downfall was the fact that and a failure to carve out a niche or Fretter died June 29, 2014, at the his appliance and electronics empire unique identity with consumers.” age of 91. had expanded into a mish-mash of of Michigan By 1995, Fretter’s debt train was stores of differentHistorical sizes, names, and picking up momentum onSociety its way to LEONARD GASOLINE marketing strategies. There was no Chapter 11 bankruptcy. All the Silo Two different men are responsible consistent format. Electronics outlets had been shuttered, for the success of Leonard Gasoline: The changing times were not kind to and an ever-increasing number of the J. Walter Leonard, who had a track Fretter either. As business analyst Ron original Fretter Appliance stores were record of locating oil fields in Petrie explained, “At the same time, also closing. It was not surprising that mid-Michigan, and Mort Neff, a superstore chains such as Circuit City the company failed to meet two loan television host. and Best Buy lured consumers on payments after defaulting on a $140 In 1936, Leonard purchased a refinery Fretter’s home turf with newer, larger, million line of credit. Ominously, under construction in Alma, where and more attractive stores….Fretter Fretter stock was then selling for a he headquartered his company,

 24  Chronicle Spring 2019  Leonard Refineries. Two years later, Michigan markets to simulcast it. found one in Standard Oil of Ohio, the company began retailing gasoline Every Thursday evening at 7 p.m., but the threat of a federal antitrust suit under the Leonard name. By 1961, much of Michigan tuned in. in 1959 quashed the proposed merger. more than 700 service stations, Leonard also saw opportunity in It was not until 1966 that financial most of them in Michigan, bore the Michigan Outdoors. The company not help came. Total, a North American Leonard banner. only became the program’s primary subsidiary of the French Compagnie Initial advertising focused on the sponsor in 1956 but also actively Française des Pétroles, purchased one- quality of the company’s products participated in the show’s travel third of Leonard Gasoline’s shares. Six but made no memorable distinction promotions. Neff’s popular outings years later, it bought the company’s between Leonard and its competitors. to the Caberfae Ski Festival, Tip-Up- remaining stock, and the Leonard That changed in 1956. More than Town on ice-covered Houghton Lake, name disappeared forever. Since a half century before the “Pure and the Greater Michigan Boat Show Total billed itself as “the international Michigan” phrase was coined, helped connect Leonard Gasoline to gasoline,” it dropped Leonard’s Leonard Gasoline introduced its Michigan tourism. sponsorship of Michigan Outdoors, which halted the company’s effective “Going Places in Michigan with Though the show’s annual “Big Buck promotion of Michigan tourism. Leonard Gas” campaign to promote Contest” was always a hit with deer statewide tourism. The company’s hunters, both Neff and Leonard Production at Leonard’s original monthly publication, Going Places wanted to expand the reach of refinery in Alma ceased in 1999. in Michigan—later renamed the Michigan Outdoors. It soon included A buyer was never found, and the Go Guide—debuted in May of that features such as scenic drives, historical facility was demolished in 2003, year. Each issue showcased tourist sites, county fairs, ox roasts, summer wiping out the last traces of the activities and attractions found theaters, and anything else that would Leonard Gasoline brand.  exclusively in Michigan. appeal to a much broader audience. John H. Sicard is a history buff and Mort Neff was a journalist who Leonard Gasoline was a popular brand retired broadcaster who lives in focused on the outdoor sportsman. in Michigan, but it remained a small Grand Rapids. He wrote “Shelling He was a natural as host of Detroit’s player with insufficient funding that Lake Michigan” in Chronicle and “A Michigan Outdoors television show, was up against the likes of gasoline Shootout in Muskegon” in Michigan which launched in 1951. Seeing© the 2019companies such as Texaco, Mobil, and History magazine. potential, Neff bought both the rights Shell. By the late 1950s, the company to the show and airtime in other was looking for a partner. It almost

of Michigan A Leonard Gasoline station Historical Society advertises its product as “best by far for boat and car.” (Photo courtesy of the Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University.)

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