Bob Wian
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Robert C. Wian was an American businessman and restaurateur best known as the founder of the Big Boy restaurant chain. Wian began the chain as a 10-stool hamburger stand in Glendale, California, openi
Wian c. 1948
Marriott Corporation
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The Marriott Corporation was an American hospitality company that operated from 1927 until 1993. It was founded as The Hot Shoppe and subsequently incorporated as Hot Shoppes, Inc. The company opened
Bob Wian
…California, opening in 1936 with an investment of $300 raised from the sale of his car. He sold Bob's Big Boy and rights to the Big Boy chain to the Marriott Corporation in 1967 for $7 million ($68 million in 2025). Wian was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Robert E. Wian and his wife Cora. The Wians moved to…
Former Marriott headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland (demolished in 2023)
The Hot Shoppes drive-in restaurant promotional postcard