William Rosenberg

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William Rosenberg (June 10, 1916 – September 22, 2002) was an American entrepreneur who founded the Dunkin' Donuts brand in Quincy, Massachusetts, one of the pioneers of name-brand franchising, who first called the brand "Open Kettle" doughnut shop when it was established in 1948.

More than 10,000 outlets of the chain existed in 32 countries at the end of 2011.

Early life

Rosenberg was born in Boston, Massachusetts, one of four children of Nathan Rosenberg, a grocery store owner, and Phoebe Rosenberg (née Swart). Both parents were Jews-German immigrants from Prussia. Rosenberg grew up in Boston's working-class Dorchester neighborhood and was educated in public schools. Due to financial hardships, he was compelled to miss school by the eighth grade to help his family, who had lost their store as a result of the Great Depression.

Personal life

Rosenberg was married twice. Bertha "Bookie" Greenberg married Bertha "Bookie" Greenberg in 1937 and the three children were born: Bob Rosenberg, Carol Rosenberg Silverstein, and Donald "Don" Rosenberg. They later divorced. Ann Aluisy of Farmington, New Hampshire, was married in 1978.

Rosenberg died of bladder cancer at the age of 86 in Mashpee, Massachusetts, on September 22, 2002.

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Career

He began working for Western Union as a full-time telegram delivery boy after many years, at the age of 14. He began working for Simco, a refrigeration company that sold frozen ice cream from refrigerated trucks, at the age of seventeen, transitioning from delivery boy to national sales manager, supervising the operation, shipping, cold storage, and manufacturing of 40 to 100 trucks.

He joined Bethlehem Steel in Hingham, Massachusetts, at the start of World War II. He became the first Jewish trade union delegate later in life. Rosenberg started his first business, "Industrial Luncheon Services," a company that provided meals and coffee break snacks to factory workers on Boston's outskirts. Rosenberg created his own catering vans, with sides that expanded to reveal sandwiches and snacks stocked on stainless steel shelves, the first predecessor to mobile catering. Within a short time, he had 200 catering trucks, 25 in-plant stores, and a vending center.

He found that forty percent of his sales came from coffee and doughnuts, opening his first coffee and doughnut store, the "Open Kettle," on Memorial Day in 1948, which later became "Dunkin' Donuts." Rosenberg's original doughnut doughnut shops were sold in 52 different flavors, rather than the five traditional varieties. He decided on franchising his shops as a means of distribution and expansion in 1955. He lobbied at a trade show for the establishment of the International Franchise Association in 1959, long before the franchise concept had catching on.

Rosenberg founded Howdy Beefburgers (later Howdy Beef n' Burger), a Boston restaurant chain, in the early 1960s, in the hopes of sharing common parking lot space with larger franchises such as McDonald's for retail space and customer draw. Howdy Beefburgers was inspired by the Howdy Doody Show, which aired on television from 1947 to 1960, and later adapted Howdy Doody as its mascot. The chain, which sold hamburgers, French fries, fish sticks, and New England clam chowder, had restaurants in as many as 27 locations throughout New England before dissolving toward the end of the 1970s.

Rosenberg purchased Wilrose Farm in rural East Kingston, New Hampshire, in 1968. He was fortunately able to detect the disease early in 1971 after being diagnosed with lung cancer. He began devoting the majority of his time to the farm, becoming the first standardbred breeder in New England and inducted into the New England Hall of Fame of the Standardbred Industry. He donated Wilrose Farm to the University of New Hampshire in 1980 and later became involved with philanthropy, mainly supporting hospitals.

Time to Make the Donuts, the founder of Dunkin Donuts, was published in 2001, with the support of Jessica Brilliant Keener.

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