And I guarantee, youll experience both.. Amos has married three times, first in 1958. In 2002, he was traveling the world promoting Uncle Wally's muffinsand himselfsince he had become a sought after inspirational In the late- 1980s the company changed ownership several more times, and Amos ultimately became a mere figurehead with no role in the operations of the company he had founded. "I did an album of my own years ago called Thank You Shirl-ee May, a tribute to my mom, and Ray Parker, Jr. [ known for singing the theme song to 1984's Ghostbusters] played on the album," Shawn says. Contact at: Uncle Noname Cookie CompanyP.O. "Profiting Through Self-Reliance." Long Island Business News (October 21, 1996): p. 41. [1] Wally Amos had long ago lost control of Famous Amos, the cookie company he founded in 1975, and had even lost the right to use his name or the famous likeness of himself with his salt-and-pepper beard, Panama hat and embroidered Indian shirt. I was like a kid in a candy store!". In the aftermath of the court cases, Amos abandoned all hopes of baking and selling cookies and sold muffins and cakes under the Uncle Noname label (originally formed in 1992). Amos tries to coax the pillow away from him. Kansas City, Missouri 64141-6627 His store also became a haven for Hollywood hopefuls in what was then a rough area around Sunset Blvd. "The thing that got us in trouble is when I tried to actually run the business. ''An entrepreneur has an enormously high energy level and has a very low attention span typically,'' said Paul Karofsky, executive director of the Center for Family Business at Northeastern University. It is now facing changing demographics and gentrification. Cookies made him famous, but Amos has his own take: I want to be known as a guy who cared about people. In 1975, he opened the first Famous Amos store. 'Famous Amos' became the vehicle to express my love in the outside world. He was born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida, until he was 12 years old. From the beginning, he had a whole myth and lore around the store. The Shansby Group and Wally Amos battled in the early 1990s, entangled in a legal battle for the use of his face and image. Famous Amos was seen in the Macys Thanksgiving Day parade every year from 1977 to 1981, as well as on the label of each cookie bag. "Amos, Wally . In financial terms, Wally wrote in 1996, all Ive done since is amass debt and miss payments.. "I like chocolate chip cookies, man. By 1985, Famous Amos reported a $300,000 loss on sales of $10 million. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. Amos was born Wallace Amos Jr. on July 1, 1936, in Tallahassee, Florida. Check out a post by digital creator, @talk2pops, highlighting Wally Amos story below: What Happened To Wendy Williams? Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). Amos is like a parade float, drifting cheerfully along, vaguely familiar looking, never failing to evoke a smile as he wanders the wards at Winter Park Hospital, which brought him back to Florida to celebrate its 36th birthday. He moved to New York Citys Harlem at age 12 to live with his Aunt Della. Born in tallahassee, florida, wally amos lived a childhood that was not always stable and trouble free. In 1967, Amos decided to leave William Morris and launch his own talent agency. In addition to getting closer to the original recipe, Keebler also plans to introduce new flavors, like toffee chocolate chip and chocolate chip and walnuts, and to use its vast resources to get the brand before more consumers. Some cookies were too small. The cookies now carried with them a line of paraphernalia for the "Famous Amos" fans who desired them: t-shirts, umbrellas, duffle bags, and "Famous Amos" jewelry. Amos's promo packet and boundless enthusiasm were enough to convince entertainment industry friends, including singer Helen Reddy, her husband, producer Jeff Wald (another product of the William Morris mailroom) and record executive Artie Mogull to invest in the venture. [14], In 2020, Content Media Group released a documentary on the life of Wally Amos, The Great Cookie Comeback: reBaking Wally Amos. In some areas I am more noted for reading then I am for cookies! Within two years Amos returned to retail marketing based on a chocolate chip theme with his Chip & Cookie concept. Will Orange County's Fledgling Clean Power Agency Survive? We are very proud of our Famous Amos cookies and believe were producing high-quality, great-tasting product, she said. After dropping out of high school, he served in the Air Force and worked in the stockroom of Saks Fifth Avenue. As Amos celebrated the book's success, his business was losing money. As he wrote in his autobiography, he began slowly to console himself and his frustration by making chocolate-chip cookies in the style of his Aunt Della. Amos, who turned 71 this month, is co-founder and shareholder of Uncle Wally's Muffin Co., whose products are found in 5,000 stores nationwide, including Costco and Wal-Mart. He bursts in, looking around in exaggerated puzzlement. He began distributing Famous Amos cookies in luxury retailers like Macys and Bloomingdales. Burdened with the debt of his failing business, Amos began to take comfort in baking chocolate chip cookies. He became such a known figure culturally that he appeared as himself in the Taxi episode "Latka's Cookies", in 1981. His cookie shop, Chip & Cookie, is a couple of miles from his home in the oceanside community of Kailua. It seemed to be shining as if neon paint had been used. . It was bittersweet, says his son. In 1998, the Keebler Company purchased the Famous Amos brand, and Amos resumed his role as the brand's spokesperson. (AP Photo/Lucy Pemoni). Read more about Wally Amos story inside. Actually, Amos says, fame never really mattered much to him. Mr. Amos was a rising star. Therefore, its best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publications requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html, Born: July 1, 1936Tallahassee, FloridaFounder, Famous Amos Chocolate Chip CookieCompany. The Power in You: Ten Secret Ingredients for Inner Strength. Amos said hes always been in business to make friends, not to sell treats. Amos said the Famous Amos cookies sold today by Kellogg Co. are unlike his cookies, which had lots of chocolate, real butter and pure vanilla extract. Eventually, Amos became a talent agent for the William Morris Agency. ", IF YOU GO BACK A FRAME, TO THE moment just before Wally Amos saw the bag of Famous Amos cookies that have nothing to do with him, you get the real, unbound Wally Amos. He is undiscourageable. He started in the mailroom of the William Morris Agency and in 1962 became the first Black talent agent in their history. Wally Amos is a salesman who uses flair, hype, and showmanship to convey his message.". The company focused on fat-free, nutritious muffins at that time. Forbes (December 20, 1993): p. 146. kehittksemme ja parantaaksemme palveluitamme sek tuotteitamme. "It became his thing. While Famous Amos soon lived up to its name, thriving for nearly a decade, the company's founder lost control of his business. Still, Amos said, he had confidence that he could make his way in the world. (Photo of Wally Amos courtesy of Shawn Amos; photo collage by Elina Shatkin). Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies, as seen in an alternate universe. In developing his cookie business, Amos' approach was highly personal. Famous Amos cookies were crisp and nutty, with a satisfying bite that most chocolate chip cookies lacked. In 1988, the Shansby Group bought the company for $3 million dollars, not a lot of dough for that era. ''And they were using a real low-grade vanilla flavoring, and I always used vanilla extract. "When I finally entered the cookie business full time, I acknowledged to myself that I had taken a beating and that it was time for a change," Amos writes in The Power in You. But the reason is that theyve told themselves they cant. In addition, Amos believed that the company would return the cookies that bore his name back to their original quality. Telephone: (816) 502-4000 There are people who convince themselves that they cant do anything with their lives because of whats happened to themand theyre right. If you're enjoying this article, you'll love my daily morning newsletter, How To LA. https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/amos-wally-1937, "Amos, Wally 1937 Amos, who turned 71 this month, is co-founder and shareholder of Uncle Wally's Muffin Co., whose products are found in 5,000 stores nationwide, including Costco and Wal-Mart. Amos said he has since learned how much greater the success can be with a good team. When Wally Amos first developed Famous Amos cookies in 1975, the brand became one of the most unlikely success stories in food history. Toops, Diane. Returning to New York City, Amos went to college to become a secretary, and after graduating, took a mailroom clerk job with the William Morris Agency. Over the next few years, Amos headed the agency's newly formed rock 'n' roll department, where he worked with Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye and Sam Cooke. Despite the company's poor financial history, and the fact that Uncle Wally's muffins have not become the huge hit with consumers that Famous Amos cookies once were, the business had modest revenues of about $3 million last year and the product is winning fans, Mr. Avignone said. Why did Wally Amos lose his company? Wally Amos gained prominence as an entrepreneur in the mid-1970s when he developed and marketed a brand of chocolate-chip cookies under the name "Famous Amos." ''People really know the name and so many people still recognize the face.''. "Amos, Wally Amos says the mistake he made with Famous Amos Cookies was not assembling a good management team. Wallace Amos, Jr. was born July 1, 1936 in his parents' home in Tallahassee, Florida. On March 10, 1975, Amos took the advice of some friends, and with $25,000 from singers Marvin Gaye and Helen Reddy, [4] he opened a cookie store at 7181 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, in Los Angeles, California, naming it "Famous Amos". . But his trademark smile, optimistic outlook and uncanny ability to promote remain unchanged. When he sold Famous Amos in 1985, Wally . I wanted to make the best chocolate chip cookies possible. He is the founder of the Famous Amos chocolate-chip cookie, the Cookie Kahuna, and Aunt Della's Cookies gourmet cookie brands, and he was the host of the adult reading program, Learn to Read. On the corner of Sunset Blvd. Whatever his former ties to it, he said, ''I will always be Famous Amos. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. //]]>, For Wally Amos, success has had a very sweet smell, indeed. However, in 1985, mismanagement forced Amos to gradually sell off parts of his company. Unfortunately for Amos, he . His son Shawn called him a bearded, amped-up Willy Wonka whose mother used to beat him with an electrical cord, angry at Wallys fathers infidelities, their poverty, and at the structural strains of the Jim Crow South. "It's interesting," he recalled in 1987 during a speech at the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, "because friends would see me and before even saying 'hello,' they would say, 'Hey man, where are my cookies?'". Freelance journalist. He was granted a National Literacy Honors Award by President George H.W. Karl Braun Drive Amos planned a big party to launch his new business: he hired a band, bought champagne, and invited many of his celebrity friends. "In Motown's heyday, they had something called the Motortown Revue, so he booked all that. He just wanted people to have fun. Later in 1992, he launched his new venture. Amos, Wally, and Camilla Denton. How he lost his money: Amos started a cookie business after deciding to leave his cushy job as a talent manager for the William Morris Agency in New York in 1975. Within months, Amos had opened two more franchises on the West Coast, and New York-based department store Bloomingdale's had begun selling gourmet cookies. In 1992, President Baking Company bought Famous Amos for $61 millionmore than 55 times what Wally Amos sold his controlling stake for just a few years earlier. He frequently travels, giving motivational speeches or working on behalf of charities like Literacy Volunteers of America, of which he is spokesman. He was the only child of the marriage of Wallace and Ruby Amos. The idea seemed far-fetched, but by 1974, Amos had grown completely disillusioned with the entertainment business. You might as well eat Chips Ahoy." He was a pretty brilliant marketer. Business Leader Profiles for Students. The move proved to be a mistake, as the new owners began to run the company into the ground. . The Famous Amos cookie company is an American cultural icon. [11] Uncle Noname became Uncle Wally's Muffin Company in 1999. Upon discharge from the service, Amos attended secretarial school, learning shorthand, typing, and accounting skills. Within months, Amos had opened two more West Coast franchises, and the New York-based Bloomingdale's department store had begun selling the gourmet cookies. Amos!" "Where are the seniors?" Amos even appeared in Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade from 1977 to 1981. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. Before long he had worked his way up to secretary for Howard Hausman, an executive vice president at the agency. In 1998, Keebler purchased the brand, keeping Amos as the spokesperson. 1975: Opened first Famous Amos retail outlet. Wally was the only child in a loveless and impoverished Tallahassee marriage. Wally Amos hugs Jayson Weidmann in the doorway of his cookie store after his weekly children's book reading on June 16, 2007, in Kailua, Hawaii. Suicide Note Revealed After Shocking Death, Indicted! After his discharge from the Air Force, Amos enrolled at the Collegiate Secretarial Institute in Manhattan. ", Famous Amos opened on March 10, 1975, as a small, father-and-son operation, "He and I were together," Shawn says. Selected awards: Presidential Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence, U.S. president Ronald Reagan, 1986; Horatio Alger Association citation, 1987. However, in 1985, mismanagement forced Amos to gradually sell off parts of his company. He wasnt a businessman. If at 54, Amos enjoys being an apostle of cheer, he has led a serious life. Mr. Amos again found himself in a money-losing venture on the verge of collapse. After his parents divorced, his mother moved the family to Harlem, to live with her sister Della. In 1999, Keebler approached Amos to help promote Famous Amos, and he happily agreed. [12], In 2014, an article in Fortune magazine lauded "The cookie comeback of 'Famous' Wally Amos" as Amos bought back his handmade cookies under a new name The Cookie Kahuna. ", Amos's name soon became synonymous with the crisp chocolate chip cookies he whipped up in his L.A. kitchen. "They better take good care of it, 'cause they'll never get another one.". By the early 80s, Americas cookie baron was clearing hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, drawing national attention for the Literary Volunteer of America, and winning kudos from Ron Reagan for his free-market hustle. Wally Amos, Jr. was born in Florida in 1936. Keebler Company. When he decided to go into the cookie business, Marvin Gaye and Helen Reddy were among his backers. Im not a production guy. 23 Feb. 2023 . In 1989, yet another group of investors dismissed Amos from the company he had founded. [15], On July 1, 1979, Amos married Christine (Harris) Amos, who later helped him design the early merchandise and packaging for Famous Amos cookies. His entrepreneurial spirit in tact, Mr. Amos switched to a line of low-fat and fat-free muffins. The store opened on March 9, 1975, on the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Formosa Avenue in Los Angeles. Located within department stores, Chip & "When the store opened, it was him in the back making cookies and me standing on a milk crate in the front, selling.". ''If Dave left Wendy's and came back after 10 years because things had not gone well the message is signaling change that 'We're going back to the way we used to be.' That became his shtick. Here's Why It's Especially Dangerous To Hike SoCal Mountains Right Now, How 4 Words Upended A University's Journalism Program, And Stirred A Reckoning Over Race, What A Popular Yoga Teacher's Descent Into Conspiracy Theories Says About The 'Wellness To QAnon Pipeline', Ancient Lung Disease Strikes Countertop Cutters In LA. What have you put in your dash?". Since then, Famous Amos has expanded its in-store profile, branching out to more grocery stores, gas stations and big box stores. (February 23, 2023). Amos and his cookie empire enjoyed a decade of success. Fax: (847) 803-1186 Somebody did something to me that paralyzed me for life. If you believe that, youll never move forward.. "In the lower right hand corner there was a William Morris logo, and in the other corner was an A&M Records logo that showed that the cookie had a record deal. //