Debt mounted to $1.3 million and Uncle Noname filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1997, emerging just two months ago. McCollough, Kathy. Several investors stepped in, but Mr. Amos said they took more of his equity stake each time and never stayed long enough to turn the company around. Where was the first Amos Baking Company located? Article Title: Wally Amos Biography, Author: Biography.com Editors, Website Name: The Biography.com website, Url: https://www.biography.com/business-leaders/wally-amos, Publisher: A&E; Television Networks, Last Updated: May 24, 2021, Original Published Date: April 3, 2014. That year, Wally Amos launched Wally Amos Presents hazelnut cookies. In 1999, Amos signed a deal with the new owner of Famous Amos, Keebler, to act as spokesperson. Wallace Amos, Jr. was born July 1, 1936 in his parents' home in Tallahassee, Florida. He would throw his efforts into the cookies that had come to occupy so much of his time. 548; May 1983, p. 53. He picks up a big bag of just-purchased cookies, bearing the famous Famous Amos logo and a picture of Amos himself, grinning and wearing a straw hat and colorful shirt. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. "Not just once" -says Amos, grinning and pausing to clap his hands sharply twice -"but two times! cookie emporium any day," he wrote cheekily in his L.A. U.S.A. [8], In 1979, Amos' long-time friend and publicist John Rosica introduced him to Literacy Volunteers of America. Reflecting on his changing fortunes in Parade, Amos concluded: When you say I will with conviction, magic begins to happen. By 1985, on sales of $10 million, the Famous Amos Cookie Company reported a $300,000 loss. Amos continued to raise money while diluting his own equity. 23 Feb. 2023 . That something was baking cookies. ''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.' while serving in the Air Force. It is entitled ''Man With No Name: How the Founder of the Censored Cookie Company Lost Everything, Including His Name -- and Turned Adversity Into Opportunity.'' ." His cookie shop, Chip & Cookie, is a couple of miles from his home in the oceanside community of Kailua. The Shansby Group and Wally Amos battled in the early 1990s, entangled in a legal battle for the use of his face and image. Box 419627 Wally Amos is a television personality, entrepreneur, and author from the United States of America. Amos said he told him: Im a cookie man, but if you can make a good muffin, I can sell it. After dropping out of high school, he served in the Air Force and worked in the stockroom of Saks Fifth Avenue. By 1985, the year before America's free-market President was hailing him as a hero, his company lost $300,000 as revenue slipped to $10 million. With financial backing from singers like Gaye and an innovative marketing initiative, which included an extensive advertising campaign and a gala grand opening, the first Famous Amos cookie store opened on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles in 1975. His hat and shirt were added to the Smithsonian Institution's advertising collection. With the company propped up, it sold Famous Amos to President Baking for $61 million in 1992. I think its more than a fetish. Between visits to the rooms of patients (none of whom seem quite sure who the ebullient, kazoo-blowing guy is), Amos takes a pit stop. He described his Aunt Della as "happy all the time," and as a woman who loved to cook and bake, especially chocolate-chip cookies. The father of four, he continues his work as a spokesperson for Literacy Volunteers of America, and one precent of pretax profits of Uncle Nonam cookies are donated to the support of Cities in Schools, a national dropout-prevention program of which he is a member of the board of directors. Here was proof, Wally later wrote, that a black high school dropout from a broken home in Harlem could make it in this country.. In 1988, the Shansby Group bought the company for $3 million dollars, not a lot of dough for that era. He now leaves the day-to-day operations of his Long Island company, which is based in Hauppauge, to a partner, Lou Avignone, who is a former owner of a larger food distributor. At one point, he lost his house. Following his parents' separation in 1948, Amos was sent to New York City to live with his Aunt Della, who often baked homemade chocolate chip and pecan cookies. On the corner of Sunset Blvd. Amos headed the rock n roll department, where he signed Simon and Garfunkel and worked with Motown megastars The Supremes, Diana Ross, Sam Cooke, and Dionne Warwick. We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right,contact us! [1] When his parents divorced, he moved to New York City with his aunt, where he enrolled at the Food Trades Vocational High School. Fax: (847) 803-1186 If you're enjoying this article, you'll love my daily morning newsletter, How To LA. Los Angeles wasn't the promised land Amos had hoped for. Then he hollers: " "Bye-bye, I'm out the door, you can look now!' In 2017, he launched a GoFundMe announcing he was struggling to pay for food, gas, and rent. Muffins were really our savior, said Avignone, company president and chief executive. [11] Uncle Noname became Uncle Wally's Muffin Company in 1999. By the time the Bass Brothers of Fort Worth, Texas, came on the scene in 1985, the company founder was in serious financial trouble. Im a promoter Im not a business guy. He had no money to advertise, so he became the new company's showman, passing cookies out on the streets, delivering them to friends, and taking them everywhere he went. Now he says simply, "No, no cookies. ", While "The Cookie" was supposedly the star, Amos's kindness and goodwill helped make Famous Amos successful. Mr. Amos's cookie craving had returned in the meantime. Former politics editor at the Cambodia Daily. By then, competition in the high-priced cookie business had intensified, and Uncle Noname could not keep up. Amos has advocated literacy and helped thousands of adults learn to read. . That would be himself. She loved to cook, and she lavished the youngster with her special chocolate chip cookies. Amos and his cookie empire enjoyed a decade of success. Business Leader Profiles for Students. Garden City: Doubleday, 1983. Later, in 1987, Amos won the Horatio Alger Award, which is given to Americans who have shown purpose and. Mr. Amos started the original Famous Amos Cookie Company with $25,000 from the singers Marvin Gaye and Helen Reddy, celebrity friends he knew from his days as a talent agent. ''In quicksand, if you start flailing all about and panicking with each movement you go in deeper, but if you just stay calm and look about, chances are you'll see a twig or something you can reach to pull yourself out. Amos has earned numerous honors for his volunteerism, including the Literacy Award presented by President George H.W. The Famous Amos Cookie Company was the first premium chocolate chip cookie. Although he was hired to work in the mail room and to do some janitorial work, Amos got noticed by the upper management because he was willing to do things that were not part of his job description. This is considered such a breakthrough that Famous Amos' shirt and straw hat are in the Smithsonian. . I was stupid, plain and simple. Pollack, Judann. Growing up poor in the segregated South, he faced adult responsibilities at an early age. 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. In his autobiography, The Famous Amos Story, Amos said that his parents rarely laughed and seldom displayed affection toward him. Wally was the only child in a loveless and impoverished Tallahassee marriage. He had also started baking small chocolate chip cookies to give to clients and friends as a way of saying hello or thank you. Amos is a literacy advocate despite his limited schooling. The day-to-day operations of the company required more money than it could generate.. . U.S.A. Located within department stores, Chip & He signed South African trumpet player Hugh Masekela and moved to Los Angeles, convinced that he could create an entertainment empire. Among the products developed by the company are pound cakes in such flavors as banana blueberry and orange cranberry, and fat-free muffins in a variety of flavors, including corn and honey raisin bran, apple cinnamon, chocolate passion, and blueberry. Public Company This time, having learned from his previous business errors, Amos has employed a professional management team to run the dollars-and-cents end of the company. The new owners came in and I was outside looking in.". After his discharge from the Air Force, Amos enrolled at the Collegiate Secretarial Institute in Manhattan. Ebony, September 1979, pp. "One year, the theme of the block party was 'Cookies and Milk with Amos and Andy.' "Crack Reporter Brings Famous Amos to His Knees." His good nature and solid work habits soon helped him to advance, and he was eventually named the companys first black agent. Chocolate chip cookies have been good to him -and the cookie god knows, no one has done more for chocolate chip cookies than Amos. Unfortunately for Amos, he . The Famous Amos Story: The Face That Launched a Thousand Chips. "His real skill was as a hype man. The muffins, for instance, are a leading brand in Pathmark supermarkets in the New York area and are available nationally in stores like Costco warehouse clubs and Edwards supermarkets. I'm especially glad that Famous Amos Cookies are now in the hands of people who love, live, and breathe great-tasting cookies." [On-line] http://www.kelloggs.com (accessed on August 15, 2002). The Top 5 newsletter catches you up with LAs top 5 stories in just 3 minutes. 1986: Won President's Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence. But the heady times would soon end. There is no other homeland or mother country. In developing his cookie business, Amos' approach was highly personal. Amos dropped out of high school but earned his G.E.D. But this wasn't Wally Amos's greatest creation. "I knew I couldn't manage a damn business," he says, "but then ego gets in the way.". It could be worth a few million in a couple of years. Amos had finally found a superstar worthy of his managementhis own gourmet cookies. speaker earning up to $12,000 per appearance. Over the next decade, Famous Amos expanded exponentially, growing into an international chain. In this upbeat effort, Amos offered readers plenty of homespun advice and lively When you were born or when you died is not nearly as important as what you did in betweenwhat you put in that dash. Of his experience living with his Aunt Della, Amos noted "for me, chocolate-chip cookies have always been an expression of love.". Wally Amos was a walking, breathing brand who couldn't seem to cash in on his own success. He began distributing Famous Amos cookies in luxury retailers like Macys and Bloomingdales. Amos was disciplined, cared about quality-control issues, and was not afraid to leave one endeavor to explore another. Today, Famous Amos is an international brand that you can find in most grocery stores. Amos said hes always been in business to make friends, not to sell treats. "Amos, Wally Keeping the famous in Famous Amos, the entrepreneur made guest appearances on hit TV shows like The Jeffersons and Taxi. Amos didn't only befriend the glitterati. . He and his third wife have created two cookie-character dolls -Chip (a boy) and Cookie (a girl). But his trademark smile, optimistic outlook and uncanny ability to promote remain unchanged. Wally Amos is a salesman who uses flair, hype, and showmanship to convey his message.". Amos elevated a product that was seen as an everyday item into a gourmet experience, says Szewczyk. "He had great instincts about story, and he had great instincts about how to make people feel good," Shawn says. When Wally tried to start a new companyWally Amos Presents: Chip & Cookiea federal judge told him hed sold away the rights to use his name. He represented musicians such as The Temptations, Sam Cooke, and Marvin Gaye. In 1975, he explained his strategy to the New York Times: The marketing campaign worked. By 1980 Amoss trademark Panama hat and shirt were inducted into the Smithsonian Institutions Collection of Business Americana. And was promptly sued. Charles wouldnt disclose revenues for Famous Amos, but noted it was the companys fastest-growing cookie brand. And though few people knew it, Mr. Amos's personal affairs were in such disarray that during the worst of it, he was 15 months behind on the mortgage for his house in Hawaii. While Famous Amos still widely uses Amos name and image on its products, Uncle Wallys challenge is to let people know that the man behind the muffins is Amos. By 1989 it was gone. U.S.A. Graham, Judith, ed. He found his "dream location" at the old House of Pies on the Sunset Strip and began to renovate it with an eye toward a March 1975 grand opening. I just send love to 'em. Amos was born to Wallace & Ruby Amos. Within two years the company was producing six tons of cookies each week, and Amoss little venture had become a business generating in excess of $4 million in sales per year. I believe, along with many others, that you must first ask for what you want before you can have it. In the mid-1990s, Amos worked with partners, including Famous Amos distributor Lou Avignone, to launch a muffin company now known as Uncle Wally's Family of Muffins. He reckons Chip & Cookie will shortly be as ubiquitous as the Cabbage Patch Doll was. In 1998, Keebler purchased the brand, keeping Amos as the spokesperson. Business Leader Profiles for Students. His mother, especially, was an uncompromising disciplinarian. Web site: http://www.i, One Campbell Place 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. A Newsweek correspondent called him the progenitor of the upscale cookie and the greatest cookie salesman alive. Today Amos is no longer involved with the Famous Amos cookies found in most supermarkets and many vending machines, but he has begun a whole new gourmet cookie venture, the Uncle Nonam Cookie Company. I was like a kid in a candy store!". Incorp, 12 East Armour Boulevard "Amos, Wally The whole time he's in the men's room, from outside you can hear him humming, whistling and singing. Born in Tallahassee, Fla., Amos moved to New York City at age 12 because of his parents divorce. Encyclopedia.com. Business First, (March 2, 2001): p. A21. Ultimately, I started having cash flow problems. Amos never forgot those cookies. As Amos celebrated the book's success, his business was losing money. Spokesman for Literacy Volunteers of America; board member, Cities in Schools, Inc. Military service: U.S. Air Force, c. 195559. Kellogg Company. The Famous Amos Cookie Company was born. Wally later made a comeback in the world of cookies under a new name, The Cookie Kahuna, in 2014. [15], On July 1, 1979, Amos married Christine (Harris) Amos, who later helped him design the early merchandise and packaging for Famous Amos cookies. He quit after two years, however, and joined the U.S. Air Force in 1953 where he earned his high school diploma equivalent. Heuslein, William. [16] Wally Amos has 4 children: Michael Amos, Gregory Amos, Sarah Amos,[17] and musician Shawn Amos. and Formosa Ave., in front of a Brazilian restaurant, you might notice a square metal sign. Will Orange County's Fledgling Clean Power Agency Survive? In 1975, a friend suggested to Amos that he set up a store to sell his cookies, and in March of that year, the first Famous Amos cookie store opened in Los Angeles, California. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Amos no longer sports a beard or his iconic Panama hat, now displayed in a Smithsonian museum. As a marketing hook, each bag of Uncle Nonam cookies carries a recipe for lemonade. A Spirit Magazine reporter who visited Wally in 2013 nonetheless found the 77 year old in good spirits. The man who created the Famous Amos cookie empire and eventually lost ownership of the company as well as the rights to use the catchy name is now running a modest cookie shop in Hawaii. . It doesn't even honor a person. 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. But hes hardly struggling. But ''it was a shocker at first.'' "He worked with all the Motown acts, with the Temptations and Supremes," his son, musician Shawn Amos says. Anyone can read what you share. Wally Amos, famed entrepreneur and founder of the Famous Amos chocolate chip cookie brand, was born Wallace Amos Jr. on July 1, 1936, in Tallahassee, Florida. Amos, Wally, and Stu Glauberman. Amos uprooted his second wife and newborn son and moved to Californiaand then Masakela dropped him. https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/economics-magazines/amos-wally, "Amos, Wally According to Amos, his success as an author and a motivational speaker is due in no small part to his Aunt Della: "[Aunt Della's] basic recipe for cookies became the foundation for much of my success. Contact at: Uncle Noname Cookie CompanyP.O. Amos and his cookie empire enjoyed a decade of success. The Famous Amos cookie company is an American cultural icon. What have you put in your dash?". Around the time Wally lost ownership in his company, his career took perhaps its most remarkable turn. Wally Amos, Jr. was born in Florida in 1936. I'm not in the cookie business anymore.". You cant compare a machine-made cookie with handmade cookie. Culinary entrepreneur Wally Amos stands in front of the original Famous Amos store on Sunset Blvd. When a new job opportunity. He spent the ensuing years working in the stock room at Saks Fifth Avenue, and in the mailroom at the prestigious William Morris Agency. The Shansby Group sued Amos for violating an agreement that forbade him to use his name and likeness on the packaging of any food products. Karl Braun Drive Because the name Famous Amos was trademarked by his former company, Amos had to sell the Famous Amos Company because he couldn't afford to do so, and he chose The Uncle Noname's Cookie Company as his new company's name because he couldn't afford to trademark his previous Uncle Wally's Sold To Give & Go [13], In 2019, Amos was called "the King of cookies" by NBC affiliate KSNV-TV in Las Vegas. Your greatest contribution to your country is not your signature straw hat in the Smithsonian, but the people you have inspired to learn to read, Bush said. Now living in South Carolina, 83-year-old Wally Amos has plans for one last venture, Aunt Della's Cookies. They were rich and tasty but their simple flavor palate felt nostalgic. Amos is a popular motivational speaker who has used his celebrity status to promote literacy and to support drop-out prevention programs. Amos, Wally and Camilla Denton. Why did Wally Amos lose his company? Masekela fired him, so Amos worked at his friend John Levy's entertainment firm. If at 54, Amos enjoys being an apostle of cheer, he has led a serious life. Kansas City, Missouri 64141-6627 14647. The idea seemed far-fetched, but by 1974, Amos had grown completely disillusioned with the entertainment business. 1992: Started Uncle Noname Cookie Company. Amos!" 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. chitchat. "Never been better, man! 2019Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. Famous Amos became a fixture in Hollywood, its proprietor staging celebrations much like the music revues he had helped organize in the 1960s. Web site: http://www., Wallmoden, Amalie Sophie Marianne (17041765), Walpole, Horace William, 4th Earl of Orford, https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/amos-wally-1937, https://www.encyclopedia.com/reference/trade-magazines/amos-wally, https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/economics-magazines/amos-wally, Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookie Company. Amos was born Wallace Amos Jr. on July 1, 1936, in Tallahassee, Florida. Amos tries to coax the pillow away from him. The shop was the first of its kind dedicated to one brand of gourmet cookies, and Amos pitched his product with an unquenchable enthusiasm. At school, he claimed that he had developed an intense desire to become successful and to make money. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. He signed Simon & Garfunkel and headed the agency's rock 'n' roll department. And it was filled with the aroma of her delicious chocolate chip cookies." [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. Shortly before graduation, Amos dropped out of high school to join the United States Air Force. What of the man who started it all? He created a massive global brand.Famous Amos Cookies.and then lost it all.vMost cookie lovers don't. .