MEMPHIS, Tenn. — “Overnight delivery started right here. Self-service grocery stores started right here in Memphis,” said Memphis Mayor Paul Young.
Innovations created in Memphis and the Mid-South have forever changed American life and culture.
Author and historian G. Wayne Dowdy said, “Memphis is a very creative place. It’s not just creative in the arts. It’s also very creative in entrepreneurship, in the business sector.”
One example of that is Holiday Inn. Founder Kemmons Wilson standardized the roadside motel, opening the first location in 1952 on Summer Avenue in Memphis.
Holiday Inn rooms all had phones and TVs — a rarity in the 1950s. Wilson included a restaurant and a pool at each location, encouraging longer stays.
Dowdy added, “And he offers amenities and again, an experience not just a crummy place to spend the night.”
The chain was a huge success opening 1,000 locations in less than 20 years. At a time when most motels charged per person, at Holiday Inn kids stayed for free. Road trips, especially for families, were forever changed. “Kids stay free” is now a universal hotel policy.
“All of these ways that we take for granted, they’re just part of life started here in Memphis,” said Dowdy.
Young said, “Memphis has been at the epicenter of so much innovation and so much change that I believe has not only shaped America but really shaped the world.”
Another major innovation from Memphis is the self-service grocery store. Clarence Saunders pioneered the concept and founded Piggly Wiggly stores.
Dowdy recounted, “And so he puts all of the goods on the floor, allows the consumer to decide what not only what product, but what brand they want. And so, the way we shop for groceries today is exactly what he introduced back in 1916. And it transformed the world. There’s not a grocery store in the country that does it the old way.”
Before self-service, grocery clerks would pick customers’ products for them. The revolutionary way of customers selecting their own items changed not only shopping but also advertising.
“In many ways, it develops the whole concept of brand advertising and marketing. Because now you go in and you say, ‘Oh, I want this product,'” said Dowdy.
Shopping was forever changed again by another Memphis company: FedEx.
Dowdy said, “Nowadays, because of FedEx, people order their groceries online and have them delivered. There’s not there’s not a product under the sun that you can’t buy online and be shipped.”
Federal Express was founded in 1971 by Fred Smith. His son, Richard Smith, serves as FedEx Chief Operating Officer, International, and Chief Executive Officer, Airline. Smith told FOX13, “We move 17 million shipments every day. As I said, $2 trillion of the world’s most critical commerce, connecting 99% of GDP.”
Smith said after establishing overnight delivery, his father continued to innovate: “Next, he set about building the track and trace systems that the whole industry takes for granted today. Because, as he famously said in 1978, the information about the package is as important as the package itself.”
Smith continued, “So customers can now see their inventory in motion, which changed supply chains profoundly and changed how business was done forever. It connected the world physically in ways heretofore unimaginable in all of human history.”
Every day, FedEx moves not only individual packages but some of the most important cargo in the world, everything from giant pandas to life-saving medical equipment.
Smith said, “We’re a massive connector and we’re critical arteries of commerce that keep things flowing, that people need every day. So, I think we’re absolutely essential to American life.”
Smith said Memphis and the people here are a big part of the company’s success. He credits the philosophy of “People – Service – Profits” with turning the logistics startup into a household name.
Smith said, “I think it’s important for people to understand what FedEx really is. It’s not just a package company. It wasn’t just an airline.” He continued, “What FedEx really is, is the world’s preeminent and most valuable industrial logistics network.”
He added, “So, it’s a profound thing what FedEx does, and it’s based right here in Memphis. So, we should all be proud of that.”
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