His company had lost millions of dollars for several consecutive years. 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. . But even without Mr. Amos on board, the Shansby Group began to turn the business around, cutting costs and pushing sales through vending machines. ." Born in Tallahassee, he has said his mother switched him at the slightest provocation. . "Famous Amos Gets its First National Push from Keebler." Amos ultimately advanced to the position of a full-time William Morris talent agent where he contributed to the careers of such entertainers as Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Diana Ross, Sam Cooke, and Marvin Gaye. During his four years in the military, he finished his high school education. And he really, really cared about people.". [18], Amos had lived in Hawaii from 1977 until 2018. And even though he has no ownership in Famous Amos and is making Uncle Wally's his priority, he acknowledges that his first company is still in his blood. Although Wally Amos was introduced to chocolate chip cookies by his Aunt Delia and her old-fashioned recipe, when Amos started his own business he used a recipe by Ruth Wakefield, who is credited with inventing chocolate chip cookies at her Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts, in the 1930s. He served at Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu, Hawaii from 1954 until 1957. The historical marker in front of 7181 Sunset Blvd. San Francisco Business Times (November 19, 1993): p. 1. Amosby then, on his third wife, kid, and cookie company, began selling self-help. He has written 10 books,[6] many of which have a self-help theme, including The Cookie Never Crumbles[7] and The Power in You. In 2016, Wallace "Wally" Amos appeared on ABC's "Shark Tank," asking for $50,000, which would give the investor 20% stock in the company, The Cookie Kahuna, a Hawaii-based cookie company. Amos planned a big party to launch his new business: he hired a band, bought champagne, and invited many of his celebrity friends. We realize the value in Wally Amos as a brand, and our goal is to let the public know that Uncle Wally is Wally Amos, Amos said. Amos's role as a perpetual hype man had its downside. He also worked as a talent agent and discovered Simon & Garfunkel. Amos doesn't even own his own name anymore. In developing his cookie business, Amos' approach was highly personal. ", While "The Cookie" was supposedly the star, Amos's kindness and goodwill helped make Famous Amos successful. 'Famous Amos' became the vehicle to express my love in the outside world. Over the next several years, Famous Amos was bought and sold a number of times. Within two years, his business operation evolved into a corporation which sold cookies nationwide in a variety of upscale stores. Later in 1992, he launched his new venture. "I don't take things seriously," he says. He bursts in, looking around in exaggerated puzzlement. Lower Lake: Aslan, 1994. He and his third wife have created two cookie-character dolls -Chip (a boy) and Cookie (a girl). He booked Solomon Burke. With his magnetic personality and promotional skill, Amos quickly moved up the ranks at the fabled agency, which represented superstars like Sonny and Cher, the Beach Boys and the Rolling Stones. In 1998, the Keebler Company purchased the Famous Amos brand, and Amos resumed his role as the brand's spokesperson. The Uncle Nonam (pronounced No-NAHH-may) Cookie Company specializes in five varieties of gourmet cookies. I think it's bordering on being fanatical. Mr. Amos became a paid spokesman but left in frustration the next year. This is where he introduced Los Angeles and the rest of the world to his sweetest star, "The Cookie." "Spoiled Famous Amos; Now He's the Muffin Man." After the breakup of the family, he was sent to live with his Aunt Della in New York City. She introduced young Wally to the simple delights of a warm, chocolate chip cookie. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Every weekday, you'll get fresh, community-driven stories that catch you up with our independent local news. "I knew I couldn't manage a damn business," he says, "but then ego gets in the way.". 548; May 1983, p. 53. Grab a bag and show up and have cookies. "Never been better, man! He was born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida, until he was 12 years old. ''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. Copyright 2023 Interactive One, LLC. 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. He'd come to the store all the time and my dad would give him free cookies. When Wally Amos first developed Famous Amos cookies in 1975, the brand became one of the most unlikely success stories in food history. [1] Eventually, he became the agency's first African American talent agent. [1] Under the Uncle Noname label, by 1996 Amos had again scored success with fat-free gourmet sweets. He was positive that somewhere along the way his recipe had stopped being used. '', See the article in its original context from. It seemed to be shining as if neon paint had been used. That became his shtick. Around the time Wally lost ownership in his company, his career took perhaps its most remarkable turn. 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. In the past five years, women in L.A. and throughout California have started creating a new future for custom car culture. 1983, Reprint. In 1986 Amos was named recipient of one of president Ronald Reagans first Awards for Entrepreneurial Excellence. Having made millions with his gourmet cookies, Amos seemed to be riding highhe bought a beautiful home in Hawaii and spent untold nights flying across the country promoting his cookies. Despite robust sales, by 1985, the business was losing money, so Amos brought in outside investors. ", Everywhere he goes, people want to know, did he bring any cookies? Amos envisioned his cookies in luxury retail stores over the usual local supermarket. kehittksemme ja parantaaksemme palveluitamme sek tuotteitamme. "His real skill was as a hype man. Amos, Wally and Camilla Denton. 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". Amos! 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." Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. I want to tell people that if life hands them a lemon, they can turn it into lemonade. He added: Theres a lot of wisdom and spirituality in these cookies., For his part, Amos has become wiser and more spiritual himself. With this remark, made by Amos after he sold his cookie business, Amos turned to the new passion in his lifelecturing on inspirational issues. He has co-written several books of inspiration, including one capitalizing on his failures at Famous Amos. He was a pretty brilliant marketer. Wallace "Wally" Amos, Jr. (born July 1, 1936) is an American television personality, entrepreneur, and author from Tallahassee, Florida. In Current Biography Yearbook, Amos reported that his grandmother treated him "with a very tender and understanding kind of love." "Just look at these," he says, looking down at the hard, small, unappealing cookies. 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. Contemporary Black Biography. He was Simon & Garfunkel's first agent, he booked the Supremes' first tour. Hindsight being what it is, Mr. Amos is now able to reflect philosophically on the low points. Profits increased. 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. Amos uprooted his second wife and newborn son and moved to Californiaand then Masakela dropped him. "In the end he was a natural entertainer himself. By the time the Bass Brothers of Fort Worth, Texas, came on the scene in 1985, the company founder was in serious financial trouble. "He worked with all the Motown acts, with the Temptations and Supremes," his son, musician Shawn Amos says. In 1987, he also hosted a television series designed to teach others how to read, entitled Learn to Read, produced by Kentucky Educational Television and WXYZ-TV. Always the survivor, Amos started a new company in 1992, this time selling freshly baked muffins and cakes. Amos also started a new cookie company, called Chip & Cookie the "only company baking from pure, unadulterated Wally Amos recipes," according to Amos's website. As a man who had made his living promoting other people as an agent, he used his background to come up with ways to sell cookies. "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. Eventually, Amos became a talent agent for the William Morris Agency. Without its founder, the Famous Amos Cookie Company went in a new directionit stopped producing upscale cookies in competition with gourmet brands and instead went down-market to compete with standard, grocery store cookies. Contemporary Black Biography. In March of 1975, Wally Amos launched The Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookie Store in Los Angeles. "Amos, Wally 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. Then in March the Keebler Company, the new owner of Famous Amos, offered Mr. Amos a two-year contract to promote his old brand. The man who once called himself the face that launched a thousand chips told Parade magazine of his new company: Its still methe best Wally Amos I can be., Amoss self-professed love affair with the chocolate chip cookie began in his childhood. The later book dealt with Amos's legal battles with Famous Amos, which resulted in Amos being unable to use his name or face to sell any baked products. http://www.GreatCookieComeback.com Wally Amos was the King of the Cookie Kingdom. He is the creator of the Famous Amos brand of chocolate chip cookies. His stern mother was full of life. ". "I never had a superstar but I made a day-to-day living, that was about it," he told the New York Times in 1975. [8], In 1979, Amos' long-time friend and publicist John Rosica introduced him to Literacy Volunteers of America. The man who created the Famous Amos cookie empire three decades ago 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. The company sold $300,000 in cookies that year, and by 1982, revenue reached $12 million. Together with his son, Shawn, who was then a young child, Amos began to search for an affordable storefront in Los Angeles.
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