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Article: Buying Coffee Shops Would Give Marriott a Slice of History
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- June 1, 1987
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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When Fred Harvey stepped off the train in Topeka, Kan., darned if
he could find a spot nearby with a decent cup of coffee.
He walked into one restaurant and took a gulp of some muddy
coffee. And that gulp, back in 1876, eventually changed the way many
American travelers dine.
Harvey built a coffee shop at the Topeka train depot-and went on
to develop a chain of 44 clean and efficient restaurants in other
locations. Long before the automobile, the railroad was the catalyst
to the all-American eatery-the coffee shop as a chain in America.
More than a century later, restaurant industry observers refer to
coffee shops as the "meat and potatoes" of the business. Now coffee
shops are feeling ...