Curtis Leroy Carlson (July 9, 1914 – February 19, 1999) was an American businessman and founder of Carlson and

Radisson Hotel Group Radisson Hospitality, Inc. ( trading as Radisson Hotel Group) is an American multi-national hospitality company. It started as a division of Carlson Companies, which owned Radisson Hotels, Country Inns & Suites and other brands. In 1994, Carls ...

Early life and education

Carlson was born in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with list of lakes in Minneapolis, thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. ...

, Minnesota, the son of Charles and Leatha Carlson. Charles Carlson was a Swedish-American immigrant who arrived as a child in Minnesota; Leatha Carlson was born in Downing, Wisconsin of a Danish father and Swedish mother. Curt began a career with Procter and Gamble after earning a BA in Economics in 1937 from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

where he served as President, and Recruitment Chair for

Sigma Phi Epsilon Sigma Phi Epsilon (), commonly known as SigEp, is a social college fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College (now the University of Richmond), and its national headquarte ...

fraternity- MN Alpha chapter.

Career

Carlson began working for Procter & Gamble and then founded the Gold Bond Stamp Company in 1938. Carlson used "Gold Bond Stamps", a consumer loyalty program based on trading stamps, to provide consumer incentive for grocery stores. Carlson was the first entrepreneur to develop a loyalty program for the grocery chain through the issuance of trading stamps. What began as a simple loyalty program for grocers in the Midwest grew into one of the largest service providers of frequent shopper / buyer programs across a variety of retail and hospitality sectors. Carlson expanded his offerings by purchasing the downtown Minneapolis Radisson Hotel in 1960 and building it into a national chain. He also acquired TGI Fridays, Carlson Leisure Group and hundreds of other hospitality businesses. The Carlson School of Management at the

is named for him, in recognition of his $25 million gift, the largest single donation to a public university at that time. Curt Carlson created an estate in Lake Nebagamon, Wisconsin which was later converted to a business resort for corporations.

Awards

* Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Linnean Medal presented by H.M.

Carl XVI Gustaf Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. He ascended the throne on the death of his grandfather, Gustaf VI Adolf, on 15 September 1973. He is the youngest child and only son of Prince Gustaf Adolf, ...

King of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the #IOG, Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional monarchy, constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary ...

*Viking Baron Award from the American Swedish Cultural Foundation *Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet o ...

, 1977 * Horatio Alger Award; the Swedish-American of the Year Award,

Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm () is the capital and most populous city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately 1 million people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 millio ...

in 1981 *Chairperson Emeriti of the Swedish Council of America from 1985 to 1989 * Town and Country magazine Philanthropist of the Year Award, 1987–1988 *International Citizen of the Year Award from the City of Minneapolis * 1989 Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame inductee * 1995 DeMolay International Hall of Fame

Selected works

*''Good as Gold : the Story of the Carlson Companies'' (Carlson Companies, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, 1994)

References

External links

The Carlson Family FoundationMinnesuing Acres
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carlson, Curt American people of Swedish descent Businesspeople from Minneapolis University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni 1914 births 1999 deaths Burials at Lakewood Cemetery American people of Danish descent 20th-century American businesspeople