[ad_1]
Say "Lipton" and you will see that most people think of tea. world. "
In December 1881, a steamboat moored in Glasgow, Scotland, with a shipment from the United States: the largest cheese in the world.
At 1 meter in thickness and 4 circumferences Hundreds of spectators gathered to see how he would be transported to Lipton's High Street grocery store, where they realized that the cheese was too big to pbad the door.
Without the slightest hesitation The curious parade continued in another Lipton store.
As a publicity action, the maneuver was a success, but Tommy Lipton had another surprise: he turned the giant cheese into a food of value by concealing a large quantity of coins.
The police were struggling to maintain order, while the Lipton employees wrapped the slices and shared them among the legion of clients who were gathering in the room. ;hope
buy a piece and find some money
It was an initiative orchestrated by a man at the height of the wave of success, far from his childhood in the modest neighborhood of Gorbals, Glasgow [19659010] From Glasgow to the United States [Nene1848in a family in Northern Ireland] Liptonsefamiliarisaavecleastwherefreshwasopenedin a small store sellingproducts offirstnecessaryuropportunitiesontheClydeRiverPackage inGlasgow
] By the age of ten, he was looking for food on boats moored in the river and carrying them in a wheelbarrow. Docks and seafaring stories have fascinated young Tommy Lipton.
At the age of 15, he was hired on a steamboat. Two years later, he saves enough money to buy a ticket for the United States
. There, he works in several tobacco and rice plantations in Virginia and South Carolina before arriving in New York. working in the store of Alexander Turney Stewart, another immigrant of Irish / Scottish origin
. It was a palace of consumption at the marble facade, one of the biggest stores ever seen. Stewart had created a brand new method of purchase.
"He used many strategies that Lipton would later adopt in his own career," says Steve Jaffe, curator of the New York City Museum. When he returned to Glasgow five years after his departure, he knew how to make a fortune.
Still in his twenties, he opened his own store, that of Lipton. "
" He wore his vendors in bright white aprons as well as rows of hams and cheeses, "says Laurence Brady, director of the Sir Thomas Lipton Foundation." "Her store was very bright and one of a kind. impeccable cleanliness. "
Without intermediaries
This was the recipe for success.Shops similar to each other have opened their doors in the central part of Scotland, all bearing the same name: Lipton
But that was only the beginning – Lipton knew that his company depended on a reliable supply of high quality products, many of which were imported.To move on to the next step, he realized in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, where his family came from.
"He changed his method of work. He hired a local professional who met the farmers before they arrived. market, and agreed on a price, "says genealogist Frank McHugh." It was really revolutionary, it was a whole new way of doing business, it really is so that supermarkets work. modern, they go to farmers and they eliminate middlemen. "
The new approach was so successful that Lipton ran out of money and had to pledge his gold watch while farmers continue to To buy for 30 shillings.
The expansion goes through Scotland and the United Kingdom to conquer the United States, eliminating again the middleman when he buys the planted in a refrigerator.
As usual, Lipton was looking for the next business opportunity until he found the product that still bears his name: tea
. times, the drink was a luxury product, but its price had gone down in the mid-nineteenth century, and he soon became the favorite of the Victorian middle clbad.
In May 1890, Lipton went to Sri Lanka to buy his first tea plantation, which quickly left him.
At that time, his empire took the name of Lipton in the fashionable streets of Victorian London, and he intertwined
When the Princess of Wales, Alexandra, decided to hold a fundraiser At the last minute for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, it was Lipton who came to the rescue with a gift of £ 25,000 –
In 1898, when he opened his business to the stock market, he retains a majority stake. In 1898, he became knight. pocketed 120 million pounds sterling, or £ 1 billion today.
Thus, at age 50, he had the means to fulfill his childhood dream.
Mark around him
The America's Cup is the world's oldest international sports car trophy. The America to which it refers is not the continent, but a ship of the same name, built by members of the New York Yacht Club.
As a child, he was fascinated by the ships that came to Glasgow and made models that floated.
He now wanted to join the world of the elite of sailing and seek the greatest prize of this sport.
There were strict rules for those who participated in the Copa America. The sailboats were to be built in the competitor's country and move towards the starting line.
But when Lipton asks to enter the prestigious Royal Yacht Squadron, he discovers that wealth and prestige are not always enough to defeat snobbery and end up being rejected. join the Royal Ulster Yacht Club, based in Bangor, Northern Ireland.
His sailboat was named Shamrock and, although he lost the race, he was victorious in other respects.
They All Spoke of Sir Thomas Lipton,
A century before Richard Branson, Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, Lipton was one of the pioneers of the idea of creating a brand around the world. ;an individual.
A sailor cap, appeared in much of the company's packaging, recalls historian Judith Krall-Russo. "It was a fashion:" Ah, I have a picture of Thomas Lipton. He looked like Elvis Presley, he was a celebrity. "
The businessman again participated in the Copa America in 1901 and 1903. with new sailboats, Smrock II and III, still without success.
World War I delays the race of 1914. Lipton then equips her luxury yacht Erin as a hospital ship and the book to the Red Cross.The following year, the boat was sunk by a German submarine.
Lipton participated two more he was close to victory in 1920, but the trophy had always escaped him.
After his fifth and final attempt in 1930, Hollywood actor Will Rogers began a campaign asking the American public to give a dollar each buy a "love cup" in gold to celebrate the perseverance and sportsmanship of the "most beautiful loser of the world".
The inscription reads as follows: " On behalf of hundreds of thousands of Americans and sympathizers of Sir Thomas Johnston Lipton "
He died the following year, leaving much of his fortune in Glasgow, his homeland.
Today, the Lipton supermarket chain has fallen into oblivion after several mergers. His name remains mainly a tea brand, which now belongs to Unilever.
BBC Canada – All rights reserved – Reproduction is prohibited without the written permission of the BBC
Source link
