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Kemmons and Wallace

Posted in Heroes of the Faith, Perseverance, Uncategorized, tagged Holiday Inn, Kemmons Wilson, Proverbs 3:9-10, Wallace Johnson on October 15, 2020| 18 Comments »

“So what do you think?” Kemmons Wilson asked his friend and fellow home-builder, Wallace Johnson. After talking nonstop for the first twenty minutes of their business lunch, Kemmons finally took the first bite of his ham on rye. It had taken that long to share his idea for a new business venture, and he wanted Wallace to be a partner.

Wallace set his napkin down beside an empty chili bowl. He was already catching his friend’s passion for the idea that definitely held promise.

The revelation had occurred while Kemmons, his wife, and five children had recently been on vacation to Washington, D. C. that summer of 1951. Every night of their trip they experienced frustration because of the poor accommodations available.

Most motels of the day offered small, uncomfortable rooms with nothing for children to do. To add insult to injury, they charged extra for each child, nearly tripling the price of a room for the Wilson family.

What Kemmons proposed to Wallace was a revolutionary kind of motel. First, kids under twelve would stay free in their parents’ rooms. He and Wallace would provide spacious 12 x 26 accommodations, including the bathroom.

There’d be free TV, a telephone in each room, and a motel pool—at no extra charge. Oh—and they’d provide babysitting service too. They’d even build an onsite restaurant with good, reasonably-priced food. No one was providing so many amenities at the time.

But Kemmons’ entrepreneurial genius did not stop there.

“I’m not talking about just one motel here in Memphis,” he enthused between bites. “We’ll start here, but think about this, Wallace.” And a big grin spread over his face. “What if we built them all across the country, within a day’s drive of each other?”

Now it was Wallace’s turn to grin. “Nobody can say you don’t dream big, Kemmons. That sounds fantastic. But where do we get the capital for such a venture?”

“I thought about that too. That’s where you come in, my friend, as my gifted finance man and officer in the National Homebuilders Association. All we have to do is get one homebuilder in each major city to build one of our motels.”

Wallace made no promise that day except to pray about the possibility. Kemmons fully supported his friend’s decision, being a man of strong faith in Jesus Christ himself.

But it wasn’t long before the two men immersed themselves in executing Kemmons’ plan.

The name for the would-be chain came from a movie the draftsman had seen during the time he worked on the plans. He’d jokingly written the title at the top of the document: Holiday Inn.

The first motel opened for business in 1953. On each nightstand was a Bible, a tradition the two partners maintained over the ensuing decades of growth.

Wallace once explained, “The one reason why we’ve always had an open Bible in every room in the Holiday Inn motels is to help people find Jesus and the solution to their problems, no matter who they are” (1).

By 1962, two Holiday Inns were opening each week. And today, they still remain an iconic sight along American highways and across the world.

Surely Kemmons and Wallace went to bed many a night, marveling at what God had done in their lives. Both had grown up in dire circumstances, but escaped poverty with hard work and determination.

Both experienced setbacks, but overcame them with faith and perseverance. Wallace had once been fired from a good, stable job at a lumberyard and wondered what God was doing.

But “later I saw it was God’s unerring and wondrous plan to get me into the ways of his choosing,” he explained (2).

Part of God’s plan included the 35-year partnership between Kemmons and Wallace, a partnership founded on their relationships with God and each other. Together they gave liberally of their wealth to support numerous Christian ministries.

(Wallace Johnson (left) and Kemmons Wilson (right)

Some men and women who find great success in life are lulled into false security because of their financial standing and position. Not Wallace Johnson.

“I am totally dependent on God for help in everything I do,” he emphasized. “Otherwise I honestly believe I would start to fall apart in months” (3).

Such a statement reveals the foundation on which Kemmons and Wallace based their lives. Their decisions and actions grew out of a desire to honor God.

* * * * * * * * * *

I thank you, Father, for such men as Kemmons Wilson and Wallace Johnson, who exemplified undying commitment to you in the midst of great success in the secular world. In grateful response to your blessing upon them, they became conduits of blessing to others. May we do the same.

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