Evolution Away From Railway Service
As a result of changes in railroad passenger train service, Van Noy Interstate began to focus more on the hotel side of their operations. In 1922, the Company acquired the Gem Fountain Company, and in 1926 the company began operating as the Interstate Company. The Interstate Company operated restaurants in train stations, as well as lunch rooms in bus stations. One of the more famous hotels owned by the company was the Beverly Hills Hotel, owned and operated by Interstate between 1928 and 1932. The Van Noy family's involvement in the Company ended following the death of the last surviving Van Noy Brother, Henry Clay Van Noy.
Horizons were broadened in 1954, when the Interstate Company was awarded its first airport contract at the San Francisco International Airport. Numerous name changes and corporate consolidations took place as the surviving company moved further from its roots as a railroad news service, although the company remained in the core business of providing services to travelers. By the time that the Interstate Company became Interstate HOSTS in 1959, all railroad station restaurant operations had ended. In 1968, the name was again changed to Host International, and this company was then acquired by the Marriott Corporation in 1982 and was then renamed to Host Marriott Corporation.
On March 22, 2002, Autogrill S.p.A. purchased the Host Marriott Services division from the Marriott Corporation. Through this acquisition, Autogrill gained contracts in 18 of the 20 largest United States airports as well as franchises such as Pizza Hut, Burger King, Sbarro, and Starbucks. Ironically, increased revenue from these acquisitions allowed Autogrill to expand heavily into Europe’s successful railway systems – the original transportation mode embraced by the Van Noy Railway News Company. Autogrill renamed the company HMSHost, which is largely the corporate successor to the 1897 Van Noy operation and continues to provide products, services, and entertainment to customers on the go. The hotel and resorts assets of the original Van Noy operation was spun off from Marriott as the Host Marriott Corporation in 1996. Today, the company is called Host Hotels and Resorts and is a Real estate investment trust, employing some 229 employees.
Read more about this topic: Van Noy Railway News And Hotel Company
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