Four years later Marriott had graduated from college and was ready to start in business. An A&W rootbeer stand had opened in Salt Lake City and was drawing thirsty crowds.

Marriott and his partner Hugh Colton bought the A&W franchises for DC, Baltimore, and Richmond and opened their first stand on 14th Street, Northwest, in May of 1927. By July there was a second stand on 9th Street between F and G Streets.

When fall approached, Marriott suggested that if cold drinks sold in hot weather, hot food would sell in cold. Recalling the "hot" Mexican specialties of his southwest boyhood, he appealed to the chef at the Mexican Embassy for recipes. The first Hot Shoppe was born.

Bill Marriott was a millionaire by age 30. His partner Colton had opted out of the stressful business, but Marriott thrived on the challenge and sought new markets and methods. In 1937, the manager of the Hot Shoppe near Washington's old air field noted that people were coming in to buy food for flights. Marriott convinced two airlines to let him supply in-flight meals and created the airline catering industry.

Soon the company was managing cafeterias in defense plants and office complexes. As the business grew, Marriott introduced tough quality control, including recipe cards to guarantee the consistency of every dish served.

In 1957 he opened the nation's largest motor hotel- the Twin Bridges Marrriott Motor Hotel. It became the flagship of Marriott hotels around the world.

By the time he died in 1985, Marriott's tiny rootbeer stand had become a 3.5 billion dollar a year business with 120,000 employees serving millions of meals a day.