Company Timeline
Aramark History Timeline
This is a timeline that is listed below to provide a visual of the important dates that have allowed Aramark to progress to be a market leader today. This company mainly focuses on having all employees being committed to pursuing excellence in every aspect of their organization by trying to meet and exceed their client’s goals and expectations.
1936: Started small out of the back of a Dodge pickup truck by selling peanuts.
Dyare Davidson and William Fishman both wanted to have vending machines in factories and office buildings so they began to work together since they both worked for Douglas Aircraft in WWII but they worked in different locations
1959: Davidson and Fishman worked together and their 2 companies merged and became known as Automatic Retailers of America (ARA)
1960 : ARA became public and they had revenue exceed $37 million
1961 : Acquisition of Slater System Inc., the company’s largest manual food service business to become a diversified service provider. Their goal was to work with local companies to expand and have them work with ARA
Mid 1960’s : ARA entered sports and leisure service market
1968 : served 1,000,000 meals to athletes at the 1968 Summer Olympic Games, which allowed the company to go international
1969 : changed their name to ARA Services
1976 : They entered work uniform rental and career apparel industry for businesses trying to distinguish their brands and increase worker morale
1979 : Joseph Neubauer joined ARA Services as executive VP of Finance and Development (CFO) and became a member of the Board of Directors
1980 : Acquired National Child Care Centers, Inc. and entered the childcare
industry
1981: Neubauer elected to be the president of ARA Services
1983 : Neubauer elected CEO
1984: Neubauer elected Chairman; he helped to coordinate a management buyout where management ownership had 40% of the company and they had a say in the company’s success and security in job positions
1994 : ARA Services became known as Aramark to represent their service philosophy and their
“Unlimited Partnerships,” where they would do whatever it took to satisfy their customers and their desired level of services. This led to becoming one of their main core competencies.
1995-1999 : Acquisitions with facilities and career apparel. Revenue was $6.7 billion at the end of 1999
2001 : Acquired ServiceMaster Management Services to allow them to have facility service capabilities and establish a stronghold in the food service and uniform and career apparel. In December, they returned to New York Stock Exchange to go public so they could strengthen the quality and reach of their customer resources.
2003 : Completed sale of childcare division to better focus on their main products of core food, facilities, and uniform business
2006 : Group of investors had Neubauer do an acquisition of all the outstanding shares of a company. The shareholders unanimously approved because they would focus on delivering the most value for their customers
Present Day : Partnerships are the foundation of Aramark’s business model because they have established trusting relationships with their clients since their creation in 1936. Their main focus is to provide solutions that are customized to each individual clients needs and they do so daily due to their talented employees.