Wally Amos, aka Famous Amos, has died at at age 88 at his home in Hawaii.
Amos launched the company in 1975 with a $25,000 loan and, in a bold move, opened his own shops to sell them.
From the New York Times:
At a time when flavorless, preservative-packed cookies were about the only thing available to consumers not blessed with a baker in the family, Mr. Amos's confections stood out. Derived from a recipe he had learned from his aunt, they used real ingredients, no coloring or chemicals added, and he kept them as close to handmade as possible, even as his company exploded into national distribution through the early 1980s.
What began with a single store in Los Angeles that made $300,000 in revenue its first year became by 1981 a $12 million company (about $42 million in today's currency), with dozens of Famous Amos stores across the country and packaged products sold in grocery and specialty stores as well.
Throughout the 1980s, Amos sold off pieces of the company before finally cashing out entirely to private equity for $3 million in 1988.
Previously:
• My father rates Disneyland's most hyped cookie: The Harbor Galley Chocolate Chip
• Would you try this octopus chocolate chip cookie, or these chicken skin fried pickles?
