This recollection by a former Little Caesars corporate staff member is shared Monday afternoon on Facebook and adapted with permission. "Happy to honor a good man," the Commerce Township author replies to our request.
By Mickey McCanham
Mike Ilitch put me out of business in the early 1980s.
I was at Little Caesars Enterprises as its first corporate credit manager for about four years, working in somewhat tight quarters with the Ilitch family and a great family of co-workers. Once a month, headquarters staff would engage in some sort of fun event.
Mickey McCanham worked "in somewhat tight quarters with the Ilitch family and a great family of co-workers." (Facebook photo)
One day it could be getting on a bus and heading down to Joe Louis to eat and drink and skate. Another day it would be a big tent where we took part in a summer beer bash.
One St. Patrick's Day when everyone was in Las Vegas for a franchisee convention, we took over the test kitchen, dyed pizza dough and mozzarella green and made green pizzas!
On Halloween, each department would pick a theme and we'd decorate our area and don our costumes. We went to great lengths to try to win prizes for best decorations and best costume. Denise Ilitch and the Legal Department once chose the Wizard of Oz and actually made a yellow brick road from tiles.
Another time, our department picked the circus as a Halloween theme. Being an enterprising sort, a few days earlier I headed down to Joe Louis and picked up a popcorn vendor's outfit -- the red and white striped shirt and a big aluminum tub to hang around my neck. On the way back out to our headquarters, I stopped by Detroit Popcorn and purchased one of those huge bags of pre-popped popcorn and empty individual-serving bags.
As we went from department to department on Halloween, checking out the competition, I sold bags of popcorn to all comers. I was making money!
That was until I got up front and Mr. I asked what I was doing. Thinking he'd be impressed with my entrepreneurial effort, I asked him if he'd like to buy a bag of popcorn.
He smiled and said, "I'll tell you what -- I'm buying all of them! And from now on, I want you to make sure that all departments have free popcorn available every Friday!"
And so that tradition began. It really was a family.
