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Top 10 Successful Companies That Started Off As Something Completely Different


what if 20 years from now Little Caesars
manufactured solar panels stranger
things have happened
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top ten
companies that started off in very
different industries
before we begin we publish new content
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for this list we’re looking at companies
that in their early days made or sold
products that would surprise you these
items don’t necessarily have to be the
very first things they produced but they
should be part of their beginnings and
fairly different from what they do now
number 10
Sears before becoming a retail giant
Sears sold watches by mail-order with
Richard Warren Sears laying the
company’s foundations in 1886 can
manager
Bob after Alva Kurtis Roebuck joined the
team they rebranded as Sears Roebuck and
Company and replicated the business
model by selling all kinds of
merchandise at low prices
following the success of their legendary
Sears catalog and ownership changes
Sears opened its first store in 1925
eventually becoming America’s largest
retailer you could try Sears however the
changes started when the catalog was
discontinued in 1993 to focus on their
department stores due to declining sales
in the 2010s the company shut down many
stores and became involved in real
estate holdings instead number 9
Abercrombie & Fitch long before all the
advertising controversy and sexy
shirtless models at store openings
Abercrombie & Fitch was a sporting goods
store between 1892 and 1977 the
outfitter was known for its pricey
shotguns tents fishing gear and other
sporting goods where are you going I’ll
be right back
Sporting Goods after the company filed
for bankruptcy in the late 70s the brand
name was purchased and resurrected as
another sporting goods retailer before
being sold again in the late 80s
eventually becoming the preppy apparel
store we know today number 8 Hasbro
incorporated in 1923 the Hassenfeld
brothers began selling textile remnants
in Rhode Island they eventually started
making their own pencils and selling
school supplies while this is not what
they’re famous for today it did help the
brothers fund their future jump into toy
manufacturing the launch of mr. Potato
Head in 1952 was an incredible success
by 1964 the company had coined the term
action figure thanks to the creation of
GI Joe and since then under the name
Hasbro they’ve gone on to create popular
toys and games like transformers and
guess who what’s more in 2015 hasbro
teamed up with Paramount Pictures to
begin developing a cinematic universe
based on their toy properties number 7
3m command adhesive strips scotch tape
post-it notes products so simple and yet
so useful they’re all manufactured by 3m
a company that specializes in
manufacturing office supplies and
especially adhesive products but the
company that invented scotch tape was
once known as Minnesota mining and
manufacturing isn’t that the most
ridiculous thing you’ve ever heard it’s
certainly founded in 1902 it was a
mining company that initially intended
to sell corundum for the production of
grinding wheels but they soon discovered
that the mineral was worthless after
encouraging employees to branch out
3m realized they had a knack for
innovation and soon developed a number
of incredibly simple and useful goods in
addition to adhesives 3m has also
manufactured everything from
pharmaceuticals to traffic signals to
board games
number six Twitter
what are you doing posting a photo on
your Twitter page Twitter grew out of
2004’s audio which was a site where
people could create find and subscribe
to podcasts when Apple’s iTunes began to
take over the podcast market ODL gave
employees some time to come up with new
ideas for the company Twitter was born
after a day-long brainstorming session
between jack dorsey Biz Stone and OTO
founders know a glass and Evan Williams
and pretty soon
odyo was sold off the new site really
started to take off when its
microblogging platform took South by
Southwest by storm in 2007 and the rest
is as they say history Kevin Hart seems
like an annoying little fart what number
5 Yamaha way back in 1887 Torico sue
Yamaha founded the new pony company a
piano and reed organ manufacturer in
hamamatsu’s Japan
political tensions between China and
Japan in the 1900s eventually climaxed
in World War 2 forcing Yamaha to take on
the production of wartime machinery
that’s a surprise but after the war they
used what was left to make their first
motorcycles the company has grown
significantly over the last century
producing everything from their
signature musical instruments and
motorcycles to sporting goods appliances
robots and more number four Avon what do
cosmetics and books have in common more
than you might think in the 1800s
David H McConnell was a struggling
door-to-door book salesman in New York
[Music]
executives really in 1886 he decided to
give perfuse a shot and had way more
success initially called the California
perfume company the company was
officially registered as Avon in 1932
and since then it’s become the fifth
largest beauty company in the world with
6.4 million sales representatives the
company is known as specially for it
screams makeup washes jewelry
accessories and their unique direct
selling technique
a sisterhood is unbelievable number
three Lysol you use their products to
wipe your counters scrub your toilets
and prevent pregnancy what while the
company introduced its first
disinfectant in 1889 to help end a
German cholera epidemic
Lysol decided to market it as a feminine
hygiene product in the 1920s advertising
claimed that washing with a diluted
Lysol solution prevented vaginal
infections and odors quote preserved
youth and marital bliss and could even
be used as a form of birth control
surely you can’t be serious
however the product was incredibly
dangerous as it had killed five people
and poisoned one hundred and
ninety-three others by that time
thankfully the company is no longer in
the birth control game and today focuses
exclusively on household cleaners number
two nokia this finish information
technology company sold its widely known
mobile phones division to Microsoft in
2014 but the company is no stranger to
dramatic business changes you see Nokia
began as a pulp mill in 1865 during its
ninety years as a forest and power
industry company Nokia also manufactured
galoshes and other rubber products after
a 1967 merger it expanded to include
telephone and electrical cables gas
masks and later electronics however it
was only in the early 90s that Nokia
began focusing exclusively on
communications
despite the Microsoft deal the Nokia
name is still involved in cell phones
released in January 2017 hmd Global’s
first Android smartphone was called the
Nokia six the four we unveil our number
one pick here are some honorable
mentions juicy fruit Cheryl turkey
mm-hmm
[Applause]
hello ladies look at your man now back
to me now back at your man now back to
me
colors are an expression of personality
therefore BMW drivers can choose between
over 230 exterior colours number one
Nintendo who Sachi doyoung out she
founded Nintendo in 1889 as a playing
card company by 1953 the company
realized there was limited potential for
big profits with cards and so the 60s
brought a wave of experimentation after
changing its name from the Nintendo
playing card company to the Nintendo
company llamo Chi’s grandson Hiroshi
explored other ventures including a taxi
service a hotel chain a TV station and
instant rice their foray into toys
during the mid 60s proved wildly
successful however and their light gun
games paved the way for their entrance
into the video game market when the NES
came to North America in 1985 it changed
the world and today Nintendo characters
like Link Mario and Pikachu are loved by
millions do you agree with our picks
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