Mike Ilitch is a great story of a son of an immigrant that went from rags to riches in a matter of only a few years. Mike took a food that many people thought was only for teenagers and made it into a very profitable business that made him millions of dollars in a few years.
Mike was born July 20, 1929 in the city of Bitola in the Vardar region of Macedonia. That’s an area around present day Greece. Mike changed his name from Mike Iliev to Mike Ilitch when his family moved from the area. Mike was what we would call a “jock.” He would play many sports in High School but he had a passion for baseball. Being pressured by his parents he joined the Marines for a short while. The when he returned home he was signed by the Detroit Tigers and played in their Farm League for a couple years until he broke his ankle. Mike went back home for a while until his dad called him a bum and “encouraged” him to get a job. Mike was hired as a pizza maker in night club on Detroit’s west side. The business boomed and Mike got an idea.
With that job behind him he decided to open up a pizza joint. Him and his wife Marian opened up their own pizza shop in Garden City Michigan. They soon had two stores in Garden City and business was booming and it wasn’t long until they had a multi-million dollar business on their hands.
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The living wage movement is an economic reform movement that has become one of the most important public policy issues that has come up within the last 10 years. Although there is no single definition, it is often defined as an hourly salary that allows working families of four to have an income that is above the federal poverty line. This means that the livable wage laws often stipulate that ...
With Little Caesars an everyday name now Mike had his millions and was interested in acquiring the Red Wings for what he thought was a great deal of 8 million dollars in 1982. The team was struggling with the worst record in the NHL at the time and Mike thought that he could turn the franchise around. Mike was doing good things with the Red Wings when the Detroit Tigers went up for sale in 1992. Mike bought he Tigers for 85 Million dollars another “good deal” according to him. Just a few years after that the Red Wings won back to back Stanley cups and Mike was credited with turning the organization around.
Mike Ilitch owns the most successful pizza chain in the state and two of the four big market teams in Detroit. Mike has done wonders for the city of Detroit: In 1988 he financed the renovation of the Fox Building. He opened up two more restaurants in downtown Detroit the Comedy Club and the Hockey Town Café. Mike took over management on the city owned buildings of Joe Louis and Cobo Hall. Then he took over concessions for Detroit’s aquarium and both of their zoos.
Without Mike Ilitch Detroit wouldn’t crumple or anything but Mike is an important part of that town. He is a great example of you only live once so make the best out of it and he has. He has accomplished all of his life goals. He was with the Tigers farm club and now he owns the Tigers. He may not of made all the right choices with the Red Wings but he did the Cup not once but twice. I’d say Mike Ilitch basically owns the city of Detroit.
