Early 1900s Edna Dickerson, an enterprising woman from Chicago, US, came into an inheritance of a relative in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Heeding the advise of George Dayton, who operated Daytons department store in Minneapolis, Dickerson had constructed a hotel to aid local business in downtown Minneapolis.
December 15 1909 The Radisson opens, christened for French explorer Pierre Esprit Radisson, though to have been the first non-native to explore the Minnesota area (17th century).
Mid 1920s Dickersons Radisson undergoes economic hardship
1934 and was taken over by the Philadelphia Trust Company, and continued to suffer as a result of the Great Depression and World War 2.
1943 Byron F Calhoun, manager of Hotel St Paul, and Tom Moore, a young Irish businessman, bought the Radisson, and brought back its classy status
1960 Minnesota businessman Curtis Carlson and some others bought half the interest in the Radisson.
The SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen opens as the first SAS hotel. SAS is the brand that will later encompass Radisson, Country Inn, Park Inn and Regent hotels.
1962 Moore retired and sold his share to Carlson. As the majority shareholder, Carlson expanded the Radisson name across the United States.
1994 SAS International Hotels, a then wholly owned subsidiary of the SAS Group, owned and operated 29 hotels in key cities throughout the airline groups geographical network. That same year the company signed a master franchise agreement with Carlson Hotels Worldwide to develop and operate the Radisson brand in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Radisson SAS thus saw day.
2001 SAS International Hotels changed its name to Rezidor SAS Hospitality.
2002 Rezidor SAS and Carlson Hotels Worldwide signed a multi-brand master franchise agreement that added three other Carlson brands to the Rezidor SAS portfolio.
March 2005 The partners decided to build on their success platform when Carlson Hotels acquired 25 percent share holding in Rezidor SAS, pending regulatory approval, in return for renegotiated commercial terms.
2006 Rezidor SAS is one of the worlds leading hospitality management companies, with more than 240 hotels in operation and under development in 47 countries.
SAS is owned partly by the three Scandinavian governments and partly by private sector interests in these countries. Rezidor SAS Hospitality head office is based in Brussels.
Radisson SAS Hotels & Resorts, part of Rezidor SAS Hospitality, operates 133 hotels in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with another 39 projects under development.
Source: www.rezidorsas.com, www.radissonsas.com and others
