Gibson
Orville Gibson founded the company in 1902 as the "Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co. Ltd." in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to make mandolin-family instruments. Gibson invented archtop guitars by constructing the same type of carved, arched tops used on violins. By the 1930s, the company was also making flattop acoustic guitars, as well as one of the first commercially available hollow-body electric guitars, used and popularized by Charlie Christian. In 1944, Gibson was bought by Chicago Musical Instruments (CMI), which was acquired in 1969 by Panama-based conglomerate Ecuadorian Company Limited (ECL), that changed its name in the same year to Norlin Corporation. Gibson was owned by Norlin Corporation from 1969 to 1986. In 1986, the company was acquired by a group led by Henry Juszkiewicz and David H. Berryman.
Gibson's Discount Center
Herbert R. Gibson and his wife, Belva, opened Gibson Products Co., a wholesale novelty company, in 1936 in Abilene, Texas. By the late 1950s, Gibson had decided to refocus on discounting, and he opened the first Gibson's Discount Center in Abilene in 1960. The company grew mostly by franchising the store concept to others. Sam Walton once inquired about obtaining a Gibson's franchise, but nothing came of it. By 1964, there were 138 Gibson's Discount Center stores generating $190 million in revenue; by 1968, there were 434 stores generating $1 billion in sales. The company's headquarters moved to Seagoville, Texas.