Mr. Charles Davis Still Reigns As A Pioneering Businessman
As a member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees), Mr. Davis was one of the first minorities to become a board member when he won the outstanding Teacher Educator Award. He worked as a consultant through the Jaycees at the Ionia Prison and the Kent County Jail and Juvenile Detention Center. He worked one on one to encourage more businesses to hire Black employees.
After graduating from South High School in Grand Rapids, Charles Davis received a Bachelor's Degree in Printing Management from Ferris State University. He also attended Parson's College and Missouri State Teacher's College. He later earned a Masters from Western Michigan University.
He became a teacher in Grand Rapids, his hometown.
After his third year of teaching, Mr. Davis started taking students from South High School to the Dairy Queen on Hall Street in the summer to buy them ice cream.
That was in 1971. The routine would soon set him on a path to business ownership.
"One year, the original owner couldn't open up the Dairy Queen on time because his wife had been sick. I think that he finally opened in July," Davis said.
He continued, "The next year it didn't get any better so I asked him if he had ever thought about selling the business. He said he had thought about it."
Because in my mind we couldn't have a community without a Dairy Queen, I bought the business and owned it for thirty - seven years.
The late Dr. Robert Gill also an educator helped him to write a SBA Proposal. Davis was granted a loan. He became the owner of the Dairy Queen.
He started in business as a pioneer — as the only Black with a Dairy Queen franchise in a 15 state region.
"At that time there were not a lot of Blacks trying to get franchises ; and even those who tried were confronted with exclusion. Whites who owned Dairy Queen franchise would not sell to Blacks."
Mr. Davis was also a pioneer in other ways: as the first Black officer in the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce. As a member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees), Mr. Davis was one of the first minorities to become a board member and also the first Black to win the outstanding Teacher Educator Award. He worked as a consultant through the Jaycees at the Ionia Prison and the Kent County Jail and Juvenile Detention Center.
He worked one - on - one to encourage more businesses to hire Black employees.
"One of the things that motivated me to want to be a business owner is the negative perception of Whites that Blacks could not run a business successfully and be on time when it came time when opening the business" said Davis.
He continued, "My model was to run a good business, to open on time and to treat everyone equally."
He went on to say, "The other stigma was that while I was running the Dairy Queen, there were a lot of White people who were jealous of all the Black and White people who came to support the business. I remember that one year I had two White girls working for me at the front window and this White guy made it a point to get out of his car, come across the street to ask the two White girls what they were doing working in an all Black neighborhood."
Davis did face certain adversities as a Black business owner.
He explained the situation in this manner:
"As a Black business owner, some of the barriers that I faced was that the county was always coming into my business to inspect and trying to find something wrong that I would have to improve. The biggest problem I had with the county was that they would send the new people in and they would break ground learning how to be a good county commissioner and a person from the health department to check and see if we were up to their standards of operating. While they were learning, they were using Black folks as primary goats, always confronting with them, wanting to find some reason to close the business down. I had to do a lot of changes because of them and I would always ask them why they didn't hire Blacks in the Health Department to regulate Black businesses? The difference now is that Blacks could identify to the racism that was going on, but the difference today is that White people still have a racist mentality towards Blacks but they just keep it more undercover."
"The summer didn't begin until I opened for ice cream," said Davis. "I don't know of any other business where I could put up a sign on Thursday saying that I would be open on Friday and all day long I would see kids running up to the menu sign and calculating how much they were going to need to get the ice cream they were going to get on Friday when I opened. It was exciting for me and for the kids in the neighborhood. When I opened up, I didn't have to advertise, because it was like that every year."
He also gave a lot of kids jobs over the years, employing about 1,500 youth.
"For most of the youth, it was their very first job. Many of them went on to be very successful," he said.
"The only reason that I sold the business is that I had gotten diabetes and I couldn't stand on my feet like that any more so I had to give it up," he said. "Other than that, I probably would have gone on with the business until I dropped."
Mr. Davis also approached business ownership with an entrepreneurial spirit. He also owned several properties and cars that he would buy and sell at the drop of a hat. Among the properties he owned and sold is the Grand Rapids Times Building located at 2016 Eastern Avenue SE that he sold to the newspaper's owners, Yergan and Patricia Pulliam.
"I enjoyed buying and selling properties — and cars," said Davis. "I had a clothing store in the building that the Grand Rapids Times now operates out of. The store was named after my daughter. I ran the clothing store about four or five years before I sold the building. It proved to be too much trying to teach, run a Dairy Queen and a clothing store. I kept the Dairy Queen, but I gradually got rid of my properties. I would buy cars like Corvettes and then I would sell them."
Mr. Davis is a member of Messiah Missionary Baptist Church. Mr. Davis has received several awards for projects and for his volunteer service. Plaques, photos and certificates lining a wall his southeast side home attest to his impact on this community.
Among them are awards from the parent company for Dairy Queen and awards from the Jaycees. A 1976 edition of Ebony Magazine recognized him as a Bachelor of the Year.
Though all of his achievements, his says the biggest one of all is becoming a father. He is a dedicated father who has been a positive role model for his children, with the return of their standing by his side through all he has done.
Charles Davis continues to take pride in doing positive things for the City of Grand Rapids.
He now seeks to add being elected to the board for Indian Village residential community to his list of achievements.
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