1921 - BLOOMINGTON EVENING BULLETIN (Bloomington, IL) - Evening newspaper route.

1938 - PARADISE FOOD MART (Elgin, IL)

1941 - BOWLWAY RECREATION (Elgin, IL) - Considered America’s finest bowling alley. “A bowler of renown, he [C.L. Boulos] was on what is considered the best bowling team ever to come out of Elgin. That crew won the Illinois state title in 1943 in addition to several county and city titles. They also held the city championship for 10 years in succession.” Elgin Daily Courier-News, February 28, 1952.

1948 - TUCKER AUTOMOBILE (FRANCHISE) (Will Co., IL)

1949 - PEOPLE’S LIQUOR STORE (Elgin, IL)

1960 - MCDONALD’S (DeKalb, IL) - First Greek-American franchise owner and operator.

“Thana” Name

In 1974, Founder C.L. Boulos (1909-1981) established a personal holding company under the name THANA in connection with McDonald’s Corporation’s $4 million (inf. adj.) stock acquisition of part of the original business. The name honored (i) a similar spelling to his birthplace, Thanas, a village near Tripoli, GR, and (ii) his nephew, Athanasios, whose name coincidentally contains the common Greek diminutive “Thana.”