From Little Caesars to Major Leagues: The Ilitch Family's Story of Entrepreneurial Spirit
Episode 158 • 3rd May 2024 • Total Michigan • Cliff Duvernois
00:00:00 00:31:00

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Denise Illich is a prominent figure in Detroit's business and philanthropic community for over 40 years. Sponsored by the Stevens Center for Family Business, the show delves into Denise's transition from aspiring to pave her own path in the legal field to taking up significant roles in her family's enterprises, including Illich Holdings - the parent company of Little Caesars Enterprise, the Detroit Redwings, and the Detroit Tigers, among others.

The discussion highlights the Illich family's dedication to Detroit's revitalization, their ventures into sports team ownership, and the development of landmark projects like the Comerica Park and Ford Field.

Denise reflects on her father’s influence, his questions that shaped her worldview, and the innovative marketing strategies that propelled Little Caesars into a global brand. The conversation also touches on her commitment to education and philanthropy, encapsulating a journey from modest beginnings to leading an expansive business empire while staying devoted to community upliftment.

Links:

Stevens Center for Family Business: http://svsu.edu/scfb

The Denise Ilitch Show: https://deniseilitchshow.libsyn.com/

Denise's Show on Apple: Click here.

Denise's Show on Spotify: Click here

Subscribe to our Email Newsletter: https://totalmichigan.com/join/

Find us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/totalmichigan

Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@totalmichigan

Show Notes:

00:00 Welcome to Total Michigan: Celebrating Family Business and Philanthropy

00:34 Introducing Denise Illich: A Legacy of Business and Giving Back

02:32 From Immigrant Roots to Pizza Empire: The Illich Family Story

09:59 Denise's Personal Journey: Education, Law, and Returning to the Family Business

11:48 The Evolution of Little Caesars: Franchising and National Expansion

12:47 Denise's Unexpected Path into Marketing and Its Impact

15:12 The Ilitch Family's Empire: From Pizza to Detroit's Revival

17:25 Investing in Detroit: The Story Behind the Fox Theater and Sports Teams

20:24 Building a Legacy: The Detroit Red Wings and Tigers

24:27 Expanding the Empire: Comerica Park and Ford Field

26:23 Leadership Transition and Continuing the Legacy

27:44 Giving Back: Education and Community Engagement

29:11 Denise's Favorite Detroit Moment

Transcripts

Cliff Duvernois:

Today's episode is brought to you by the Stevens Center

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for Family Business, whose mission

is to support the success of family

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businesses through the generations with

education, networking and collaboration.

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Denise Ilitch: I was thinking

I was going to do my own thing.

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I, I worked for a federal judge.

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I worked for an antitrust

law firm in Detroit.

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But then as I got more experienced,

I said to myself, I want to go work

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for my family and help my family.

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Because I was working for other

people and helping them economically.

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And I thought, why am I doing this?

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I think I should do this

help my family economically.

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Cliff Duvernois: Hello, everyone, and

welcome back to Total Michigan, where

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we interview ordinary Michiganders

doing some pretty extraordinary things.

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I'm your host Cliff Duvernois.

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So I was sent a bio for today's guest.

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And because she's literally

conquered the world.

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I'm just going to kind of

hit the highlights of it.

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So today's guest, has been an integral

part of Detroit's business and

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philanthropic community for over 40 years.

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Dedicated business leader, devoted

community servant, a supporter of

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many charitable causes, including an

advocate for women and children causes.

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She has also been the president

of Illich Holdings, which is the

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home to Little Caesars Enterprise.

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Yes, that Little Caesars, the Detroit

Redwings, the Detroit Tigers, Olympia

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Entertainment, Olympia Development.

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Her and her family have been involved

intricately in building the side by

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side project, which would be Comerica

Park and Ford Field, home to the

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Detroit Tigers and the Detroit Lions.

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She was voted the best philanthropist

in the Our Detroit magazine.

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Best of Detroit 2022.

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She's got more titles then a car lot

marketing innovator of the year, best

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and brightest marketer, top business

woman, most influential woman.

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She's a regular panelist on the weekly

Michigan manner show, and that's a CBS 62.

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She also has a podcast and I'm

going to have to ask her how

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she fits time in to do in to

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Ladies and gentlemen, please

welcome to the show the owner of

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Illich Family Companies, and the

president of Illich Enterprises.

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And that would be Denise Illich.

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Denise, how are

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Denise Ilitch: I'm good.

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Thank you so much.

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Cliff Duvernois: And you're welcome.

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And I appreciate you not

falling asleep while I

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Denise Ilitch: No, no.

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Thank you for the lovely bio

and it's great to be here.

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Cliff Duvernois: Yes.

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And, uh, it's quite extensive.

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So we got to kind of a

lot of ground to cover.

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And what I would like to do is I

w I know your family history is

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very integrated into your history.

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And what you're doing for Detroit.

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So if you would just take

us back to the beginning.

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And if I remember correctly, it

was actually, your father was

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an immigrant to this country.

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Your

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Denise Ilitch: grandfather.

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Yes, yes.

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Where

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Cliff Duvernois: Where

did he immigrate from?

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Denise Ilitch: So he

immigrated from Yugoslavia.

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At the time it was called Yugoslavia.

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Now it's Macedonia, or

that's what we call it.

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both my grandparents and, both

sets of grandparents came from

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Yugoslavia and were immigrants.

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And then landed here in Detroit.

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And, We lived in, they

lived in Dearborn Heights.

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And my other set of

grandparents lived in Detroit.

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So when I was young, I lived in a flat

at the top of my grandfather's home.

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So they lived on the bottom and

then we lived upstairs for a while

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until we moved and got our own home.

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Cliff Duvernois: Now how many

people were in your little flat.

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Denise Ilitch: It was my brother and I,

my brother Ron and I, and my mom and dad.

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And my mom always tells this funny

story that when my grandfather

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wanted rent, he took a broomstick

and pounded it on the ceiling.

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which was the floor for her.

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And she knew then that

he was expecting rent.

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Cliff Duvernois: Oh that's so cute.

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And so you're growing up in the Ilitch

household and you mentioned this

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before in a talk that I heard you give,

and I thought this was so powerful.

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But you said that you were about 10 years

old when your dad asked you probably

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one of the most pivotal questions

you've ever been asked in your life.

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And what was that question.

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Denise Ilitch: Well, we always

sat around the kitchen table.

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There were four of us,

I think, at the time.

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We lived in Dearborn Heights.

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And he said, I came home from school,

and that's where we hung out after,

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and he said, What did you do to

contribute the world to, what did you

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do to contribute to the world today?

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And I sat, and I thought

about it a minute.

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And I said, Right, and I said, Nothing.

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Which felt terrible.

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And I said, but dad, I'm only 10.

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But I often say that that was

when I realized that, you were

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to contribute to the world.

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He placed a high value on that.

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And that it gave me confidence that he

thought I could contribute to the world.

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And it, it made me feel worthy.

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and so it had a huge impact on how

I conducted myself from there on in.

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Cliff Duvernois: And a part

of that is again going through

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your family journey here.

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At some point your dad had

this idea to start a pizzeria.

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Where did that come from?

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Denise Ilitch: Well, it,

was very interesting.

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He played ball for the Tigers.

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He played in the, in the system.

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And they traveled, the farm system,

they traveled all around the country.

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And he just had this thing where

he'd go and visit Italian places.

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He loves Italian food.

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And he'd always search out pizza places.

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And so he started to

get an interest in it.

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And then he ended up getting a job.

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He asked a woman who owned a bar.

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It was called Hague's Bar in Detroit.

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And she let him sell food out of her bar.

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And that's where he perfected the pizza.

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He sold food.

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But he also sold pizza.

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And he says he literally had

a cigar box with money in it.

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And that was where he started to

really believe in the product.

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He did really, really well.

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And so he ended up taking part of

that money and investing it in the

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first Little Caesars store in Detroit.

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Which was at Garden City.

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And it was in Garden City

at Cherry Hill and Venoy.

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It's still there today.

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It's been renovated about five times.

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And that's really where they would

take me while they were building

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that store and working in that store.

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Cliff Duvernois: How old

were you at this time?

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Denise Ilitch: I was four.

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And so I sat in the back

room on flower bags.

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And my mom took the money

and ran the register.

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And my dad made the pizzas.

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And so, again, by watching all of this,

it set an example about a work ethic.

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And then, of course, the

store was very successful.

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Most people told him, he took $25, 000

and put it towards his store, and many

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people told him that pizza was a fad.

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And that he was going to fail.

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So, um.

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And Of course, you know, we've

all learned it's not a fad.

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And then, that was like, I think, in 1959.

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And then in 1962, was the

first franchise that we sold.

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And so then the company just

started to grow from there.

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Cliff Duvernois: So let me ask

you this question here, because I

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could completely understand going

into the restaurant business.

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Where did the idea of

franchising come from?

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Denise Ilitch: It's a

really great question.

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Dad told me that he, you

know, my dad never went to

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college and neither did my mom.

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And so, he was a really good listener.

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And he asked a lot of questions.

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He was on a plane and he was seated

next to an oilman from Texas.

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And they started talking about business.

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And this oilman put, planted a

seed in his head about royalties.

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He had talked to him about how oil works.

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How you earn a lot of money off royalties.

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And I know, right?

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And so, he started, that's what

franchising is, is it's royalties.

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You pay a franchise fee.

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And you pay royalties in order to use, the

brand name, and to get the brand secrets,

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and to build, whatever that franchise is.

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And so, that's really what

planted the seed for him.

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Cliff Duvernois: planted the seed for him.

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Oh, that's absolutely wonderful.

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So you're growing up, you're watching.

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Basically, so let's let's take a

step back here because I want to

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add this as part of your story.

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Where did the name

Little Caesars come from?

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Denise Ilitch: That came from my mom.

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So, they were talking, and if you knew my

dad, you'd really appreciate the story.

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But, it was early in their

career, and they were going to

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call, the restaurant Pizza Treat.

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And, she said to him, she goes,

you know, you're like a, a Caesar.

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And he goes.

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cause that's like King, you know.

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And he's like, Caesar?

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And she's like, yeah, you know.

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He goes, yeah, that's a good name.

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And she goes, yeah, but you

haven't accomplished anything yet.

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So I think it should be Little Caesar.

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And so it ended up being

Little Caesar's Pizza Treat.

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And that's how we got the name.

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Cliff Duvernois: Oh, that's so cute.

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And so now the business

is starting to take off.

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Your family is selling franchises.

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So one of the things I was actually

thinking about on the way down here, cause

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I've talked to a lot of people that are

like second and third generation, you

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know, restaurant owners, whatever it is.

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How many pizzas do you think

you've made in your life?

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Denise Ilitch: generation Oh my gosh.

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I never made I never made counted.

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That's so funny.

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I don't think I've ever

been asked that question.

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But I have no idea.

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But quite a few.

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You know.

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And also how much pizza have I eaten?

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Because when I worked at the company my

dad was always in the research, the R and

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D kitchen, and he was always testing new

pizzas, new combinations, new toppings.

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And he would be constantly calling us

saying, come taste this, come taste that.

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What do you think of this?

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What do you think of that?

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So, we've, we really involved in pizza.

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Cliff Duvernois: No, and that's

actually really good and that could be

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like a whole other topic right there

because I love the innovation piece.

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Because people can get so burned out

on eating the same thing all the time.

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I mean, there's there's some

comfort in the fact that, you

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know, you can call Little Caesars.

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And you know exactly what you get.

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But there's also to something where

you sit there and say, you know what?

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I'd like to try something else.

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What else do you got on the menu?

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That sounds good.

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Denise Ilitch: Right.

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And Dad always talked about cravings.

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And he always wanted to capture, that

craving that you have for things.

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And so, and like you said, he was

always, he was very innovative and

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always wanted to try new things.

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Very open minded about that.

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Cliff Duvernois: So you get to a point

where you've graduated high school

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and you decided to go off to college.

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Denise Ilitch: Yes.

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Cliff Duvernois: Where did

you go and what did you study?

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Denise Ilitch: I went to the University

of Michigan, and I majored in political

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science and minored in English.

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And then I went on to law school,

and I went to the University

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of Detroit School of Law.

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Cliff Duvernois: Now, was it

your intent to get a degree and

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come back to the family business?

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Or were you thinking you were

going to do your own thing?

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Denise Ilitch: I was thinking

I was going to do my own thing.

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I, I worked for a federal judge.

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I worked for an antitrust

law firm in Detroit.

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But then as I got more experienced,

I said to myself, I want to go work

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for my family and help my family.

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Because I was working for other

people and helping them economically.

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And I thought, why am I doing this?

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I think I should do this

help my family economically.

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And so, that's what I decided to do.

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I called my dad and I said, Dad, I'd like

to come work for the family business.

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So I started out, as a lawyer

and I was responsible for real

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estate leases and trademarks.

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And that was at the 50 store mark.

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We had 50 stores at the time.

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And when I left the company, it was,

four thousand three four thousand, Right?

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All over the world.

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Yeah.

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Cliff Duvernois: take a step back

here, what was it about law that

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made you want to study in school?

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Denise Ilitch: school?

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I think it was, about

being self sufficient.

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I think that self sufficiency

breeds confidence.

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And I wanted that education on my own.

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I knew I could pick it up and put it down.

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It's been invaluable for business.

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It's taught me so many

skills besides just the law.

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And I wanted to know the law.

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And I wanted to be independent.

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And I thought that the law gave me that.

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Cliff Duvernois: When so you said that it

was right around the 50 store mark where

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you came back to join the family business.

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And now we're at 4, 000 plus all

over the world, soon to be on Mars.

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Tell us at what point in time did you

ever sit there and say to yourself,

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Holy cow, this is going to be big.

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Denise Ilitch: I think it was when, um,

we decided to go on national advertising.

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I was responsible for all of

the marketing at the time.

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And we were getting big to

nationally market our brand.

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And that's when I realized,

wow, we are a national company.

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We are not, yeah, we're

in the big leagues.

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Our competitors were Pizza Hut and

Domino's, And, they had very big

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budgets for national advertising.

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We were an up and comer.

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But we grew very methodically.

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We decided we wanted to

grow down the I 75 corridor.

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Florida was always the most popular

state that people wanted to franchise.

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But then as we got bigger, we started

to go to the West Coast and the East

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Coast, and, and it was very exciting.

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I learned so much um,

with that experience.

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Cliff Duvernois: that experience.

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I bet.

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And when you talk about that you were

in charge of marketing, was marketing

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always just in your wheelhouse?

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Did you have to take

special classes for that?

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How did it work?

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Denise Ilitch: it was so funny because

I worked in the legal department.

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And the marketing department would come

over and ask me to approve trademarks.

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And so I'd look at the ad, And I started

to give ideas about how to sell the pizza.

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And I remember I was like, What

do you think about a 25 cent slice

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to try to create more traffic?

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When really I was supposed to

only be evaluating the trade mark.

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And the marketing people

are always very open minded.

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So they're like, Wow, we like

that idea, let's try that.

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And they did, and the sales went up.

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And I was so excited about that.

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Because it was an immediate

reaction instead of a trademark.

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Or a lease that you negotiated

that you might not see the

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benefit of it for five years.

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After doing that, I said to my dad,

I'd like to move over to marketing.

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And it was really a

natural instinct and gift.

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I had absolutely no training in marketing.

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And my father was brilliant in marketing.

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And he and I worked very close

together, um, in marketing,

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in order to grow the business.

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We were very insipatico, with my

fresh ideas, and his fresh ideas,

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and his wisdom about the business.

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We were able to put a lot of

really good programs together.

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So that was how I, how

know, landed in marketing.

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Cliff Duvernois: And I could also imagine,

too, that just because you grew up, in the

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business, you've seen so many customers

and heard so many comments about the

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pizza and everything else like that, that

that probably really played a big factor

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in your ability to effectively market.

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Because if we're if we're talking 4000

franchises, right, this is people that

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has given you their hard earned money.

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Not only that, but they have to

have the customers that are like,

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Yes, we want Little Caesars.

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Denise Ilitch: Right.

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And, and, you know, I asked

my dad, he was so good at it.

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I said, well, how are you so good?

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I asked him the same

thing you're asking me.

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How are you so good at marketing

when you didn't go to college?

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And he said, I, he used to sell

pots and pans store to door.

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Oh, that was.

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I know, right?

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And he said though, that when he was

in there, potential customers home, he

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learned about how they made decisions, who

made the decision, what, what factors went

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into the decisions on buying something.

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What they valued.

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And so that's how he ended up doing it.

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Cliff Duvernois: That is incredible

for our audience, we're gonna take a

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quick break and thank our sponsors.

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When we come back, uh, we're gonna

talk about, just how far the Illich.

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family expanded their empire.

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We'll see after the break.

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The Stevens Center for Family

Business supports the success of

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family business throughout the

Great Lakes Bay Region of Michigan.

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It provides a wealth of resources that

family owned businesses can access to

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leverage the unique strengths that are

just inherent to family enterprises.

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The Center provides educational

opportunities about managing the

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often complicated combination

of family and business.

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Members attend networking events

where family business leaders

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can share their experiences and

learn from one another, drawing on

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experts from around the country.

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The Center focuses on topics

and issues that are just unique

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to family owned businesses.

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They focus on an emphasis on optimal

business results, including family

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harmony, succession planning,

preparing the next generation,

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conflict resolution governance,

family dynamics, policy development,

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company culture, and so much more.

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Regardless of the size of your family

business or the number of years that you

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have in your history, the Stevens Center

for Family Business is a valuable resource

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for helping to secure the ongoing legacy.

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of a multi generational family business.

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The Stevens Center for Family Business,

where networking and knowledge meet

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to support the success of family

owned companies, both in business

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pursuits and in family relationships.

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For more information, go to svsu.

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edu slash scfb or contact

:

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Hello, everyone, and welcome back to

Total Michigan, where we interview

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ordinary Michiganders doing some

pretty extraordinary things.

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I'm your host, Cliff Duvernois.

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So, Denise, you and I were talking

during the break, and we actually have

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a small little correction to make.

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Why don't you tell us?

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Denise Ilitch: Yes, I just want

to make sure that we're clear.

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I've been referring to numbers kind of

loosely, just counting franchise stores.

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So when you take our company

stores and our franchise stores

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in total, we have 5, 400 Little

Caesars stores across the world.

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Cliff Duvernois: Which

is still mucho inspiring,

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:

Denise Ilitch: Yes, it's a

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:

Cliff Duvernois: impressive,

yeah, a lot of pizza.

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:

And so a couple more questions here,

because the, one of the things that

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:

really fascinated me, and there's

so many different directions to go

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:

with your, with your story, with your

family story is, first off, one of the

374

:

things that really impressed me was

the fact that when everybody gave up

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:

on Detroit, I mean, your family didn't.

376

:

People were packing,

leaving bags, leaving town.

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:

Detroit's done.

378

:

It's gonna, it's going to rot away.

379

:

And you and your family are like, noop.

380

:

And you actually like

doubled down on Detroit.

381

:

So I guess my bigger question would be is

what is it about Detroit that your, your

382

:

family just invested so much into it?

383

:

Denise Ilitch: I don't know if

you saw that Cranes article,

384

:

but, er, it was a cartoon.

385

:

And when we moved down there

in:

386

:

When all, everybody was leaving and

this big truck was coming into Detroit?

387

:

I think it's really, um, the

fact that this is our home.

388

:

My parents were born and raised

in Michigan, in Detroit, Michigan.

389

:

They have so many memories of Michigan

and then, of course, raising us.

390

:

They place such a high value on Detroit.

391

:

It's been our home.

392

:

And so it was very natural to

want to be able to go downtown.

393

:

And what really triggered

it was the Fox Theater.

394

:

So we had office we had made an

announcement in Farmington Hills

395

:

that we were going to build a

world headquarters on 38 acres.

396

:

We, I still even have the, I think

it was like a little trophy thing

397

:

or whatever, uh, with dirt in it.

398

:

Or whatever that we still

have on the groundbreaking.

399

:

But we decided we wanted to

renovate the Fox Theater.

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:

And part of it was a business decision.

401

:

There was a new arena in Auburn Hills.

402

:

And we were competing for concerts.

403

:

And we knew that there was a

5, 000 seat venue in Detroit.

404

:

Besides, or in addition to

Joe Louis Arena at the time.

405

:

There was the idea to, you know, be

able to book events at the Fox Theater.

406

:

So we were intrigued.

407

:

And I, you know, I'll never forget

going through with my family,

408

:

and particularly my dad, when we

walked through the Fox Theater.

409

:

And it was, very old, really blown out.

410

:

very, just abandoned.

411

:

And, uh, it was at that time that my

parents, got us all together and said,

412

:

look, we, you know, how do you feel

about building our world headquarters

413

:

in Detroit and changing direction?

414

:

Because it's going to impact all of you.

415

:

And so everyone resoundedly agreed to

it, thought it was a wonderful idea.

416

:

And that's, that's what we decided to do.

417

:

And we did hear a lot of criticism.

418

:

I kind of, sometimes felt bad for my

dad because people thought he was crazy.

419

:

They thought he had lost it.

420

:

And that, what was he doing?

421

:

But, you know, we stuck to our guns.

422

:

And it's a beautiful theater.

423

:

People were so happy when we restored it.

424

:

Many Detroiters have

just amazing memories.

425

:

Whether they were their first

date or they were proposed to.

426

:

Everyone's got a story around the theater.

427

:

Cliff Duvernois: Yes.

428

:

Denise Ilitch: that's

really what, motivated it.

429

:

And

430

:

Cliff Duvernois: And at some point

in time, like some people go out and

431

:

buy a car, your family decided, hey,

let's go out and buy a major sports

432

:

Denise Ilitch: right.

433

:

So which one did you buy first?

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:

Uh, the Detroit Red Wings.

435

:

Now, why?

436

:

Well, that, you know, if you know

my dad, you would understand, you

437

:

know, he would buy a team over

a car, but he just loves sports.

438

:

Always wanted to be a sports owner.

439

:

I think it was a dream

of his as time went on.

440

:

We had sponsored tons of hockey teams.

441

:

All my brothers played hockey.

442

:

My sister was a goalie.

443

:

There was a real love of the

sport by both he and my mom.

444

:

And so the Red Wings became available.

445

:

And they were doing very

poorly for many years.

446

:

And so This was 19, uh, 82, when he,

When we actually bought the team.

447

:

I remember saying to him, at the time, the

New York Islanders were like a dynasty.

448

:

And I had said to him, why

did you buy such a bad team?

449

:

Why couldn't we have

bought Like, a good team.

450

:

Like, the Islanders?

451

:

Cause it was starting to dawn on me

that this was going to be very hard.

452

:

Fans were really disappointed

about the performance of the team.

453

:

And it was going to take a lot of

work in order to turn the team around.

454

:

And time.

455

:

And he said, because it

builds character, Denise.

456

:

This is going to build character.

457

:

And I'm like, okay.

458

:

I feel like I have enough character.

459

:

So off we went.

460

:

As off we went.

461

:

And, you know, as a

family, we built the team.

462

:

The

463

:

Cliff Duvernois: Then the one thing I

got to say is during your presentation

464

:

you gave, you showed a, you showed

this photograph of your father and

465

:

he's wearing the Red Wings Jersey.

466

:

And he's holding the Stanley cup.

467

:

And this is like in the 1990s

when the Red Wings were on fire.

468

:

And I thought to myself, you know what?

469

:

That photograph right there

just encapsulates family story.

470

:

I mean, literally starting

from nothing to the point where

471

:

you're owning a major team.

472

:

Denise Ilitch: Yes, it is my

absolute favorite picture of my dad.

473

:

He was always a happy person.

474

:

But, you know, he didn't smile often.

475

:

And there was such joy on his face.

476

:

And I teased him after.

477

:

I'd say, you know, you had seven kids.

478

:

I don't see any pictures in the

albums that you're smiling like

479

:

you are about that Stanley Cup.

480

:

I would tease him about it.

481

:

But, yeah, it's a lovely picture.

482

:

That's why it's in my presentation.

483

:

Cliff Duvernois: And then at some

point in time, if one team wasn't

484

:

enough, you went after a second team.

485

:

Denise Ilitch: Yeah, well then,

what happened was Dad his love and

486

:

passion growing up was baseball.

487

:

I had mentioned that he played in

the farm system and just loved the

488

:

sport and really understood the sport.

489

:

And the team became available in 1992.

490

:

And so he made the decision to

buy the baseball team, the Detroit

491

:

Tigers, which was so exciting for him.

492

:

And we were all so happy for Dad,

because that was his passion.

493

:

Cliff Duvernois: And during this time

and you're going out and your family

494

:

is buying the teams, your business is

growing, is there any point in time

495

:

where you ever said to yourself, Sweet

Moses, how are we going to do of this?

496

:

Denise Ilitch: Right.

497

:

It seems so overwhelming

when you tell the story.

498

:

But it all happened kind of in a very

natural way and gradually over decades.

499

:

And so it just seemed as though

one opportunity, you know,

500

:

became available after another.

501

:

But it, it was big business.

502

:

When you own a sports team, it's

a completely different business

503

:

than another business, you know.

504

:

It's got a unique you know.

505

:

Characteristics to it, and you're

very much in the public eye.

506

:

And, I always tease that there's lots

of general managers out there, so.

507

:

managers out But I like that Detroit

fans are invested in the, in the

508

:

teams, that they care about the teams.

509

:

They know the players.

510

:

And they're very invested.

511

:

And sometimes you read observations

that fans make, and you're like,

512

:

wow, are they in the boardroom?

513

:

Like, they get it.

514

:

And they analyze things, right on.

515

:

And I think that's cool.

516

:

Cliff Duvernois: And during this

time that you've boughten, your

517

:

family owns now that, the Red Wings,

you've moved on to the Tigers.

518

:

And again, if that wasn't enough,

it's let's build Comerica Park.

519

:

Let's get involved with Ford Field.

520

:

So talk to us.

521

:

What was, what was that like?

522

:

What was that whole process go?

523

:

Did the city come to you?

524

:

Was it a group of people that

just came together and said,

525

:

Hey, this is what the city needs.

526

:

How did that work?

527

:

Denise Ilitch: How did that work?

528

:

um, playing baseball in

the old Tiger Stadium.

529

:

And It was very old.

530

:

But very traditional.

531

:

and, you know, we're in the food business.

532

:

We're in the entertainment business.

533

:

And we really wanted to offer

the best amenities to our fans.

534

:

And we did build like an addition,

a little food court at Tiger Stadium

535

:

in order to accommodate some of that.

536

:

But at the end of the day, you know,

everyone around the country were

537

:

building new baseball stadiums.

538

:

And my dad had said to me, you know,

I want you to go travel and visit

539

:

every new baseball stadium across the

country, in order to see what people

540

:

are doing and see the amenities.

541

:

And so, really, he wanted

to build a new stadium.

542

:

And then, of course what, it just came

together so naturally, it was going

543

:

to happen behind the Fox Theater.

544

:

But then, uh, There was the idea, the

Lions wanted to do the same thing.

545

:

And so we decided to, property

became available across

546

:

from our world headquarters.

547

:

It used to be a law school, and

Stro business did business there,

548

:

but they agreed to sell that land.

549

:

And we ended up taking that land and

building side by side stadiums, which was

550

:

the first in the country at the time in an

urban area to build side by side stadiums.

551

:

And it's been a tremendous success.

552

:

Cliff Duvernois: Oh, has been.

553

:

And personally, since I'm a

Tigers fan, I love Comerica Park.

554

:

Yeah, it's a great park.

555

:

Oh, I love there.

556

:

And the whole, actually the whole

area down there, just completely

557

:

renovated and all the new businesses

coming in, new restaurants coming

558

:

Denise Ilitch: It's so vibrant right?

559

:

Yes.

560

:

It's fun.

561

:

At night it's fun with all

the lights and the action.

562

:

It's just terrific.

563

:

Cliff Duvernois: Yeah,

it's absolutely incredible.

564

:

Right.

565

:

And as the story moves forward,

so in:

566

:

Denise Ilitch: Yes.

567

:

Cliff Duvernois: And

you're, you're in charge.

568

:

Yeah, right.

569

:

So, Family's in charge.

570

:

Yes, so what about, so talk to us

about, You know that transition

571

:

like the key driver the key person

that You know had the vision and

572

:

let's you know, move this forward.

573

:

There's no longer there.

574

:

And what's it like?

575

:

To what was like when it first stepped

up to start running the company?

576

:

Denise Ilitch: Well, I think that,

um, obviously it's devastating

577

:

when you lose your parent.

578

:

And, um, but we all had been

involved in the business.

579

:

Of course, my mother is alive and is

a very strong force in our business.

580

:

And, we had been working

on the stadium, the LCA.

581

:

And dad had, uh, unbelievable input.

582

:

I mean, you know, I think

that was his vision.

583

:

And the sad part, though, is that

he died before he actually saw it.

584

:

So he never was able to walk

into LCA and see it done.

585

:

But he did see parts of

it being constructed.

586

:

as a family, you move forward.

587

:

And everybody has a role.

588

:

And, you know, and we just, we carry on.

589

:

That's kind of how we were raised.

590

:

Carry on.

591

:

Cliff Duvernois: raised, carry

592

:

Denise Ilitch: But it'll never be

the same, in my opinion, without him.

593

:

Cliff Duvernois: In my opinion,

594

:

Denise Ilitch: But

595

:

Cliff Duvernois: In addition

to this, you are involved in so

596

:

many non profits, so many causes.

597

:

You've got more scholarship funds

than anybody I've ever seen.

598

:

How important is that in

your business model to make

599

:

sure that you're giving back?

600

:

Denise Ilitch: Right.

601

:

well, education is really important to me.

602

:

I believe after everything I've learned

that all roads lead back to education.

603

:

I am a regent at the

University of Michigan.

604

:

I am running this year for

reelection for my third term.

605

:

Because I have such a

passion for the work.

606

:

And I find that if we can help

students, the costs of education

607

:

has become higher and higher.

608

:

So I feel strongly about scholarships and

being able to take the resources I have

609

:

and really impact every student and help

them be able to get a good education.

610

:

We also have a scholarship that my

sister came up with a terrific idea.

611

:

My sister Carol went to,

graduated from the University

612

:

of Detroit Law School as well.

613

:

And so she came up with an idea of doing

a scholarship together as siblings.

614

:

And we would sponsors siblings

that went to law school at U of D.

615

:

And we just sponsored our first like

sibling group Which was a brother and

616

:

sister Which we think is really cool.

617

:

So it impacts students directly.

618

:

You can help them, you know

pay for costs and I love that.

619

:

Cliff Duvernois: Sure.

620

:

And Denise, as we're wrapping

up the interview, I just got

621

:

one more question for you.

622

:

Why don't you tell us your

favorite Detroit moment?

623

:

Denise Ilitch: That's so funny.

624

:

My favorite, there's a lot of them, but my

absolute favorite is that picture that you

625

:

saw with my father, winning the Stanley

Cup the first time, having the parade, and

626

:

seeing our city so unbelievably united.

627

:

It's amazing how sports

can unite everybody.

628

:

And just seeing everybody downtown.

629

:

We had red Mustangs.

630

:

Everybody had a red Mustang.

631

:

We were on a float.

632

:

And just it was magical

winning the Stanley Cup.

633

:

And then celebrating after.

634

:

Cliff Duvernois: Excellent.

635

:

Denise, if somebody is listening to

this and they want to connect with

636

:

you, maybe check out your podcast,

637

:

Denise Ilitch: so nice of you.

638

:

Thank you.

639

:

we didn't

640

:

Cliff Duvernois: didn't even get a chance

to chat about that, but yeah, tell us

641

:

what is, you know, what is your podcast?

642

:

How can people connect with

643

:

Denise Ilitch: Well, it's, very uniquely

called, I joke, The Denise Ilitch Show.

644

:

It's on Apple and Spotify and

Amazon, all of the different

645

:

vehicles with which to listen.

646

:

And I hope that it's inspirational.

647

:

I, um, care a lot about, you

know, confidence and helping

648

:

people deal with adversity.

649

:

I think that, a lot of

people are struggling now.

650

:

And so I hope that, you know,

listening to other guests, talk

651

:

about what they've gone through and

how they've coped with it and giving

652

:

people a few tips on how to do that.

653

:

I'm hoping that, it'll touch

people's hearts and help them through

654

:

whatever they're going through.

655

:

So I would encourage everybody

to, tune in and check it out.

656

:

Cliff Duvernois: Denise, it's been

great having you on the show today Thank

657

:

you so much for coming on and sharing

your story and your family story.

658

:

Denise Ilitch: Thank you

and thank you for having me.

659

:

And

660

:

Cliff Duvernois: And for audience, you

can always roll on over to Total Michigan.

661

:

com and click on Denise's interview

and get the links to her, the

662

:

podcast that she just mentioned.

663

:

We'll talk to you next time when we talk

to another Michigander doing some pretty

664

:

extraordinary things, we'll see you then.

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