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History of
Spears Travel |
In 1952, the late Bill Kelley quit his job
as a District Sales Manager for Trans World Airlines in
Saudi Arabia and moved to a small town in Oklahoma
called Bartlesville. Kelley World Travel was opened in
the lobby of Burlingame Hotel at 4th and Johnstone. In
1955 Mr. Kelley expanded his business, which was now
located in the Koppel Building across the street. He
hired Charlene Spears as a travel agent and
administrative assistant. In 1957 the business moved to
the 4th floor of the Price Tower, which has been
designed for the Price Pipeline Company by world renown
architect Frank Lloyd Wright. In 1958, Bill Kelley
decided that he had enough of small town America, and
that the travel agency would never amount to much, so he
just decided to close the doors. However, Charlene
Spears had decided that she loved the business and was
convinced that it could be successful with hard work and
determination. So Charlene and her husband, Chuck
Spears, who was working for Cities Service, purchased
the agency.
In 1958 Kelley World Travel became Spears World Travel
Service. The agency was shortly thereafter moved back to
the Burlingame Hotel, and was located in the lobby area
next to the coffee shop. The agency consisted of 1 desk,
1 file cabinet, 2 phones, Charlene, and NO computers!
Soon the travel agency began to grow and the first
employees were hired. In 1961, Chuck decided to quit his
job and go into the travel business full time. Over the
next few years the business began to grow, and in 1966
moved into the Professional Building at 5th and Keeler.
The decade of the seventies brought about 3 significant
additions to the Spears business. In 1972, Maxine
Mulkins, who had worked for the agency in Bartlesville
for several years moved to Tulsa, and convinced Chuck to
expand by adding a branch office to the company. The
agency was established in the Farm Shopping Center at
51st and Sheridan and became the 10th agency in Tulsa.
This office later relocated to the Triad Center and is
now in Eton Square. In 1977, the second Bartlesville
office was opened in the Quarters shopping center. This
branch was later moved to the Patriots Plaza,
and is now in the Washington Park Mall. In 1978, Spears
Travel became only the third agency in the Tulsa area to
have an automated reservation system with the American
Airlines Sabre System.
The eighties also saw some significant additions. An
automated back room accounting and reporting system was
purchased. The relationship and contract with Phillips
Petroleum was established. A branch office was opened in
Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1980, and then sold in 1990. A
second Tulsa location was established in downtown Tulsa
in 1988 in the Williams Center and remained there until
1993. In 1986, Spears Travel became an associate
of Ask Mr. Foster,
which was a travel agency chain owned by the Carlson
Companies. This later became the Carlson Travel
Network, and represented a bold step to grow the company
and to effectively compete in an increasingly
competitive market place. The Carlson Companies have a
long tradition as well in the travel business which
continues to benefit Spears Travel in many ways. In 1994
Carlson Travel Network merged with the large European
travel conglomerate Wagonlit Travel, resulting in a new
company called Carlson Wagonlit Travel.
The nineties brought continued progress and growth for
the company. In June of 1992, the Spears family took on
a business partner, Lynn Moeller, who brought with him a
varied business and travel background and similar ideals
and philosophies. Two branch offices were added to the
company through acquisitions, and a corporate on-site
was established at the Corp. of Engineers in Tulsa. In
November of 1992, International Tours at the Plaza
became a Spears Travel branch. This office had a
temporary set back in April of 1993 with a building
fire, but re-opened in September with the Carlson
Wagonlit Travel Trademark Retail office design. In
September of 1993, Odyssey Travel was purchased from
Rita Willis. Odyssey Travel at Utica Square in Tulsa
brings a successful history of 25 years in the travel
business. In the fall of 1994 the company announced the
addition of L.J. and Toni Gregg as partners in the firm.
L.J. will be a silent partner, at least initially, as he
is a practicing dermatologist in Tulsa. Toni served as
the Branch
Manager of our Plaza office in Tulsa, and is now a
consultant to management as well as a leisure travel
agent. Also in December of 1994, Spears established an
Advisory Board comprised of owners, associates and
participants from outside the company. 1995 saw two more
locations added. A client dedicated office for Thrifty
and Dollar Rent A Car employees was established in June
of 1995 on 31st Street in Tulsa. 1995 was the year that
Spears travel expanded into another state by opening an
office in Coffeyville, Kansas. The seventh retail branch
location was opened up in July of 1997 in
Muskogee, Oklahoma in the historic Severs Building in
downtown Muskogee. The company that had started with 1
desk and 2 phones in the Burlingame Hotel has now grown
to 58 associates located in ten different locations!
Many years ago, the Spears family dedicated their
business to God, and continue to ask for His guidance in
directing the business. Our mission is to be "The
company associates want to work for and clients want to
work with."
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