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| EAGLE THRIFTY STORES |
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| The Eagle Thrifty Scam of Nevada |
The Eagle Thrifty Drug and Markets of Nevada. It was all just one big sham where Chuck Collings and Jim Teel were going to deplete these stores of its assets and then let the Eagle Thrifty company go bankrupt. So what event changed their minds? They hired a man by the name of Charles Nordby whom they felt had the overall necessary experience and ability to turn around mismanaged stores that warranted closing.
Why did Raley's buy the Eagle Thrifty Drug & Markets of Nevada? First of all, Raley's suppliers in California were stealing large sums of money from the Raley's stores on a daily basis. Raley's in California were also losing large sums of money from dishonesty in the area of employee theft and uncontrollable shoplifting. Add on mismanagement and also the fact that Chuck Collings (a very inexperience grocery man) and Jim Teel (the husband of Tom Raley's only daughter and didn't have a clue about the grocery business), were running Tom Raley's company in 1973 into the ground. Raley's didn't have any money to buy these stores. In fact, employee's were told to hold onto their payroll checks before cashing them because they could bounce at the bank and stores were on a COD status with their suppliers. However, they needed these stores to obtain some quick cash in order to keep their employee's checks from bouncing, keep their suppliers paid, and keep the California Raley stores afloat. Is there anybody on the face of this Earth who can prove differently???
Chuck Collings and Jim Teel immediately established a Nevada Corporation called the Eagle Thrifty Drug & Markets. While there is some evidence that there was an "Eagle Thrifty Inc." before Raley's established it in 1973, there currently are no records available at Nevada's Department of Corporation of this fact. Raley's kept these Eagle Thrifty stores separate from their Raley's stores. Mr. Collings and Mr. Teel did this for one reason only and that was to make sure that when these stores were depleted of its cash they would go bankrupt and Raley's of California wouldn't be affected...In fact, Raley's history book stated that Chuck Collings and Jim Teel immediately took a million dollars out of Eagle Thrifty's payroll. They claimed they could have taken another million out of the Eagle Thrifty but the two of them decided it wasn't a good idea. Imagine that, two of the stupidest and inexperience men running a chain of grocery stores decided that taking another million dollars out of Eagle Thrifty's payroll might not have been a good idea....These are the same two guys who were allowing over 20 vendors to be stealing daily from Raley's operation in California. And many of these thefts were very large...
Charles Nordby believes that had Raley's not hired him when they did in the summer of 1973, Eagle Thrifty would have gone bankrupt, and then Raley's would have also gone bankrupt in 1974 because Raley's didn't know why they were losing so much money in their California stores. The money that Raley's would have received from the Eagle Thrifty operation would only have been a quick short term solution to Raley's financial difficulties at the time. Eagle Thrifty would have also become "The straw that broke the camel's back."
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Below is an appropriate Ad that Raley's ran on February 27, 1974
Above is the bottom portion of an ad that Raley's ran in Nevada on November 7, 1973. Down below is the entire ad. In this Ad Raley's is sure excited by their claim of ownership. Why didn't Raley's run this ad back in July? In fact, the Eagle Thrifty ads in Nevada, up until this point, were still featuring just Eagle Thrifty. Anybody that hadn't read the small newspaper article written on June 14, 1973, making known that Raley's had just purchased these stores, would have never known that Eagle Thrifty was owned by Raley's! That's because Raley's were going to bankrupt Eagle Thrifty once they had gotten all of the cash that they could from these mismanaged stores. If Raley's in this ad states that they are going to change the name of Eagle Thrifty to Raley's Eagle Thrifty, how come, when they quietly set up a corporation in Nevada (end of June, early July), they named their corporation "Eagle Thrifty" instead of "Raley's Eagle Thrifty?" Mr. Collings and Jim Teel wanted to make sure these stores had no connection to the Raley Corporation of Nevada.
What is interesting about the ad above, is that Mr. Nordby was trying to convince Raley's in California to lower their prices because Mr. Nordby knew their prices were too high and these high prices were turning off sales. So, Raley's, knowing that Mr. Nordby was completely unaware of the Eagle Thrifty stores in Nevada, lowered all of the prices at the Eagle Thrifty stores and Raley's South Lake Tahoe Stores. By this time, Mr. Nordby had convinced these bungling idiots at Raley's that his program was surely going to succeed at the six test stores in Sacramento. Knowing this, they decided to quietly take Mr. Nordby's advice in Nevada (without telling Mr. Nordby) with full knowledge that it was going to succeed with increasing their sales for these stores. Raley's then, reduced all of the prices in their Northern California stores at the beginning of 1974. And that was the beginning of Raley's big climb to success. Charles Nordby didn't know it at the time in 1973, but these guys at Raley's were certainly just a bunch of con men. One con man was able to snag people by claiming to be a "Christian." And this person has been very successful over the years using this "MO."
This page above is from Raley's history book. It should have been titled "Scam-ing Nevada." This purchase was exacting what it said above: To plunder Eagle Thrifty's assets in order to generate some quick cash. Mr. Collings states "our first reason for buying Eagle Thrifty was to achieve recognition as a regional chain." This is a total lie and this entire page was designed to mislead Raley's employee's. This History Book will some day judge Chuck Collings when he faces God. Raley's would have "taken" Nevada had Charles Nordby not arrived in 1973.
Tom Raley was such a grocery genius that he decided to buy a chain of stores that were losing money right after losing his shorts big time in the hotel and Miracle Marts debacle. When Charles Nordby arrived at Raley's in 1973, top management at Raley's were just a bunch of idiots. Chuck Collings states that he and Jim Teel took a million dollars out of Eagle Thrifty's payroll and indicated they could have taken another million dollars. These two frauds would have taken another million dollars out of the Eagle Thrifty payroll if Mr. Nordby had not arrived when he did. This page also said Raley's turned the company around. Oh really. Who on Raley's payroll was smart enough to turn any company around? Chuck Collings and Jim Teel had over 21 suppliers and dozens of employee's stealing large sums of money from their Raley's operation in 1973 at this same time. Raley's stores in 1973 were filthy and high priced. Raley's stores were on COD in 1973. Mis-management was in control of Raley's operation in 1973 and Raley's was suffering from absentee ownership because Tom Raley was more concerned about getting remarried so he could abuse his second wife. This idiot didn't even know who Charles Nordby was? Tom Raley thought his Raley's company would be bankrupt by 1974 and that is why he allowed Mr. Collings to be at the helm? Mr. Collings and Jim Teel found Eagle Thrifty as a convenient ATM because their Raley's stores were losing large sums of money because of their ineptness.
This picture is from Raley's history book. This photo was also used in a Raley's Eagle Thrifty ad in November of 1973, when Raley's were jubilantly boasting about being the new owners of Eagle Thrifty.. What is different from this photo and the photo that was used for their Nevada ad is the fact the words "up goes our name, and down comes our prices." are missing from Raley's photo in their History book. Why?
This page above is also from Raley's history book. It states that by the time Tom Raley appointed Chuck Collings President in 1969, the Raley company had passed the crisis point. Yeah right! Chuck Collings jumped in the President's chair because a con artist was needed to run the company before it went bankrupt. What did Raley's offer as collateral to buy these Eagle Thrifty stores? Did Tom Raley really know about the Eagle Thrifty purchase? This page also says that Jim Teel was the acting division manager, supervising the transition. Jim Teel was an idiot so when this statement says he was "supervising the transition", what does that mean? It probably means that Jim Teel was responsible for down sizing Eagle Thrifty's payroll. Mr. Teel's and Mr. Collings' role in this entire scam was to get as much money as they could from these stores before Eagle Thrifty went bankrupt. The last sentence above states "God-interfering times", "Collings had once been told he should be ready for-and he was." God has never interferred with Chuck Collings. God has given Mr. Collings every opportunity in life to either be honest or dishonest. Mr. Collings couldn't be honest back in the 70's when he cheated Mr. Nordby and he couldn't be honest some time later when he decided to help write Raley's History book. God never interferred, He allowed Mr. Collings to do it all. Mr. Nordby isn't the only person Mr. Collings has cheated in his life. But, the good news is that God made sure the Mr. Collings had nothing to do with writing the Bible.
Above is page 154 of Raley's History book. What a shame to realize that Tom Raley received all his awards and all his glory after Charles Nordby saved his company from going bankrupt back in 1973, 74, 75, and 76. Tom Raley went from being a wife abuser in the 70's to the "Best Retailer" in the late 80's. Tom Raley never knew the man who made it all possible. Charles Nordby is the gamble that turned the Raley and Eagle Thrifty chain around and made Tom Raley a millionair several times over. The above page quotes Tom Raley as saying you feel good when you treat people right and they will come back. Well, a message to the Tom Raley's, Chuck Collings', and the Jim Teel's of the world: They also come back when you treat people bad.
An unbelievable story...
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| Tom Raley and his big 'gamble' buying the Eagle Thrifty Chain |
Above is an actual paragraph from Raley's history book. It states that for the first full year of operation, the combined sales for Raley's and Eagle Thrifty were $101 million by June of 1973. How can that statement be true when Raley's didn't have actual ownership until July 1, 1973? And there it is below that statement. "Eagle Thrifty was paid for within three years." Weren't those the three (3) years in which Charles Nordby was there? And didn't Chuck Collings indicate in a letter that Raley's more of less paid cash for these stores? Below is also a quote from Raley's history book that was published in 1989.
It is located on page 154.
"So he hung in there and in 1973, at age 70, when many men his age have safely retired to the golf course, he took another of those magnificent risks which helped make him a folk hero in the annals of corporate high rollers, and purchased the Eagle Thrifty Drug Company of Nevada- to read the last part of this quote please review the scrolling text below-
Below is the ad that Raley's ran in Nevada on November 7, 1973
Above is the ad that Raley's ran in Nevada on November 7, 1973. Raley's sure is excited by their claim of ownership. Why didn't Raley's run this ad back in July? In fact, the Eagle Thrifty ads in Nevada, up until this point, were still featuring just Eagle Thrifty and occasionally indicating that Raley's and Eagle Thrifty had joined together in their weekly ad during the month of October and early November. Anybody that hadn't read the small newspaper article written on June 14, 1973, making known that Raley's had just purchased these stores, would have never known that Eagle Thrifty was owned by Raley's! That's because Raley's were going to bankrupt Eagle Thrifty once they had gotten all of the cash that they could from these mismanaged stores. If Raley's in this ad states that they are going to change the name of Eagle Thrifty to Raley's Eagle Thrifty, how come, when they quietly set up a corporation in Nevada (end of June, early July), they named their corporation "Eagle Thrifty" instead of "Raley's Eagle Thrifty?"
What is interesting about the ad above, is that Mr. Nordby was trying to convince Raley's in California to lower their prices because Mr. Nordby knew their prices were too high and these high prices were turning off sales. So, Raley's, knowing that Mr. Nordby was completely unaware of the Eagle Thrifty stores in Nevada, lowered all of the prices at the Eagle Thrifty stores and Raley's South Lake Tahoe Stores. By this time, Mr. Nordby had convinced these bungling idiots at Raley's that his program was surely going to succeed at the six test stores in Sacramento. Knowing this, they decided to quietly take Mr. Nordby's advice in Nevada (without telling Mr. Nordby) with full knowledge that it was going to succeed with increasing their sales for these stores. Raley's then, reduced all of the prices in their Northern California stores at the beginning of 1974. And that was the beginning of Raley's big climb to success. Charles Nordby didn't know it at the time in 1973, but these guys at Raley's were certainly just a bunch of con men. One con man was able to snag people by claiming to be a "Christian." And this person has been very successful over the years using this "MO."
Once again, the photo below is found in Raley's history book. Why didn't Raley's used the photo above in their history book?
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| Did Tom Raley even know about the 'Eagle Thrifty' purchase? This grocery genius didn't even know about Charles Nordby in 1973. |
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This Reno newspaper article indicated that Eagle Thrifty had more than 400 employees. Let's say that the Eagle Thrifty chain had 450 employees working for this eleven (11) store chain. Chuck Collings in Raley's history book claimed that he and Jim Teel immediately took $1 million out of the Eagle Thrifty payroll. If that is true, how many employees were left to run the 11 store chain? I think there is a problem here. It took Raley's only five (5) months to change the name from Eagle Thrifty to Raley's Eagle Thrifty. What a big sham going on at Raley's. And Raley's didn't pay cash for this chain of stores.
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Sacramento Union Newspaper article Over to the left is an article publicly announcing that Raley's had just purchased the Eagle Thrifty Chain in Nevada. If you read it closely, you will see that Tom Raley is a very active owner in this purchase. And Yet, Mr. Raley never knew Charles Nordby. And Charles Nordby probably arrived on the scene shortly after Mr. Collings and Mr. Teel got their hands on these stores. Also, this article claims that Raley's paid cash for these stores. And yet, their history book stated that it took three (3) years for Raley's to pay off the purchase for these stores. Also, there is a Sacramento Bee article from 1972 where Tom Raley says in a few years he would like to expand after his Raley's stores reached the $100 million a year sales plateau-click here to read that article. So, in 1973, before Tom Raley reaches that $100 million a year sales plateau, he goes out and buys a chain of stores that are losing money- and he purchased it without any money at all. This article indicates that Raley's now has annual sales of $110 million with the acquisition of the Eagle Thrifty stores.
It appears that most of the articles written about Tom Raley and Raley's during the early 1970's were done specifically to mislead the community, and probably Raley's suppliers at the time. Trying to make everybody believe that they were doing well financially and that they weren't struggling. See were the article states:
"The Reno-based firm was purchased for cash, but the price was not announced."
If you notice that the date on this newspaper article is June 14, 1973, why did Raley's wait until November 7th of 1973 to publicly announce, again, that they had purchased Eagle Thrifty on July 1, and that they are now going to make a "name" change?
Well, the reason is probably a very simple answer. Charles Nordby told the three (3) men at Raley's who hired him, that it would take approximately one (1) quarters business (13 weeks) for Raley's to see the results of his program that was being tested at six (6) stores that Raley's had given to him to implement his profit increasing program (this was happening right about the same time as Raley's purchasing the Eagle Thrifty chain.) At the end of those 13 weeks, Raley's see's the great results. They were so excited by the results, that Mr. Collings and Mr. Teel abandoned their plan to bankrupt the Eagle Thrifty stores (which had already been quietly incorporated to be the "Eagle Thrifty Corporation" at the end of June and early July of 1973) and ran this Ad in November of 1973.
And, do you know what is strange about all of this? The fact that Charles Nordby was never even told about Raley's owning the Eagle Thrifty stores until months after Mr. Nordby was hired by these three (3) over achievers. Mr. Nordby never saw any small newspaper article claiming Raley's just bought the Eagle Thrifty stores. In fact, Mr. Collings probably knew that Charles Nordby didn't see it, because Mr. Nordby probably showed up at his door a number of days after that article.
The real reason Mr. Collings hired Mr. Nordby in the first place is probably because Charles Nordby was going to be the scapegoat for when Raley's went bankrupt in California by 1974. It also appears by the article to the left that Mr. Collings was going to make sure that Jim Teel was going to be the scapegoat for when the Eagle Thrifty Corporation went bankrupt in Nevada. Why else did this press release state that Mr. Teel was going to be directing operations of the Eagle Thrifty stores in Nevada?
Does anybody really believe that Tom Raley is calling the shots at Raley's in 1973? In 1972, in a Bee newpaper article written about Tom Raley (read the article below in a PDF file), Mr. Raley indicates that Chuck Collings and Jim Teel are more or less in charge. In fact, Mr. Raley states in that same 1972 article that "Raley's stores" almost run by themselves. Nowhere in this article to the left is Charles Collings mentioned-this is the same guy that likes to stand alone in the middle of the Church that he buys in Elk Grove. Mr. Collings isn't mentioned because Mr. Collings knows that these stores are going to go bankrupt very shortly and he wants no connection to these stores. That is until Mr. Collings assists Raley's in writing Raley's history book in 1989.
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Below is an article the Sacramento Bee wrote for their newspaper in October of 1972. This article was written approximately 8 months before he supposedly purchased a chain of stores in Nevada that were losing money.
How much of what Tom Raley says in this article written by the Sacramento Bee is really true? He says in this article that Raley's is doing fine. If at this time, most of Tom Raley's suppliers were stealing large sums of money from Raley's, how could this be true? Tony Ingoglia, a personal friend of Tom Raley and Raley's deli supplier in October of 1972, probably while Tom Raley is giving this Bee interview, is submitting fraudulent invoices at Raley's main office. Chuck Collings was paying these dishonest invoices weekly without any scrutiny at all to this deli supplier dishonest practices. This deli company was over charging Raley's on practically everything that they were delivering to the Raley's stores. And had Raley's not hired Charles Nordby in 1973, Ingoglia would have continued to submit these dishonest invoices up until the day Tom Raley would have had to put up his "Closed" signs on all his stores in 1974.
Tom Raley in this October, 1972 Sacramento Bee Article states that he plans on expanding his company in a couple of years by going public and offering stock. He says that once his current stores generate $100 million dollars in sales that maybe in two years it would be a good time to do this. Yet, only 8 months later, Mr. Raley, supposedly, buys a chain of stores in Nevada that are losing money. Mr. Raley's California stores are losing money and in June of 1973, he thinks the best way to expand is to buy a chain of stores that are losing money. Mr. Raley thinks expanding is good. Although, for Mr. Raley, expanding would have been good for Raley's dishonest vendors, employee's, and shoplifters because they would have had more stores to steal from.
What could be happening in this article below that the Bee wrote pertaining to Tom Raley and the Raley company?
One: Mr. Raley could be using the media to mislead the public, Raley's suppliers, and his employees into thinking that everything is OK with Raley's.
Two: Tom Raley himself has been misled by Chuck Collings concerning Raley's financial health at the time and is giving an upbeat report about Raley's and Raley's future.
Read through this article if you can, and see where Tom Raley states in this article that he knows how to run a grocery store. In 1973, when Charles Nordby was hired as a consultant, Mr. Nordby reported that everything in Tom Raley's operation was being mismanaged. Pricing was terrible, theft was rampant, there were no policies or procedures in affect to prevent theft, and most importantly the two men Mr. Raley had running his company in 1973 were first of all, the two most inexperience men Charles Nordby ever ran into in his long grocery career who were in charge of a chain of grocery stores, and secondly, the number one reason why Raley's was headed for bankruptcy.
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Click here to see Raley's amendment to their Articles of Incorporation that was done on June 8, signed June 19, and was filed on June 20, 1973. This is just a few weeks before they supposedly purchased the Eagle Thrifty stores June 14, and proudly announced in November that they have been the owner of these stores in Nevada since July 1, 1973. Enough to make anybody dizzy!
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