$B-B-BILLION Jenks River Development Lure Driller

[FOTD]

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

quote:Originally posted by FOTD

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

Nordstrom, Crate & Barrel?  

What ever happened to small, local or regional chains like OTASCO?  Government push them out or were they sloppy business managers and the times passed them by?

The chain was purchased by Ohio junk bond masters in the early 60's who placed the company into their Rapid American Corp. which proceeded to drain the company for years for the benefit of their other retail divisions including McCrory and to maintain their high New York lifestyles.

High interest rates in the 70's threw this highly leveraged business into desperation in the early 80's. Desperate employees wanting to save their hides took it private.

Lawyers, lacking good business judgment, running the show chose to roll up the chain into a new entity that fizzled very fast by 85. Rather than let the New York owners sell it, greedy leaders stepped in to bilk ex employees, current employees and banks. I think many of the master minds now work for the government. Figures.

BTW, Otasco was for a while Oklahoma's largest employer. Also, first company in this nation to create a trust for their employees to protect their pensions. A very successful company up until they were sold in the early 60's to bank manipulators (shysters).

One must wonder what ever happened to TG and Y and others like Oklahoma Tire And Supply Co..... Guess they got discounted. Times have past by the honest man.

Okay, seems like you know a little about this.  So why did the original owners decide to sell the company to an out-of-state conglomerate if they were concerned enough about the future of their employees to protect their pensions?  If it's a going business, profitable, and big enough where there must have been a good management structure, why sell?  It couldn't have been too big a PITA for the owners to keep it, just watch the checks roll in and go play golf at So. Hills or Meadowbrook.

[/quote]

Well, I guess FOTD doesn't like Jerry Goodman (CEO) very much. From what I know he did his best to save the company but it went under as Wal-Mart started to really get big in the mid 80s. I knew his daughter pretty well.
[/quote]


Don't assume that any single individual could be responsible. Yes, Wal Mart and the big box craze helped change retail dynamics. Otasco was set up with multiple regional warehouses and small outlets. They'd been wise to go strictly automotive in 80. ToysRUs took over toys for a while and myriad of appliance chains including Home Depot hindered their redo in 82. The one's who took it private had the best intentions but could not quite figure out a strategy quick enough in a changing environment. Banks were not doing well at the time.

The reason for the original founders intent to sell was simple. 5 immigrant Russian brother's and many sons and cousins made for a tough transfer of control. It became necessary to sell and reinvest as money came second to family. Many went on to other careers and some were asked to stay on to grow the chain. It was combined by Rapid American with a similar chain called Eastern Automotive and together it was branded Otasco

Otasco was really the country's first franchiser as well. Their stores were referred to as "associate" stores. Most real small towns and suburbs had associate stores owned by locals. Company stores were mainly in the cities from Western Oklahoma to the Atlantic ocean and from Kansas to South Oklahoma.

Incidentally, there were no Jews playing golf in 60 at So Hills. Meadowbrook obviously.

Now, get back on topic. That's today's Oklahoma Centennial History lesson. You won't see it anywhere else but here at TNF.

I think back in the old days, government had very little real estate involvement. Back in the days when public schools were of the highest priority.

The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~Bertrand Russell

[USRufnex]

quote:Originally posted by perspicuity85

So South Tulsa/Jenks gets the Drillers, and DT gets a Wal-Mart?  Ouch.

I'm still waiting on Rufnex to come out of nowhere with some clutch news concerning a MLS stadium.  If Tulsa's unique urban scene continues to expand, maybe it will be attractive to MLS.  Most of the D-Fest crowd, for example, would definitely attend an MLS game in Tulsa.  If the Drillers move to Jenks, Tulsa needs to look for alternatives.  Sporting venues can be great anchors for urban development.  Think Wrigleyville, Chicago, on a smaller scale.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I've never been privy to insider info from anyone living in Tulsa... dating back to 2002...

http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=142997&postcount=7 []

...and over five years later, I still have no clue "who the mysterious Tulsa people are."  [}:)]

As much as I believe a "unique urban scene" is a desirable goal for Tulsa, no amount of urban chic will lead Major League Soccer (or any major sports league, IMHO) to consider Tulsa over the sexier cities of Portland, Philly, Atlanta, St Louis, Las Vegas, etc, etc... Tulsa has had chances at MLS based on the city's high level of support for the Roughnecks back in the late 70s and early 80s.  It made perfect sense, less than ten years after the NASL's collapse in 1985, that Tulsa should rise to the top of the list of potential MLS cities.  

You see, MLS also wants to be in cities where they have the best chance of being treated fairly by the local media, local government, and get local corporate support and local ownership along with a high level of fan support.  A lot of this happened in the early 80s with the old Roughnecks.... and in 1994, Tulsa rose to close to the top of the list of potential MLS cities, leapfrogging much larger cities like St Louis and Indianapolis and Detroit and Portland and Seattle... the only thing missing at the time was a grass field at Skelly.

I thought that with Lamar Hunt (who owned multiple MLS teams) believing in Tulsa and Winnercomm's close relationship with MLS, it'd only be a matter of time before Tulsa got its soccer team back.  I also saw enough games in Denver, Chicago, and Boston to still feel like Tulsa could be a success in this league... and still do.

Back on topic, I guess I just don't understand all the bad blood about Jenks possibly financing a stadium for the Drillers.  After all, the Arkansas Travelers now play across the river in North Little Rock... I mean, it's not like they're moving to Muskogee... or Springdale, AR...

[YoungTulsan]

I think they could still be called the Tulsa Drillers with a Jenks location, and it wouldn't be too big of a deal to still support them like a hometown organization.  The main thing we don't want to do is miss out on the opportunity to revitalize downtown.  A ballpark brings activity to an area that sorely needs activity and the perception of life to build momentum.  Baseball would do more for an area's activity level because they play a crapload of games compared to Soccer.

[bacjz00]

Baseball downtown (coupled with the arena) could literally transform what downtown is.  The amount of contagious development would be unreal.  The Drillers choosing not to play downtown is simply catastrophic to any re-emergence of downtown Tulsa.  With that said, why would Tulsa start doing things that make sense now?  We've always been "stooopid backwurdz" at everything else.

* Main interstate bypasses downtown
* No 4 year public college
* River? We have a river??!!
* 100 feet beyond a multi-million, multi-lane intersection improvement..."Right lane ends"
* 71st Street & US 169

Need  I continue?

[Aa5drvr]

>>I think they could still be called the Tulsa >>Drillers with a Jenks location.

It happened in Roller Derby.  The San Francisco Bombers became the San Francisco Bay Area Bombers.  
"You're watching Roller Derby, King of Sports."

http://www.ajepstein.com/photo%20gallery/bomberbody2.html