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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGrocer, 70, gives stores to his employees — for free, transferring ownership as a thank you
Grocer, 70, gives stores to his employees for free
Retiring Minnesotan is transferring ownership of his three stores as a thank you
Just in time for Christmas, a retiring Minnesota grocery store owner is giving his roughly 400 employees quite a gift ownership of his three stores.
Instead of accepting any of the multiple offers he received from large national chains to purchase his stores, Joe Lueken, 70, will transfer ownership of his two Luekens Village Foods in Bemidji, Minn., and another one in Wahpeton, N.D., to his employees as part of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). The transfer of ownership from the Lueken family to the employees will begin on Jan. 1, and will not cost the employees any money.
The amount of shares each employee receives will be based on length of service and salary. The program is expected to pay the Lueken family off for the sale in three to five years, according to a report by the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
My employees are largely responsible for any success I've had, and they deserve to get some of the benefits of that," Lueken told the Star Tribune. "You can't always take. You also have to give back."
After being informed by his two sons that they were not interested in taking over the business, Lueken and his family came up with the employee stock ownership plan to transfer ownership.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/49984095/ns/today-good_news/#.ULkgwmfT1iM
yellerpup
(12,254 posts)This makes perfect sense.
Booster
(10,021 posts)yellerpup
(12,254 posts)I'm sure everyone loves them.
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)from what was posted, I figured they expected their father to sell and they would eventually get the money. But the story has a quote from one of the sons that proves that this family is a class act.
OneGrassRoot
(22,923 posts)LadyHawkAZ
(6,199 posts)Every time I manage to finally, completely lose faith in humanity, some wonderful person has to come along, do something fantastically kind and generous, and screw it all up. Dangit, people! Stop being so gosh darned nice! Have a little respect for us cynical curmudgeons!
This made my day. What a great thing to do.
ChisolmTrailDem
(9,463 posts)This is a true "job creator", not the greedy bastards running our economy into the ground for more, more, more money. He is more than a job creator. He is an opportunity creator. He has given a great gift, the chance for his employees to have a better life.
If only I could take this man by his shoulders and look him in the eye and hug him for what he is doing.
Barack_America
(28,876 posts)Is there such a thing as Quote of the Year?
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)interested will send moles with bribes.
Interesting.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)the guy who "gave" them the business.
Estimated payout to him and his family is 3 to 5 years.
Lucky Luciano
(11,267 posts)The employees just own a leveraged business. There is still value in the equity granted.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)And their pensions or 401K's are very likely to be collateral, and very, very likely to be underfunded, and thus another liability.
How about an analogy?
"Hey mom, I am giving you my house that I can't sell. I took out a new mortgage and took all the cash, but I am GIVING you the home, and the mortgage for you to pay. You should be able to sell it for a profit in a few years. Because they never go down, the Bernanke said so. Regardless, I got money, and it's gonna be a GREAT Christmas".
From a financial perspective he gave an asset, attached to several liabilities, got paid, and it may or may not work out for them. He and his family walk away with a few million, but it will be years before most of the employees know whether they get anything but a paycheck from this, except for, perhaps, a few that retire earlier.
And despite what was said, there is nothing out there that indicates there was ever any offer for the business from anyone else, which is very likely in such a competitive and likely to fail arena. So he and the family took the out that would give them some serious cash, and left whatever happens in the future with others.
You can drive down the street in just the town I am in and I can show you four major groceries sitting empty, all different names, all with more resources than this gentleman had, all failed. And they are all over the country, just takes a little web searching.
Again, not dissing the deal, but people are leaving out a bunch of really important reality to fluff up a story. And that's bullshit.
But nothing new. People see saints in the impressions in their taco sauce, so it doesn't surprise me that people make up their own reality about this deal either. Hey, 47% voted for RobMe - if that doesn't support a theory of mass delusion, I don't know what does.
Lucky Luciano
(11,267 posts)If a company issues a big bond and increase their leverage ratio by a few factors, the equity is not worthless. There is definitely value, but it is clearly riskier equity than what the retiring owner held before retiring.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)I hope it works out for them, but all the hoopla about how it was "given" was a bit much, I think.THe ex-owner has significant cash in his pocket, they get ?, and we won't know until they get the cash.
Bob's Red Mill did an ESOP a couple years ago iirc, and last I looked theirs was doing well, no debt. Perhaps this one will work out too. Not all do, but in this case the guy that is "giving" the store away, and the family who he feels deserves a share too, without more work, is most likely getting millions if there is much value there.
So the family's Christmas is certain to be merry. We won't know about the others until they cash out, which is no sure thing in today's market. They could be gone in the flash of a Walmart. And it probably won't be millions for each worker either.
This is aong the lines of things I am interested in, so I may keep a lookout.
I wish them well, but that's what I call re-gifting.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)freshwest
(53,661 posts)Last edited Sat Dec 1, 2012, 07:32 PM - Edit history (1)
I saw the reverse of what this gentlemen did play out in several companies and the devastation it wrought to manufacturing. It is the Reagan, Gordon Gecko mentality.
In each case, the children were in love with wealth and did the same thing Romney did, bankrupting the place to live high on the proceeds and shipped the equipment and jobs overseas with no regard to the community or workers.
I believe that with the re-election of Obama that Americans have shown that they reject this model. Kudos to the man who did the right thing here.
itsrobert
(14,157 posts)have to do with this?
japple
(9,847 posts)Psst...I think he/she meant Sam Walton.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)adieu
(1,009 posts)there for the rest of his life.
Caeser67
(156 posts)And an even better person.
femrap
(13,418 posts)is the extraordinary and not the ordinary.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)I love when people like him do something like this as it highlights even more how someone can be a success without stepping all over the workers.
He deserves to have a wonderful rest of his life!
blackspade
(10,056 posts)The fundies will go crazy over this.
midnight
(26,624 posts)MotherPetrie
(3,145 posts)rivegauche
(601 posts)dionysus
(26,467 posts)Iggy
(1,418 posts)"workers shall own the means of production and distribution of what they produce".
Shankapotomus
(4,840 posts)He's retiring anyway so what will it matter to him now? Looks like the capitalist knew something about Worker's Self Directed Enterprises all along but didn't let his workers in on it until the end.
Iggy
(1,418 posts)that or Marxism isn't so bad after all.
flying-skeleton
(698 posts)Maybe he'll learn something !!
Democratopia
(552 posts)So much greed and meanness in the world, but here is a really good guy doing something amazing for others.
ElboRuum
(4,717 posts)And yes, I AM SHOUTING! But it's the happy kind.
glinda
(14,807 posts)The sons (one looks like the late John Jr.... seriously) were working with the stores as he was starting to phase out his role but they do indeed have other lives and locations. Does not surprise me at all that they did this. He also was very kind when I asked for funds for the New No-Kill shelter. I love him. I love his family. *heart*.
saidsimplesimon
(7,888 posts)proud of the families who demonstrate why immigration has made the US a country like no other.
zaj
(3,433 posts)... not giving them anything.
Right?
I guess, giving them the right not to be employed by Safeway?
Lucky Luciano
(11,267 posts)Nothing out of pocket from the employees
calimary
(81,565 posts)Wouldn't it be great if all business owners had that attitude. This gentleman is correct. Most of his success is directly traceable to the hard work of his employees. God bless him for recognizing that!
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)high density
(13,397 posts)It sounds like he is having the business buy shares in the company from him which the business then gives to the employees. Not a terrible idea by any means, but the headline insinuates he's giving the business away, which he isn't.
http://www.startribune.com/local/180550281.html?refer=y
limpyhobbler
(8,244 posts)AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)This is exactly the kind of thing I like to see from business people.