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Name	Patrick William Collins, Supermarket Executive
Gender	Male
Birth^[1]	5 Feb 1929	Aurora, Kane County, Illinois
Marriage	Bef 1956	to Beth Harrison
Death^[1]	16 May 2011	Los Angeles County, CaliforniaUCLA Medical Center
Burial`^?`	20 May 2011	Fairhaven Memorial Park, Santa Ana, California

1 About Patrick Collins
2 Professional/Business Career
3 Family Life
- 3.1 Sources

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About Patrick Collins

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Professional/Business Career

Patrick W. Collins, Supermarket Executive

Patrick Collins started his supermarket industry career with Red Owl Stores in 1955. Red Owl was a regional Green Bay, Wisconsin-based supermarket chain that operated from 1922 until it was acquired by three executives of the chain in 1986 and then by grocery wholesaler Supervalu in 1998. He started as a boxboy in one of the Red Owl stores, worked his way up to Store Manager and later to District Manager in charge of several stores. He left Red Owl in 1960 and opened his own four-store independent chain in Green Bay, Wisconsin named "Collins Super Value", which he sold in 1968.

Collins joined Federated Department Stores in 1968 (the year after Federated acquired Ralphs Grocery Company for $60 million), and was assigned to its Ralphs Division as a Vice President of their Northern California stores in 1972. He was transfered to Ralphs corporate headquarters in 1975 and a year later was promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer, a post that he assumed for 18 years, running the company with then Ralphs' Chairman, Byron Allumbaugh (1931-2016). Together, Allumbaugh and Collins were instrumental in building one of the finest management teams in the supermarket industry and helping to propel Ralphs into the number one spot in market share in Southern California, and helped keep Ralphs financially successful through several ownership changes during Collins' tenure (including Federated Department Stores, Canadian financier Robert Campeau and retail magnate Edward J. DeBartolo, Sr.).

Allumbaugh and Collins' combined unwavering leadership became especially evident in 1998 when Federated Department Stores, in a failed attempt to stave-off Robert Campeau's unsolicited take-over bid, tried to sell Ralphs (with a strategy sometimes referred to as the "Crown Jewel Defense") to one of two rival chains, which would have most likely resulted in the demise of the chain and the loss of hundreds of jobs. Luckily, the attempt failed, but a few years later with the help of a sliding economy and a collapse of the "junk bond" market, Campeau's newly-founded retail conglomerate found itself without adequate financing and subsequently filed for bankruptcy protection. Even though Ralphs was somewhat shielded from Campeau when he had earlier spun Ralphs off in a management-assisted leveraged buy-out, which was completed in August 1987, Campeau's majority interest in Ralphs stock (60.34%) was transferred to Edward J. DeBartolo, Sr., one of Campeau's largest creditors in 1992. Ralphs at the time, after Campeau's (Federated's) department stores went into bankruptcy, was arguably the most valuable single asset worth an estimated $1 billion, as the department stores in Federated's portfolio took the greatest hit from the economic downturn. Both Allumbaugh and Collins along with Edward J. DeBartolo, Jr. and G. William Miller, former Secretary of the Treasury Department (among others), were named to the Board of Directors of the newly re-organized company on February 3, 1992.

Even through these tumultuous times, Ralphs grew through significant store acquisitions, many new store openings and became one of the first supermarkets in the nation to implement new "scan technology" point of sale registers in all of its stores in the early 1980's under his stewardship. Much of Collins' legacy centers upon his support of new technology, which helped to push Ralphs to become one of the top supermarket chains in the country. Patrick Collins was promoted to Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of Ralphs in February 1993, and continued in this position until his retirement in March 1994, just months prior to Ralphs' acquisition by The Yucaipa Companies in September 1994 for approximately $1.5 billion. After his retirement from Ralphs, he served on several industry Boards of Directors including Catalina Marketing, Bristol Farms Supermarkets and P.I.A. Merchandising Services, Inc. Patrick Collins was known as a tough, but fair-minded executive, who was instrumental in helping to guide and mentor the careers of many current executives in the supermarket industry. Collins' work and career contributions have left an indelible mark on the supermarket industry for many years to come.

Collins was a significant supporter of many industry and charitible causes, including serving as President of the Western Association of Food Chains, on the Board of Directors of the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), and served on the "Founders Circle" for the City of Hope, a leading cancer research hospital, based in Duarte, CA. He was honored by the University of Southern California's Food Industry Management Program as its "Executive of the Year" in 1981.

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Family Life

Patrick William Collins was born on 5 February 1929 in Aurora, Illinois, the older of two sons of banker Alvan Collins and his wife, Evelyn. He grew up in Illinois and later served in the United States Air Force from 1951 to 1953 after graduating with a bachelor's degree in political science from Beloit College in 1951 and was stationed in Missouri and Montana. He was married to the former Miss Beth Hanson of Minnesota. After joining Ralphs Grocery Company and re-locating to Southern California, they made their home in Villa Park, CA, and were active in many social and philanthropic organizations. He served on the boards of the City of Hope and St. Joseph Hospital in Orange. Patrick Collins was also very proud of his Irish Heritage. Mr. Collins passed away from congestive heart failure on 16 May 2011 in UCLA Medical Center after being transferred from St. Joseph's Hospital in Orange, CA. His funeral, held at St. Martin De Porres Catholic Church in Yorba Linda, CA on 20 May 2011 was attended by many friends and former co-workers who gathered to pay their final respects to a highly-respected man that made a tremendous difference in many people's lives. In addition to his wife, Patrick Collins was survived by his son, Quinn; his daughter, Colleen; seven grandchildren; and two great grandchildren.

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