Former Raley's CEO Comes Out of Retirement to Launch New Chain
Michael Teel, the former c.e.o. of Raley's Inc. and grandson of the supermarket chain's founder, is getting back into the grocery business after a six-year retirement, with the launch of a gourmet grocery banner at the former sites of two famous Sacramento food retailers.
Teel's venture firm, M2 Venture Partners, will open a Good Eats Grocer store in the Andiamo building that used to be the home of the Rosemount Grill, where Teel's grandfather, Raley's founder Thomas P. Raley, often met with his store managers, according to a report in the Sacramento Bee.
M2 said the stores will be designed to be smaller and more intimate with an overriding emphasis on convenience and ease of access. It will offer a selection of natural and specialty foods from around the world and a variety of take-home meals and dinner solutions for the family.
Several months following this opening, Teel and business partner Michael Ashker will open a Good Eats Grocer in the building now occupied by Corti Brothers, a well-known 61-year-old specialty-food market that lost its lease for the location and is relocating to an unnamed location in October.
The retailer will open a third store next summer in midtown, to be followed by five more locations around the region in the months following.
Teel is founder and partner of M2 Venture Partners, a venture capital firm that specializes in goods-related and services-related companies that "enhance and inspire healthy lifestyles and help guide people towards their pursuit of prosperity,"
According to M2, Teel is the only grandson of Thomas P. Raley, Teel worked in his family's stores from an early age, in a wide variety of positions throughout his career. In 1983 he left Raley's to pursue academic studies and other entrepreneurial interests, and during that time established his own advertising agency that focused on the food industry. In 1988, Teel returned to Raley's at the behest of his family and immersed himself into an intensive management training regiment.
In 1993, he was appointed assistant to then president and c.e.o., Charles Collings and shortly thereafter became c.o.o. in 1995. In July 1996 he was appointed president and soon after, when Collings retired in June 1998, Teel was named c.e.o. He retired April 2002.
Teel's venture firm, M2 Venture Partners, will open a Good Eats Grocer store in the Andiamo building that used to be the home of the Rosemount Grill, where Teel's grandfather, Raley's founder Thomas P. Raley, often met with his store managers, according to a report in the Sacramento Bee.
M2 said the stores will be designed to be smaller and more intimate with an overriding emphasis on convenience and ease of access. It will offer a selection of natural and specialty foods from around the world and a variety of take-home meals and dinner solutions for the family.
Several months following this opening, Teel and business partner Michael Ashker will open a Good Eats Grocer in the building now occupied by Corti Brothers, a well-known 61-year-old specialty-food market that lost its lease for the location and is relocating to an unnamed location in October.
The retailer will open a third store next summer in midtown, to be followed by five more locations around the region in the months following.
Teel is founder and partner of M2 Venture Partners, a venture capital firm that specializes in goods-related and services-related companies that "enhance and inspire healthy lifestyles and help guide people towards their pursuit of prosperity,"
According to M2, Teel is the only grandson of Thomas P. Raley, Teel worked in his family's stores from an early age, in a wide variety of positions throughout his career. In 1983 he left Raley's to pursue academic studies and other entrepreneurial interests, and during that time established his own advertising agency that focused on the food industry. In 1988, Teel returned to Raley's at the behest of his family and immersed himself into an intensive management training regiment.
In 1993, he was appointed assistant to then president and c.e.o., Charles Collings and shortly thereafter became c.o.o. in 1995. In July 1996 he was appointed president and soon after, when Collings retired in June 1998, Teel was named c.e.o. He retired April 2002.