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Real Goods Solar
Real Goods Solar Inc. OTCQX: RGSE was a publicly traded residential solar power integrator doing business as RGS Energy. The company established its roots as a provider of sustainable lifestyle products through its retail division, dating back to 1978, when it sold some of the first retail solar panels in the United States of America. The company had customers in all 50 American states and all 10 Canadian provinces but filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in January 2020.
In 1977, 29-year-old John Schaeffer lived on an off-grid community in Mendocino County, California, and commuted 35 miles (56 km) to work each day as a computer operator. As one of the few people with a vehicle and a job in town, he became the designated person to pick up supplies for the community. This led him to create his own general store that sold all the goods for off-grid living at fair prices, according to him. In 1978, Schaeffer took $3,000 in savings and a $5,000 loan from his father and purchased a 50% share of an alternative energy store Open Circle from Steve Troy in Willits, California.[citation needed] John Schaeffer and Steve Troy then changed the name of Open Circle to Real Goods Trading Company.
One day, a man from Los Angeles arrived at the store with a Porsche full of solar panels. First developed at Bell Laboratories in the 1950s and used in the 1960s in the NASA space program, solar panels had yet to find commercial applications. They bought 100 of these novel 9-Watt panels for $600 apiece. They sold them for $900 each to people interested in simple living in Mendocino County who also wanted to enjoy light fixtures, TV and a few of mainstream civilization's other creature comforts. These sales made Real Goods one of the first companies to sell a solar panel commercially in the United States. The success of the Willits store prompted them to open an additional store in Ukiah, California, in 1980 and a third store in Santa Rosa, California in 1982. That same year, Real Goods published the first edition of The Alternative Energy Source Book, which was written by Steve Troy as a source for sustainable living principles and practices.
By 1985, Real Goods' annual sales were $3 million, but growth was erratic, and all three retail stores were closed. Steve Troy left Real Goods and focused his company Jade Mountain (founded in 1979) on technology and renewable energy systems. He sold half of that business in 1999 to Gaiam and worked on creating Gaiam Energy Tech which became Real Goods Solar after he sold the second half of Jade Mountain to Gaiam in 2001. John Schaeffer invested his last $3,000 in a 16-page catalog and rejuvenated the company as a mail order business operating out of his garage, sending catalogs to the 2,000-name mailing list the company had accumulated. Customers returned and the company was revived.
During the 1990s, Real Goods expanded its business by presenting a message about the benefits of solar energy. https://realgoods.com/off-grid-solar.[citation needed] In 1990, the entire solar industry received a boost from the 20th anniversary of Earth Day and the Persian Gulf War, and Real Goods took advantage of it. That year, the company also set its Billion Pound Goal to keep one billion pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere by 2000, which it completed three years early in 1997.[citation needed]
In 1991, Real Goods held its first direct public stock offering, selling stock directly to its customers, and raised $1 million. The following year Real Goods declared a National Off-The-Grid Day, which soon became the National Tour of Solar Homes, during which the public could see solar-powered living firsthand. Real Goods held its second stock offering in 1993, and in 1994, used those funds to break ground on the Solar Living Center (SLC) in Hopland, California. The same year, Real Goods launched its e-commerce business. In 1998, Schaeffer formed the Solar Living Institute (SLI), a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote sustainable living through "inspirational" environmental education. The SLI offers classes and workshops and manages the SLC.
Real Goods grew significantly in the first decade of the 21st century. By this time, the company had five brick and mortar stores located in Hopland, Santa Rosa, Los Gatos, Berkeley and West Los Angeles, California. The company's catalog and e-commerce businesses grew as well, and Real Goods increased its annual revenues to $19 million.
In 2001, Real Goods merged with the sustainable lifestyle company Gaiam Inc. (Nasdaq: GAIA) in a stock swap worth $8.7 million. Per the merger agreement, Real Goods shareholders received one share of Class A GAIA common stock for each 10 shares of Real Goods stock owned. Gaiam consolidated order processing and distribution in Cincinnati and accounting responsibilities in Broomfield, Colorado, and implemented a new supply chain management information system.
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Real Goods Solar
Real Goods Solar Inc. OTCQX: RGSE was a publicly traded residential solar power integrator doing business as RGS Energy. The company established its roots as a provider of sustainable lifestyle products through its retail division, dating back to 1978, when it sold some of the first retail solar panels in the United States of America. The company had customers in all 50 American states and all 10 Canadian provinces but filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in January 2020.
In 1977, 29-year-old John Schaeffer lived on an off-grid community in Mendocino County, California, and commuted 35 miles (56 km) to work each day as a computer operator. As one of the few people with a vehicle and a job in town, he became the designated person to pick up supplies for the community. This led him to create his own general store that sold all the goods for off-grid living at fair prices, according to him. In 1978, Schaeffer took $3,000 in savings and a $5,000 loan from his father and purchased a 50% share of an alternative energy store Open Circle from Steve Troy in Willits, California.[citation needed] John Schaeffer and Steve Troy then changed the name of Open Circle to Real Goods Trading Company.
One day, a man from Los Angeles arrived at the store with a Porsche full of solar panels. First developed at Bell Laboratories in the 1950s and used in the 1960s in the NASA space program, solar panels had yet to find commercial applications. They bought 100 of these novel 9-Watt panels for $600 apiece. They sold them for $900 each to people interested in simple living in Mendocino County who also wanted to enjoy light fixtures, TV and a few of mainstream civilization's other creature comforts. These sales made Real Goods one of the first companies to sell a solar panel commercially in the United States. The success of the Willits store prompted them to open an additional store in Ukiah, California, in 1980 and a third store in Santa Rosa, California in 1982. That same year, Real Goods published the first edition of The Alternative Energy Source Book, which was written by Steve Troy as a source for sustainable living principles and practices.
By 1985, Real Goods' annual sales were $3 million, but growth was erratic, and all three retail stores were closed. Steve Troy left Real Goods and focused his company Jade Mountain (founded in 1979) on technology and renewable energy systems. He sold half of that business in 1999 to Gaiam and worked on creating Gaiam Energy Tech which became Real Goods Solar after he sold the second half of Jade Mountain to Gaiam in 2001. John Schaeffer invested his last $3,000 in a 16-page catalog and rejuvenated the company as a mail order business operating out of his garage, sending catalogs to the 2,000-name mailing list the company had accumulated. Customers returned and the company was revived.
During the 1990s, Real Goods expanded its business by presenting a message about the benefits of solar energy. https://realgoods.com/off-grid-solar.[citation needed] In 1990, the entire solar industry received a boost from the 20th anniversary of Earth Day and the Persian Gulf War, and Real Goods took advantage of it. That year, the company also set its Billion Pound Goal to keep one billion pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere by 2000, which it completed three years early in 1997.[citation needed]
In 1991, Real Goods held its first direct public stock offering, selling stock directly to its customers, and raised $1 million. The following year Real Goods declared a National Off-The-Grid Day, which soon became the National Tour of Solar Homes, during which the public could see solar-powered living firsthand. Real Goods held its second stock offering in 1993, and in 1994, used those funds to break ground on the Solar Living Center (SLC) in Hopland, California. The same year, Real Goods launched its e-commerce business. In 1998, Schaeffer formed the Solar Living Institute (SLI), a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote sustainable living through "inspirational" environmental education. The SLI offers classes and workshops and manages the SLC.
Real Goods grew significantly in the first decade of the 21st century. By this time, the company had five brick and mortar stores located in Hopland, Santa Rosa, Los Gatos, Berkeley and West Los Angeles, California. The company's catalog and e-commerce businesses grew as well, and Real Goods increased its annual revenues to $19 million.
In 2001, Real Goods merged with the sustainable lifestyle company Gaiam Inc. (Nasdaq: GAIA) in a stock swap worth $8.7 million. Per the merger agreement, Real Goods shareholders received one share of Class A GAIA common stock for each 10 shares of Real Goods stock owned. Gaiam consolidated order processing and distribution in Cincinnati and accounting responsibilities in Broomfield, Colorado, and implemented a new supply chain management information system.