Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.06.2013, Blaðsíða 5

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Lögberg-Heimskringla • 15 júní 2013 • 5
Lögberg-Heimskringla recognizes Gordon Reykdal
Gordon Reykdal is an entrepreneur in the truest sense. Born in Calgary
in 1957, Gordon decided while
in high school that he was meant
for other things than formal
education. Instead, he chose a
life of business experience after
graduation, and became the
quintessential self-made man.
He began in the construction
industry and purchased a gravel
truck. He soon owned a house
and a corvette, but moved on in
1980 to found a rental business
named Budget TV and Rentals.
His basic idea was to provide the
young men coming to Alberta
to make their living in the oil
patch with what they needed.
They had no credit, but good
jobs. They wanted electronics,
furniture and appliances.
Gordon’s business allowed
them this opportunity. By the
age of 30, he owned four stores
in Edmonton. He amalgamated
them with similar companies
in Calgary and Vancouver
and formed a new company,
Rentown. The business grew
to over 50 outlets over the next
seven years. Gordon took the
company public, one of only two
companies to do so following the
market crash of 1987. However, a
major challenge befell Rentown
when the U.S. financier called
in the demand loan, despite the
fact that there was no default.
It could be viewed as a true
betrayal, as Gordon was forced
into bankruptcy purposely by
the lender.
However, Gordon Reykdal
did not take this as defeat
or become overwhelmed or
downtrodden. Instead, he
repurchased the company three
years later, after developing an
innovative business structure.
His courage shone through
when he walked into the lender’s
offices, armed with an affidavit
from one of that company’s
employees. He walked in alone
and confronted a large group of
people working for the financier.
He won out. He repurchased
his company for 30% of the
original loan, merely three
years after what would have
been considered a catastrophe
for most men. Gordon keeps
a plaque on his office wall
containing a large metal key
ring. The keys in it represent
the stores that everyone thought
were lost to him.
By 1998, this new company
ranked #2 on the Profit 200
list. Gordon says “Success is
strongly correlated to the way
an individual responds and
reacts to setbacks, mistakes
and failures. You can decide if
failure is going to be a shameful
experience or give you a
competitive advantage.”
This philosophy has served
Gordon Reykdal well in life.
He moved on and eventually
became Chairman and CEO
of Cash Store Financial
Services, Inc., Canada’s largest
alternative financial services
company. In addition to its
other retail affiliate Instaloans,
it maintains a network of
529 branches in over 200
communities spread across nine
provinces and two territories.
There are also 25 branches in
the UK. He has been honoured
countless numbers of times in
the business community.
The biggest honour that
Gordon has received came in
2011, when he was awarded
the Ernst & Young Prairies
Region Entrepreneur of the
Year Award, in the business-to-
consumer products and services
category. Gordon describes that
award process as similar to the
Academy Awards. Nominees do
not know in advance who the
winner will be, which creates
an evening of excitement, and
everyone is completely caught
up in it.
The Cash Store has been
on the cover of Profit 100
Magazine’s 50 fastest growing
companies in Canada. Gordon
Reykdal has rung the bell to
open trading on the floor of
the New York Stock Exchange.
People might say that he’s
come a long way from owning
a gravel truck.
The Viking spirit shines
through Gordon. In a quote
in the October 2012 edition
of Business in Edmonton
Magazine, Gordon said “No one
who’s successful ever gives up.”
What people may not realize
is that Gordon is not only an
entrepreneur extraordinaire. He
is an amazing philanthropist. For
Lögberg-Heimskringla alone,
he has provided the ability to
continue to publish in its fine
tradition. Since November
2004, Gordon has provided the
office that the newspaper now
occupies on Portage Avenue.
It is a lovely space in the
downtown Winnipeg business
district, with ample room
for meetings and workspace.
Receptions and birthday parties
for the newspaper are held there
frequently in grand style. Few
can forget the 125th birthday
celebration, with many attendees
and the Sólskríkjan choir singing
from the mezzanine.
As one of the VIP leaders
of the Future Fund Capital
Campaign in 2007, Gordon
worked on the campaign to raise
the funds required to begin an
investment with the Winnipeg
Foundation. In fact, Gordon also
donated in the highest category of
the campaign, as Distinguished
Benefactor. Dividends received
each year from the endowment
fund from this campaign
continue to be used by Lögberg-
Heimskringla for a wide variety
of organizational initiatives.
Continuing in this role for
L-H, Gordon is one of three
individuals who have regularly
donated free subscriptions for
seniors. In the first year of that
program, Gordon paid the full
amount himself. This initiative
allows people who might not
otherwise have the opportunity
to subscribe to the newspaper to
have access to subscriptions and
reading enjoyment.
Through personal and
business donations, Mr.
Reykdal is an annual supporter
of the Icelandic Open Golf
Tournament, sponsored by
Lögberg-Heimskringla. This
annual event is a day of good
fellowship, a lot of fun, and
prizes, and is additionally
a major fund-raiser for the
newspaper.
Readers of L-H will
regularly see advertisements
in the paper for Cash Store,
and greetings sent by Gordon
Reykdal for special events. In
addition to these many things,
Carrie and Gordon Reykdal
continue to donate regularly to
the newspaper as does the Cash
Store.
Mr. Reykdal does not
stop there. Over the years,
he has contributed widely to
the Icelandic community as
a whole. Since 2002, he has
served as Honourary Consul
for the Republic of Iceland in
Alberta, and since 2004, he
has been the President of the
Icelandic-Canadian Chamber
of Commerce. In both of these
positions, Gordon continually
strives to achieve optimum
relations between Icelandic
and Canadian businesses and
community leaders in both
countries. The Cash Store is a
regular contributor to the Gimli
Film Festival, and Carrie and
Gordon have made personal and
business contributions to the
núna/now music festival, which
fosters exchanges of young
Icelandic and North American
artists in various areas of the
arts.
Of his long-time friend,
Walter Sopher of Edmonton says
“that people of Icelandic descent
across the land owe a debt of
gratitude to Gordon Reykdal.
He and Dr. Ken Thorlakson have
gone above and beyond when it
comes to donating their time and
resources for our culture.”
Gordon Reykdal traces his
ancestry back to Eric the Red
in 840 A.D. Gordon’s mother,
Margret, is the daughter of
Fjola Kristjanson from Otto,
Manitoba and Paul Johnson. His
father, Walter Reykdal, is the
son of John Reykdal and Mary
Delarone.
His langafi on his mother’s
side of the family was named
Björn Jónsson, born in 1849 in
Ketilsstaðir, Hjaltastaðaþinga,
Iceland. He married Guðrun
Pálsdsóttir Sigurðsdóttir in
1882 in Iceland, and the couple
emigrated to Canada in 1889,
settling first in Swan Lake,
Manitoba, and then moving to
Coldwell, where he owned a farm
which he named Bjarnarstaðir.
The couple had eight surviving
children. He retired to Lundar,
Manitoba in 1927 at the age of
78. He died in 1932, and was
buried in Coldwell.
His other maternal langafi
was Magnús Kristjánsson,
who was born in 1865 in
Hörðudalshreppur, Dalasýsla,
Iceland. He immigrated to
Canada as a young man of 17,
and settled in Winnipeg, working
on the CPR line. Eventually, he
was able to buy a quarter section
in Otto, and also operated the
Otto Post Office from his home.
Magnús was somewhat of an
innovator. He was the first in his
district to buy a registed Oxford
ram and a purebred bull. He
was also the first area resident
to use page wire to fence his
land and to use a 4hp gasoline
engine. He married Margrét
Dagbjört Danielsdóttir in 1895,
and they had four children. At
the age of 31, Magnús was one
of the founders of the Order of
the Good Templars. He opened
and operated a grocery store,
and regularly travelled to Oak
Point, a distance of 19 miles,
with his team of oxen, Bill and
Tom. At the age of 65, he moved
to Lundar, Manitoba where he
owned and operated a grocery
and supply store on the main
street. Magnús died in Lundar at
the age of 79 years.
Gordon’s paternal
langafi was Jón Jónsson
Reykdal, born in 1857 in
Deildartunguætt, Iceland. He
lived on the farm Ulfsstaðir,
Reykholtsdalshreppur, in
Borgarfjarðarsýsla. In 1880, he
married Helga Halldórsdóttir
and left Reykjavík destined
for Canada in 1882. They
resided in Winnipeg, where
Jón was a labourer, but also
studied mediation. Following
the death of Helga, Jón married
Sigriður Finnsdóttir in 1892.
They had 11children. They
moved to Lundar in 1894, and
then to the Posen district near
Selkirk, Manitoba. At the age
of 49, Jón moved his family to
Dauphin, Manitoba, where he
was not only a farmer, but sold
ointments and other household
items door-to-door. They later
farmed in Coldwell and then
Oak Point, Manitoba.
Gordon and Carrie Reykdal
have two children, Barret and
Brandi, and three grandchildren
– Ella Reykdal, born 2005; Ava-
Lee Schiffner, born 2007; and
Magnus Schiffner, born 2009.
Judy Sólveig Richardson
Nanaimo, BC
photo Courtesy of GorDon reykDal