To cut capital costs, Ruttenberg farmed out more and more of the manufacturing to nearby companies with surplus capacity.

FORBES: Indestructible

Ruttenberg saw opportunity in lockers for police to store evidence, and in lockers that hold ski gear at winter resorts.

FORBES: Indestructible

Ruttenberg was finally won over by Weston Presidio Capital in San Francisco, which was willing to take an operational back seat.

FORBES: Status seekers

Harold Ruttenberg, founder and chief executive of retailer Just For Feet, Inc.

FORBES: Status seekers

The one remaining division of American Locker Group, as Ruttenberg renamed the company, was the nation's leading maker of storage lockers for businesses and recreational locations.

FORBES: Indestructible

Rockey, 43, turned down the Romeos but said yes to Harold Ruttenberg, founder and chairman of Just For Feet, the 352-store athletic-footwear chain based in Birmingham, Ala.

FORBES: Follow through

That's when the board recruited an unlikely savior: ex-labor union economist Harold Ruttenberg, who suspended the dividend and sold seven divisions -- including voting machines -- to raise cash while negotiating new terms with lenders.

FORBES: Indestructible

That's when the board recruited an unlikely savior: former labor union economist Harold Ruttenberg, who suspended the dividend and sold seven divisions -- including voting machines -- to raise cash while negotiating new terms with lenders.

FORBES: Indestructible

Ruttenberg focused on new markets.

FORBES: Indestructible