Early Las Vegas entrepreneur Ragland dies

Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2005 | 11:04 a.m.

Bertha Ragland came to Las Vegas in 1943 against the advice of family and other friends and with just $60 to her name.

Fifty years later, the home furnishings business she founded in downtown Las Vegas, Bertha's Gifts and Accessories for Gracious Living -- later Bertha's Gifts and Home Furnishings -- made her a millionaire several times over.

Bertha Beggs Ragland died Friday in Las Vegas. She was 94.

Services on Saturday will be private for the Las Vegas resident of 62 years. Visitation, however will be open to the public from 5-8 p.m. Friday at Davis Funeral Home, 6200 S. Eastern Ave.

"My family was very much against me coming out here, and my friends thought I lost a marble or two," Ragland told the Sun in a May 22, 1989, story. "I came here with a steamer trunk, a borrowed coat and $60 in my pocket."

But, trained in the retail business in California since 1929, Ragland brought with her a wealth of knowledge for selling fine items.

She began her career as an 18-year-old college student working as a sales clerk in a San Bernardino china shop, where she learned much about china, jewelry and furniture -- items that later would be popular sellers at Bertha's.

Born March 19, 1911, in Chino, Calif., Ragland graduated from high school in Pomona, Calif., and attended Pomona Junior College.

At age 32, she came to Las Vegas with her son, Bob McConnell, who long worked with her at Bertha's and survives her.

For four years she managed the N.W. Davis Merchandise Mart on Fremont Street before opening her first Bertha's on Fourth Street in 1947 on an initial investment of $26,000. Six years later, she moved to Fifth Street, which today is Las Vegas Boulevard. In 1953, she began her bridal registry.

In 1963, Bertha's moved to a 19,000-square-foot, $150,000 facility on San Francisco Street -- it now is Sahara Avenue -- near Maryland Parkway.

Ragland long put in 10- to 15-hour days, building her business with her then-husband Jack Beggs, who operated a jewelry store inside Bertha's for 20 years until his death in the early 1980s. She later married George Ragland, who died three years ago.

Ragland credited her success to selling only quality merchandise and keeping her customers satisfied.

In 1985 Southern Nevada Better Business Bureau's Golden Apple Award winner as merchant of the year. Officials of the Better Business Bureau lauded her for having had only three minor complaints filed against her store in 38 years of operation.

By the late 1980s, the store employed nearly 35 people, had expanded to 35,000 square feet and had gross annual sales between $3 million and $4 million.

Ragland's exclusive store gained a measure of notoriety in July 1981 when mobster Tony Spilotro's Hole-in-the-Wall Gang was arrested while breaking into it.

The arrests were credited with helping law enforcement turn the tide in its efforts to bring down the high-profile Spilotro, who later was murdered gangland-style.

Bertha's closed when Ragland retired in 1997.

Ragland was long active in charity work and her civic activities included stints on the Beautification Committee of Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and the advisory board of the Salvation Army.

In addition to her son, she is survived by two grandsons, two granddaughters and 12 great-grandchildren.

Her family said donations can be made in Bertha Beggs Ragland's memory to the Humane Society or Nathan Adelson Hospice.