Rihm Monthly Magazine - February 2025 - Magazine - Page 22
Rihm Motor Co. Established
John B. Rihm (J.B.) established
Rihm Motor Company as a full
service heavy equipment and truck
dealership on University Avenue in
the Midway Neighborhood of St. Paul.
J.B. was already distinguished as a
leader in the auto industry, known as
a founding member of the Minnesota
Automobile Dealers Association
(MADA) and partner in both the
Owen's Ford and Northwest Motor
Equipment in the 20s and early 30s.
1932
Under One Roof
3rd Generation Leads
Growth and Expansion
J.B. Rihm served
as the President
of MADA.
Declaring itself to be the "finest and
most modern sales and service garage
in the northwest", a new headquarters
facility was built on the corner of the
University and Cleveland Avenues.
The new building brought offices, a
showroom and shops all together. J.B.
presided there until his death in 1962.
Walter Rihm's
son, John W.
Rihm, joined
the company.
John Rihm became president,
focused on implementing
new technologies and leading
the development of a website
that changed and improved
the way we do business. There
were many award winning
years under John's leadership.
1946
1951
1966
1993
1940
1949
1962
1987
1995
Focus Shifts to
Commercial Trucks
Kenworth Came Calling
A New Era
Bob O'Brien of Kenworth Truck
Company approached J.B. to
determine his interest in becoming
the first Kenworth dealer east of
the Mississippi. Mr. O'Brien left four
heavy duty trucks with J.B., who sold
them right away to a local petroleum
hauler that described the trucks as
being "3 lbs. less than the Queen
Mary!" Kenworth shook hands with
Rihm, and the Rihm family became
the fourth Kenworth dealership in
the network. J.B. built a new service
garage west on University Avenue to
accommodate the new line of trucks.
Walter F. Rihm served as
President from 1962 - 1993.
During his tenure, Walter
dropped the other truck
makes and became a single
line dealer for Kenworth. He
increased the footprint of
the dealership by adding a
truck and trailer storage lot
across University Avenue
from the main store.
Joining the
Community
Rihm Motor
Company
was named
the largest
volume
single store
dealership in
the network,
selling 745
trucks that
year.
J.B. & his son Walter
embraced the emerging
commercial truck market.
They added Federal,
Diamond T, Divco &
Marmon-Herrington trucks
to augment the dealership's
Galion Grader and LinkBelt
Shovel equipment sales. As
the Twin Cities grew, and the
country opened up to more
opportunities following
WWII, so did the demand for
heavy duty trucks.
21
Rihm became
a member of
the Minnesota
Chamber of
Commerce to
access services
and support
business across
the state.
