About Us
For over 100 years M.K. Rittenhouse has been a leader in the Green Industry. Below is our story:
Rittenhouse's long history begins in 1914 when Moses Rittenhouse saw the need for agricultural spraying equipment in the booming tender fruit region of Niagara. He began by building orchard sprayers from his barn in Jordan Station, Ontario. The company M.K. Rittenhouse was born, and soon established itself by providing equipment and service to fruit and vegetable growing communities throughout Ontario.
After serving in WWII, Moses' two sons Glen and Frank returned home to join their father and continue the family business. Over the next forty years they continued to design, patent, and manufacture fine agricultural equipment. Rittenhouse however, was not just limited to the tender fruit and vegetable industry by this time. The company had evolved to include the greenhouse, nursery, and landscape industries.
In keeping with the family tradition, Glen's youngest son joined the company in 1985. By this time Rittenhouse had grown to require a larger location, and soon after moved to St. Catharines Ontario. Now with the knowledge of three generations, Rittenhouse had further broadened to include golf courses, forestry, and parks to its already diverse resume.
In 1991, Rittenhouse launched its first Buyers' Guide. The annual catalogue soon became a favourite within the industry for its innovative, high quality products. Through the creation of the catalogue something interesting happened, private homeowners began purchasing these professional products. In response to this, Rittenhouse created its Garden Tool division in 1999, and for the first time in 85 years the company also provided private homeowners with tools for the avid gardener. In keeping with the times, we added an e-commerce website. This was an idea that grew from a source for parts breakdowns for our customers to the more than 15,000 products and parts that can be found online today.
While the Rittenhouse buyers guide was discontinued in 2003, Rittenhouse has continually added to and updated the website, added warehousing, technology, and upgraded shipping capabilities. Rittenhouse products can also be found on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca.
New by-laws and increased customer awareness mean that green products are in high demand, and Rittenhouse delivers these with a wide selection of alternative care and organic options for landscapers and homeowners.
Rittenhouse has also overhauled its parts department and placed a number of products in strategic locations throughout the United States to further increase efficiency. In addition, customers will now find new photography and product videos on product web pages.
In 2015, we launched a new e-commerce website that featured an entirely new platform to serve our online customers.
In 2016, we completed the construction of our new corporate office.
In 2020 we released the latest version our website. The new design is an industry leader and will have advanced features to service our business clients.
Rittenhouse continues to look to the future but has not forgotten its roots. We will continue to deliver the highest quality equipment, parts, and accessories coupled with the most complete customer service.