Ritz-Craft

Ritz-Craft was founded in 1954 when they built their first manufacturing plant in Argos, Indiana. Humble beginnings as a manufacturer of production line built mobile homes laid a foundation for the development of expanded product lines and additional manufacturing facilities during a growth period that extended into the early 1970's. The early 1970's saw a merger between Ritz-Craft and the Wickes Corporation (i.e. known today to most as Wickes Lumber). Ritz-Craft's merger with Wickes provided the market and financial backing required for product line expansion that gave birth to Ritz-Craft off-site built modular and manufactured homes. In 1976, Paul R. John, Don Ritzenthaler, Glenn Cunningham and Bob Roney, original Ritz-Craft managers, purchased the company from Wickes and consolidated company operations to a centralized headquarters and manufacturing plant in Mifflinburg, PA. Paul, Don, Glenn and Bob directed Ritz-Craft through a solid growth period of 20 years that began with one manufacturing plant, 50 employees and $5 million annual sales revenue to Ritz-Craft of the early 1990's that consisted of three manufacturing plants, 450 employees and $50 million annual sales revenue. A formal management and ownership succession plan was established in 1991 that introduced Paul D. John (President/CEO), Eric John (Vice President), Gary Ames (Director of Marketing) and Barbara Shady (Office Manager) as Ritz-Craft's top-level ownership and management team. Paul, Eric, Gary and Barb began their tenure with a focus on Ritz-Craft's future by introducing five new product lines. Since then, their commitment to Ritz-Craft's future has been confirmed through the establishment of corporate model centers in three states (PA, MI, and NC), the renovation of two manufacturing facilities in Mifflinburg, PA, capital investment in a 65,000 square foot kitchen cabinet manufacturing facility in Mifflinburg and perhaps most notably the construction of two new state-of-the-art "off-site built" modular home manufacturing plants. In 2000 a 175,000 square foot modular home manufacturing plant was built in Jonesville, MI to serve the midwest and in 2005 Ritz-Craft built a new 200,000 square foot modular home manufacturing plant in Hamlet, NC to serve the southeast. In 2006 a trucking company was established under the name Ritz-Trans to transport modular homes for manufacturers, with the capability to transport coast to coast. In 2007 Legacy Building Products, a building materials distribution company, and Ritz-Craft Home Mortgage, a home mortgage company, were added to the Ritz-Craft's growing business. These efforts have created the Ritz-Craft that exists today; 800 employees, six manufacturing facilities and over $100 million in annual sales revenue. Over fifty years of industry experience combined with strategic investments for the future place Ritz-Craft as the new millennium's leader in the "off-site built" housing industry.