Rihm Kenworth Opens Fourth Location

May 9, 2012
Rihm Kenworth, one of Kenworth’s oldest continually operating family-owned truck dealers, has opened its fourth location—a 16,000-square-foot full-service dealership in Sauk Centre, Minnesota

Rihm Kenworth, one of Kenworth’s oldest continually operating family-owned truck dealers, has opened its fourth location—a 16,000-square-foot full-service dealership in Sauk Centre, Minnesota.

The new Rihm Kenworth facility joins a Kenworth dealer network of more than 320 locations in the United States and Canada. The full-service operation is located at 805 Shamrock Lane on almost 9 acres near the intersection of U.S. Interstate 94 and U.S. Highway 71, just off of Exit 127 on I-94. Rihm Kenworth recently earned the 2011 Kenworth Medium Duty Dealer of the Year Award.

The dealership features nine service bays, with one bay dedicated to providing Kenworth PremierCare® Express Lube services. The 5,500–square-foot parts department includes a 1,500-square-foot display area and a 4,000-square-foot parts warehouse. Regional parts delivery complements the new dealership’s parts department. A comfortable drivers’ lounge offers a place for drivers to relax or catch up on paperwork while waiting for their trucks to be serviced.

“Our family is proud of our long heritage with Kenworth,” said Kari Rihm, president and dealer principal of Rihm Kenworth. The company was founded in 1932 as a truck dealership by John B. Rihm, grandfather of Kari’s late husband, John. In 1949, it joined the Kenworth dealer network and became the first Kenworth dealer east of the Mississippi River. Now, Rihm Kenworth operates three other locations in Albert Lea and St. Paul, Minn., and Superior, Wis. Kari and John Rihm’s son, J.B., represents the fourth generation of Rihms at the dealership and serves as the parts, marketing and sales manager for the company.

“Sauk Centre is a hub for truckers in central Minnesota, facing I-94, a main east-west truck transportation corridor through Minnesota. Our staff is dedicated to providing the same level of exceptional service that earned for us the 2011 Kenworth Medium Duty Dealer of the Year Award, “ said Kari Rihm. “We think new Kenworth trucks, such as the recently introduced Kenworth T680 and the T660 regional hauler configuration, will be particularly popular among local truck fleets and operators.”

Rihm Kenworth-Sauk Centre is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to noon. Saturday. The phone number is 320-352-8540 or toll-free 855-704-9211. Key personnel include: Bob Koller, branch manager; Bob Perry, service manager; and Eric Anderson, parts manager.

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