Rio brands was founded as All-Luminum Products, Inc., in 1947 with the invention of the very first portable folding table. Today Rio Brands is the oldest firm operating in the outdoor furniture industry. The story of our company’s founding is a classic telling of the American dream.
Bob Cohen grew up in a dirt poor household with 8 sisters and brothers. They shared everything – as there wasn’t enough of anything to go around. He often said that “the first one up was the best one dressed”. When his father passed away during his senior year of high school, he and his brothers had no choice but to skip any thoughts of college and go to work to support the family.
In 1941, at the age of 24, Bob joined the army to fight for his country in World War II. He served for 4 years, earning a Purple Heart and bringing home some shrapnel in his legs as souvenirs at the end of the war. When he returned to civilian life, he had only one asset - a list of the names and addresses of the 10,000 who had served in his battalion in New Guinea during the war. So, he used that asset to his best advantage – he wrote a book called “Attabrine Times”, a tongue-in-cheek chronicle of the life of a typical GI in the South Pacific during the war years. He sold 9,000 copies of the book for $1.00 a piece to those 10,000 former battalion members.
With cash in his pocket for the first time in his life, Bob started up a paint and wallpaper store  with his brother. During the course of the first 2 years, they had numerous wallpaperers ask if there was any type of flat surface that could be carried around folded and then opened up to lay paper down on, so that the paste could be applied to the back.
Seeing a need for a product like that, Bob approached a friend who did some metal work in his garage, and together they developed a product made completely out of aluminum (lightweight), that had folding legs and a flat top that folded in the middle, with a handle to be carried like a suitcase. The "paper hanger's table" was an instant hit in the stores, and they sold over 100 units in the first three months.
Knowing an opportunity when he saw one, Bob put a sample in the trunk and drove off to Chicago, and (not knowing you were supposed to sell an item to just one department) he sold that table to four different buyers at Sears and Roebuck! When asked about his factory capacity, he said "we can make all you need". The next day, he returned home to Philadelphia, took out a loan from the bank, and went into the table manufacturing business!
In the 60 years hence, All-Luminum Products, Inc. has not only blossomed into the leading  supplier of casual folding furniture in the world, but has shipped over 25 million folding tables. In 2005, Bob Cohen passed away at the age of 87. He remained active in the business into his late 70's and was known and respected as the elder statesman of the entire industry.
Today, RIO Brands is managed by Bob’s three sons. Today RIO´s executive headquarters are located in Conshohocken, PA. ItÁs primary warehouse facility of 100,000sq. ft. is located in Philadelphia, Pa. with satellite warehouses in Savannah, GA and Los Angeles, CA. Our manufacturng facilities for all of our product line except for our American flags, are located in China. There we operate in more than 2 million suare feet and employ more than 2,000 workers. Our brand new 20,000 sq. ft. showroom at our main China facility in Wu Yi, Zhejiang Province, China is a marvelous place for our buyers.
The brothers try hard to do business in the fashion that their father taught them, with honesty and integrity. As such, the company's mission statement reads, "RIO is a family business dedicated to being a leader in service, quality and innovation in each market we serve, committed to the highest standards of ethics in our relationships with our customers, employees and vendors." It's not easy maintaining those high standards in today's ultra-competitive business world, but the example Bob Cohen set is a great one to follow. RIO has a unique new strategic approach to manufacturing in China, taking advantage of an exploding new industrial opportunity in the North.
RIO is the only firm in our business which has a staff of 3 American manufacturing executives living year round at our factory in China and look after the needs of our customers through eyes of experience. |
