Company History

Rittenhouses 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.  Rittenhouse had evolved to include the greenhouse, nursery and landscape industries.

In keeping with the family tradition, Glens 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 favorite 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. 

2003 marked the end of the buyers guide and by this time all of Rittenhouses products were available online.  While the Rittenhouse buyers guide discontinued in 2003, Rittenhouse did reach an agreement with Amazon.com, and began placing Rittenhouse products on the E-Commerce giants website serving customers the USA.  2004 saw Rittenhouse officially become the exclusive distributor of Lesco professional turf care equipment in Canada.  In April of 2005 Rittenhouse launched its most current and completely redesigned E-Commerce website.  The new site features a number of new advancements to help enhance each customers shopping experience.  Later in 2005 Rittenhouse completed construction of a new warehousing facility at the head office location in St.Catharines Ontario.  The new warehouse allows for more inventory to be stored as well as improved customer service.  The new warehouse also helped pave the way for a relationship with one of Canadas most respected companies, Sears Canada.  In the fall of 2005, Rittenhouse and Sears completed negotiations on a partnering agreement which would see Rittenhouse products in the famous Sears Canada catalogue as well as on the Sears.ca E-Commerce website.  Since 2005 we have continued to upgrade the Rittenhouse website and add new customer friendly functions such as Quick View and a highly efficient shipping calculator.  In addition to the Rittenhouse.ca website, Rittenhouse had built several small specialized sites in 2008, such as: hypro-diaphragm-pumps.com, gardenersbest.com and wateringtools.com to name a few.  These smaller sites help us extend our reach further on the World Wide Web to offer customers more selection.  In 2009, Rittenhouse placed a signifigant amount of focus on alternative care or organic options for landscapers and homeowners.  New bylaws and increased customer awarness meant that green products were in high demand, and Rittenhouse delivered with a wide selection of products, both imported and created right here. 

Rittenhouse Since 1914 continues to look to the future but has not forgotten its roots.  Rittenhouse will continue to deliver the highest quality equipment, parts and accessories coupled with the most complete customer service.