In the summer of 1969 a new company, Rheaume’s House of Lettering (now dba, RHL, Inc.), opened for business in the St. Cloud area. Janice Rheaume, thought it was a good idea to start a little t-shirt printing business in her garage. She never dreamed of how this new, little family business would evolve in the next 50 years. From working out of a “garage” to now occupying a 30,000 square foot building: they’ve become a major player in the upper Mid-West in the sign, graphics, and billboard industries. 

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Janice’s oldest son, Troy grew up in the business and he learned early the success of hard work, out-of-the-box thinking, and most importantly, determination. His vision, work ethic, and love of technology-fueled early success when he joined the company as a production worker in the 1980’s after high school and serving in the military. 

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Troy understood that growing the business would require offering additional products to existing customers. Expanded product categories would also help capture new customers, thus fueling growth. He convinced his family to take out a loan and purchase equipment that would allow RHL to screenprint signs, banners, and decals. They continued to print t-shirts, but now could offer much more.

 

Expanding into the sign industry helped RHL experience double-digit increases during the 1990s and this growth created the need for more space. They built and moved into their current location in the late ’90s. Troy was named President and assumed responsibility for operations and decision making. 

Digital technology created new growth opportunities during the 2000s and soon RHL was becoming a leader in vehicle graphics. Printing and installing anything from small door decals to large truck and trailer wraps! 

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RHL experienced many challenges after 9/11, and again during the recession of 2008-2010. Troy had to evaluate the direction of the family company and think outside of the box to overcome tough business and keep moving forward. He realized LED electronic message centers were the future of signage for all businesses, large or small. RHL soon ventured into selling, installing, and servicing this type of signage, and again growth was fueled into the business! 

 

Around 2013, with Troy celebrating his 50th birthday, he again began to think about the direction of the business he wanted for both himself and his employees to work smarter, not harder. His vision was to create a network of LED billboards. RHL staff would be able to sell, design, and manage the billboard operations all from the St. Cloud office. The first LED billboard was launched in St. Joe, and now the network includes various St. Cloud, Twin Cities, Brainerd, and Duluth locations!

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Today RHL is still a “one-stop-shop” for any type of custom graphics, however, the focus has shifted to billboard ads, LED electronic message centers, commercial signs, and vehicle graphics. The company has experienced a steady increase in both sales and profits while becoming more involved in community events like Holly Ball and Summertime by George. 

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