 It all started in 1895 when Gus Renze purchased floats from the year's Mardi Gras parade and sent them back to Omaha where workmen carefully repainted and refashioned them for what was to become part of Omaha's heritage, the Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben Parade and Coronation Ball.
Every autumn, thousands would turn out to watch Renze's Electric Night Parades, powered by the electric current from the city's streetcar tracks. It was this kind of innovation that helped establish Renze as a vital resource for props and floats and other materials used in parades and pageants.
  In 1935 the company was purchased by Maynard Buchanan, and after 25 years it was sold to his son, John Buchanan. Currently the company is owned by Doug Buchanan, the third generation of his family to carry on the tradition.
Through the years, Renze continued to evolve with the times. The company continued to diversify, building advertising displays, hand-painted and screen-printed signs, and distinctive point-of-purchase. In 1967, Renze was one of the first in the Midwest to introduce automatic screen printing presses.
If Renze could be the first to bring innovation to its customers, it did. In 1972, Renze recognized the need for lighter, more portable tradeshow displays as an option to the traditionally heavier custom-built exhibit. Renze became one of the first exhibit houses in the country to offer these modular displays, and today carries the widest range of these systems in the Midwest.
Times have changed. Our innovative thinking has not. Gus Renze would be proud of how the company has grown, and how it has continued a tradition of innovation. |
