John Rhoden is moving his Rhoden Roofing to the former Mike Steven Mitsubishi space on East Kellogg just east of Kellogg and Woodlawn next year. The prominent space is a huge leap in size for the business.
Courtesy photo
Everyone in Wichita who needed a new roof following a huge 2006 hail storm probably remembers that time, but John Rhoden remembers it for a different reason.
It was the storm that sparked an entrepreneurial drive that later prompted him to quit medical school and start Rhoden Roofing with one truck while living in his parents’ basement.
Now, a month after celebrating his company’s 15th anniversary, Rhoden has purchased the prominent and much more sizable former Mike Steven Mitsubishi building at 6501 E. Kellogg, which is just east of Kellogg and Woodlawn.
“The long-term goal for the company is to make that the headquarters because we want to expand into new markets,” Rhoden said.
He wants to expand throughout the state and to Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
Currently, the company is at 358 S. Laura.
“Unless you’re driving here, you’re not going to see us,” Rhoden said.
He wants people to see the business and think to call him. Rhoden said that’s why he started it.
Rhoden had worked a college job delivering shingles to roofing companies.
“I just thought it was a good summertime job. Didn’t think much of it.”
Before he started medical school, the 2006 hail storm hit, and Rhoden saw an opportunity to make some money for medical school through roofing. He said he quickly saw how the industry could be better.
“I’ve always been kind of entrepreneurial.”
He didn’t immediately think of it as a career, though, until going to med school and “realizing that the medical path was not probably going to make me the happiest individual for the rest of my life.”
Early in his second year, he dropped out — and had to tell his parents why.
Rhoden said it was a tough talk telling his parents he was going into roofing instead of following “kind of a guaranteed secure path of financial stability.”
“I had so much medical school debt, I was just in my parents’ basement for a few years.”
He eventually moved the business from his truck into leased flex space and then grew from there.
Jake Ramstack and Keith Stevens of InSite Real Estate Group handled the deal for the new Rhoden Roofing space, just as Ramstack did for the previous space on Laura.
At the new space, there is 10,000 square feet on the first floor, which compares to 3,000 square feet of office space Rhoden has on Laura. There’s another 7,000 square feet upstairs.
Warehouse space is jumping from 1,800 square feet to about 6,000 square feet, and outside storage is going from 7,000 square feet to 70,000 square feet.
Rhoden Roofing has about 50 workers, and Rhoden said the new space will give him room to grow the staff and have more outdoor storage.
The visibility along Kellogg is key, he said.
Following a nine-month renovation of the new space, Rhoden will move the company and then lease the space on Laura to someone else. He also plans to have his first expansion to another market by the end of 2024.
Rhoden said the key to his success is building customers’ roofs just as he would his own. His said he offers a lifetime workmanship guarantee.
“In order to do so, we had to build our roofs differently than everyone else,” he said. “We’re going to build it the best way we can build it, not the cheapest way.”
So what do Rhoden’s parents think now?
Rhoden laughed before saying, “They are now happy I followed my heart and my gut and pursued what I wanted to.”
He demurs when asked if he’s now doing better than he would have if he’d gone to medical school.
“We’re in a good place. We’ve been there a long time. . . . I think I made the right choice.”
This story was originally published December 29, 2023, 4:47 AM.
Carrie Rengers has been a reporter for more than three decades, including more than 20 years at The Wichita Eagle. If you have a tip, please e-mail or tweet her or call 316-268-6340.
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