Ron Rivett, co-founder of Super 8 Motels and co-founder and chairman of My Place Hotels of America, has died at 83 after a 50-year career in hospitality.
Rivett co-founded Super 8 Motels with friend Dennis Brown in 1974. Under Rivett's leadership, Super 8 reached 1,000 locations globally by 1993, making it the world's largest budget hotel chain at that time. That same year, Rivett sold the brand to Hospitality Franchise Systems but continued to develop, build and operate Super 8 Motels and other brand hotels throughout his life. Today, Super 8 Motels, now Super 8 by Wyndham, operates as a Wyndham Hotels & Resorts subsidiary.
In 2012, he established My Place Hotels of America alongside his grandson, Ryan Rivett. Since its inception, the upper-midscale extended-stay brand has nearly 115 franchises across 36 states with a strong pipeline.
“Ron was an entrepreneur in every sense of the word and every endeavor he took on, always finding ways to improve,” said Ryan Rivett, co-founder and CEO of My Place Hotels. “His foresight was uncanny and his ability to cast vision remarkable to say the least. In his ever-pragmatic approach, Ron diligently ensured that the value and integrity of the businesses he created would be well positioned to proceed long after he was gone.”
Ron Rivett lived his entire life in Aberdeen, S.D., where My Place Hotels of America is based. He completed college at Northern State University, raised three daughters with his first wife and then married Sharon Rivett. Together, the couple had seven grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, numerous dogs and a few cats.
"Quick-witted, charming, intelligent, and fiercely loyal, it’s difficult to know what Ron would say if he were here today,” Ryan Rivett said. “He loved his country, home, family, and business out loud and unapologetically. His memory and legacy will continue, providing value for generations, and we will miss him dearly."