Riverview Boat Store Expands To St. Louis Area
Riverview Boat Store has expanded, opening in a new location in Godfrey, Ill., in the St. Louis metropolitan area.
The store, located at 6011 Godfrey Road, delivers groceries and supplies directly to vessels operating on the Mississippi, Illinois and Missouri rivers, said Capt. Jeremy Putman, president of the Riverview Family of Companies.
The associated companies currently have operations in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Louisiana and operate 15 vessels. They include roughly 100 employees, with 10 to 12 in the Bellevue, Iowa, store. Putman, who also serves as chair of the Upper Mississippi Waterway Association, expected the new store to add 15 jobs to the payroll.
Orders may be made by emailing orderSTL@riverviewboatstore.com. Printable and online order forms are also available at riverviewboatstore.com or call 563-872-3456.
Riverview Boat Store has more than 1,000 items in stock but can also accommodate special requests. While grocery orders can be filled around the clock as necessary, the company asks for a 24-hour notice, if possible. The company now completes deliveries in the St. Louis harbor daily, selling its own grocers as well as delivering for Sinclair and Barnes Marine.
The company’s original boat store, called the Bellevue Boat Store, was opened in 1981 by Putman’s parents, the late Terry and Jean Putman, in Bellevue, Iowa. That store was originally run out of their house. Towboat crews could order groceries as well as supplies and parts for repairs. The idea for a boat store was spawned over morning cups of coffee among Terry Putman and his friends.
The current business dates to 1998, when Terry Putman went into business with Donny Dixon. They started with an 800-square-foot warehouse and a fiberglass boat for deliveries, along with the simple idea of offering “great products at a great price.” Terry Putman later sold his portion of the business to Dixon, and Dixon sold half the business to Jeff Kissel.
Jeremy Putman and his wife, Julie, bought Dixon’s half of the business in 2004 and later also bought Kissel’s portion, allowing the family’s boat store legacy to continue. Jeremy said he always had a love for the river. As a teenager, he rode the excursion boats Twilight and Julia Belle Swain, having conversations with Capt. Kevin Stier and, at times, getting to steer the boats.
Jeremy Putman went on to graduate from Bellevue High School in 1995, and he “jumped on a line haul vessel,” the Conti-Nan, instead of going to college. After completing several trips with Conti Carriers, he began working the fleets in the St. Paul, Minn., area, first for Olympic Marine before eventually coming back to Bellevue to start the current store there.
The Bellevue store, now officially known as Riverview Boat Store & Tug Service (Upper Misssippi Mile 557), celebrated its 25th anniversary last year. The store operates between Locks 2 and 8 and Locks 12 and 13 on the Upper Mississippi and has more than 12,000 square feet of warehousing and storage space, along with specially built delivery boats with freezers on board to properly maintain temperatures. Delivery trucks and vans have refrigeration units as well.
