Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
SUPER 8 MOTEL
SUPER 8 MOTEL. Super 8 began in a marketing association for individually owned hotels that were already in business started by Dennis Brown in 1972. After one year, in 1973 Ron Rivett and Dennis Brown canceled the association and created their new Super 8 Motel corporation with each of them owning 50% of the stock in the new company. (1)
The original room rate was $8.88. The first Super 8, with 60 rooms, opened in Aberdeen, South Dakota in 1974. The stucco exterior with an English Tudor style was inspired by Rivett's father-in-law, who was a stuccoer; the English Tudor style and placing of Super 8's near Holiday Inns was an established procedure for setting up new Super 8's for years to come. (2)
The first franchise was sold in 1976 and established in Gillette, Wyoming. By 1978, Super 8 expanded from the state of New York to the state of Washington and was no longer just a Midwestern company. (3)
The 1987 through 1989 Dubuque City Directory listed 2730 Dodge.
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Source:
1. "Super 8 Motel. Wikipedia.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.