Red Lion Hotels Corporation, doing business as RLH Corporation, is an American hospitality corporation that primarily engages in the franchising, management and ownership of upscale, mid-scale and economy hotels.
Red Lion, headquartered in Denver, Colorado, has 90,000 rooms across more than 1,400 properties (as of May 2018) in North America.
History
Goodale & Barbieri era
1930s–1970s: Origins as a local property management company
Red Lion Hotels Corporation's roots can be traced back to Spokane, Washington in 1937 when the property management division of Washington Trust Bank, then known as The Washington Trust Company, was established and led by a man named Frank M. Goodale. Goodale quickly hired Louis Barbieri, who was from nearby De Smet, Idaho and a recent business degree graduate from Gonzaga University, to work under him. Frank Goodale purchased the property management business from Washington Trust in 1944 and kept Barbieri on as an employee. By the mid-1950s, Barbieri was elevated to a partner in the business, and the company formally became known as Goodale & Barbieri Companies. Though Barbieri went on to buy out Goodale's share in the company in 1959, he maintained the company's name. The company focused primarily on commercial real estate and development, but expanded into housing in 1972.
1970s–1990s: Diversification into lodging and entertainment operations
In 1976, Goodale & Barbieri launched its hospitality division, constructing and opening its first hotel near present-day Riverfront Park. The hotel, originally called the TraveLodge River Inn (unrelated to Travelodge), was constructed in a limited liability partnership with the Burlington Northern Railroad on a four-acre plot of land, then-utilized as a coal storage yard, that the railroad owned but no longer needed, in part because of the urban transformation and redevelopment of Spokane's riverfront for Expo '74.
Goodale & Barbieri eventually created a brand name for the company's hotel operations, launching the Cavanaughs brand in 1980.
By 1987, the company established a computerized event ticketing company, G&B Select A Seat, which is now known as TicketsWest.
In 1991, the company briefly ventured into food production, purchasing a local Spokane dairy, Broadview Dairy, out of bankruptcy and operating it until its closure in 1997.
Going public
1990s–2000s: IPO, mergers, and corporate rebrandings
Rebranding as Cavanaughs Hospitality Corporation
Preparing for an initial public offering, Goodale & Barbieri Companies adopted its hotel brand into its corporate identity in 1997, changing its name to Cavanaughs Hospitality Corporation. The IPO was completed in April 1998, and Cavanaughs began trading under the ticker CVH.
Merger and rebranding to WestCoast Hospitality Corporation
By the end of 1999, Cavanaughs announced it would acquire its regional rival, Seattle-based WestCoast Hotels, Inc. with transaction closing on January 7, 2000. On March 1, 2000, the combined company began trading under the new ticker, WEH. Recognizing the broader geographic reach of the WestCoast name, Cavanaughs also changed its name to WestCoast Hospitality Corporation with the launch of its new stock ticker and announced plans to rebrand its hotels into the WestCoast name.
In addition to the expanded hotel portfolio following the acquisition of WestCoast, the company also announced plans to franchise properties under its brand.
Red Lion Hotels acquisition
By 2001, the company grew again; this time by announcing it would acquire the Red Lion Hotels brand and properties (along with several other DoubleTree properties) from Hilton Hotels. The $51 million acquisition expanded the company's footprint to every Western state, except New Mexico, and grew its portfolio to nearly 90 hotels and 15,000 rooms. Capitalizing on the Red Lion brand, a majority of the company's WestCoast Hotels properties were rebranded to the Red Lion name within the two years following the acquisition.
Red Lion Hotels Corporation era
2005–2016: Further rebranding, divestitures and acquisitions
In September 2005, further realizing the revitalization of the Red Lion name, WestCoast Hospitality Corporation assumed its present-day name, Red Lion Hotels Corporation and changed its stock ticker to RLH. It also announced its ambitions to double in size from 50 markets to 100 markets by 2010 through company-owned, joint venture, and franchised hotel openings.