Maher Brothers Transfer & Storage celebrates 100 years

Moving has always been in the Maher Brothers Transfer & Storage DNA, but the mode of transport and services delivered has changed a lot since the post-World War I era in which the business began. Predominantly functioning as a professional moving company for residential purposes throughout Iowa and the Quad Cities, Danny Maher built up […]

Moving has always been in the Maher Brothers Transfer & Storage DNA, but the mode of transport and services delivered has changed a lot since the post-World War I era in which the business began. Predominantly functioning as a professional moving company for residential purposes throughout Iowa and the Quad Cities, Danny Maher built up the family business when the trucking industry was in its infancy stage, said co-owner Tom Riley.

“They did various things like move trunks, move things off the railroad and hauled a lot of cattle,” he said. “At one point, they had an office in Chicago, and a lot of what they did was run cattle into the Chicago stockyards. Back then, Chicago was much more of a manufacturing base, so they would pick up freight for local businesses around the city and bring it back here.” After World War II, the business continued to grow. Danny Maher befriended and did business with Mr. Riley’s grandfather, who owned a cattle company. When the Korean War was over and Mr. Riley’s father got out of the Marines, Mr. Maher and his grandfather were ready to retire. His dad subsequently bought the business with a co-owner and operated it in downtown Iowa City at 302 S. Gilbert St. until the late 1960s. By 1969, his dad bought out his co-owner and moved the business to 2470 S. Riverside Drive, where the company remains today. Tom and his brother, Tim Riley, purchased the company in 1992 when their dad retired. Under their leadership, the business expanded to have offices in Cedar Rapids, Davenport, and Des Moines in 2010. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Maher Brothers operating its business. The business will help people move across the continental United States and through different freight forwarders. They also help customers store household goods, commercial product equipment, raw materials, logistics and distribution of other materials. A 15,000 square foot warehouse facility in Des Moines will be completed in May to double the current warehouse’s size and expand the fleet size.

Tom Riley credits adaptability as one of the crucial elements to running a business for more than a century. “You’ve got to change every day,” he said. “When your customer base changes, you got to change along with it, but it still boils down to taking care of your customers and taking care of your employees. I think that was instilled from Danny Maher into my dad, and from my dad into my brother and I.” “You build relationships in this business,” he added. “In this day and age, when everything is emailing and texting, you don’t have that kind of face-to-face relationship as much. So it’s pretty personal.”