The highly interactive Jumpman Store, 306 Yonge St. in Toronto, is one of the construction firm’s flagship projects.

Aaron Rectenwald, President and owner of Tom Rectenwald Construction, believes planning in life and in business is the key to success.

Aaron Rectenwald’s timeline for success has been in a steep, steady upward trend. When he was 16, he went to buy his first car and ended up meeting his future wife, Hilary. They now have two children.

“If I hadn’t bought that car from her dad, he told her he would have given it to her, and she’s never let me forget it. It was a 1992 yellow Jeep Wrangler,” he says. “Hilary has been with me from the start when I didn’t have two plugged nickels to my name.”

When they were in high school and dating, he worked as a laborer hanging sheetrock and doing manual labor for his dad’s company, Tom Rectenwald Construction (TRC), so he could learn the nuts and bolts of the family business from the ground up.

By the time he was a senior at Duquesne University, Rectenwald was taking night classes and working full time as a project manager for TRC.

In 2003, he was named the company’s corporate vice president.

Ten years later, at age 32, he became president and bought the company from his dad. Based in Pittsburgh, TRC does $30 million in business annually and is known for tailoring its construction services to meet the needs of national retailers.

Among TRC’s clients are American Eagle Outfitters, Nike, McDonald’s, Pep Boys, Brooks Brothers, Kay Jewelers, Champs, Finish Line, LensCrafters, H&M, Jimmy Jazz, Teavana, Flight 23, The Jumpman Store at 306 Yonge St. in Toronto, The Body Shop, Fossil, S&D Underground and Foot Locker—to name just a handful.

Was his journey a fast track to success? Rectenwald doesn’t think so.

“Honestly, it all seemed like a natural progression,” he says with a chuckle. “I knew I wanted to marry and have kids early, and I knew what I wanted to in this business. I would say I’m just now realizing how planned out my life is and how much of a control freak I am. Now that I’m a little older and wiser, I’m realizing some of my characteristics. I just recently gave up managing projects myself so I can manage my project managers instead. I’m getting better at trying to find balance in my life, but it’s tough. I like the chaos.”

Eye-popping Portfolio

The one constant that Rectenwald’s timeline shows over and over is that when he puts a plan in place, he is a bulldog to make it come true. He is detail-oriented, but also has a handle on the big picture.

And that’s why the jump from vice president to owner/president wasn’t much of a jump at all. As vice president, he was already running the company for his dad as he focused on other interests.

“My dad was getting into local development work and was really consumed with that,” Rectenwald says. “He quasi- retired in 2013 and was so removed from the day-to-day operations that he told me I should own the company and get the rewards for doing the work. That’s when he decided to sell it to me and stepped aside.”

His dad, Tom, returned to the company in 2016 to coordinate projects in New York, but Rectenwald still oversees the company as a whole.

For Rectenwald, Tom’s return is added strength for what he perceives as his biggest key to success: his team of employees.

Vice President Patrick LaSala has been with the company for 11 years, for example. Rectenwald says that without LaSala and a goal-oriented team, the company wouldn’t be able to meet its lofty standards.

“My team is amazing,” Rectenwald adds. “Without them we would not be as successful as we are. Everyone comes to work day in and day out with the same goal—to provide the best general contracting service in the business.”

Among the flagship projects in TRC’s impressive portfolio are: American Eagle Outfitters’ 30,000-square-foot store in the heart of New York’s Times Square; Michael Jordan’s and Nike’s highly interactive Jumpman Store, 306 Yonge St. in Toronto (which originally opened for the 2016 NBA All-Star Game); and the Todd Snyder flagship store in New York, named by Esquire magazine as one of the 11 best men’s stores in America in 2014.

Rectenwald believes in customer service with a personal touch, and that includes being easy to reach, which is why he opened offices in New York and California. The company’s track record for completing projects on time and under budget are also key reasons it continues to be awarded $10 million-plus contracts.

“No project is too big or too small, and from coast to coast we will never be far from the job,” Rectenwald says.

Jim Candelet, Project Manager for Permasteelisa North America Corp., has worked with TRC on a minimum of 20 to 30 projects over the past decade. A worldwide leading contractor in the engineering, project management, manufacturing and installation of architectural envelopes and interior systems, Permasteelisa has built on four continents and in more than 30 countries.

“Truthfully, I choose from our master bid list the companies that have performed well for me in the past,” Candelet says. “I will not risk my relationship with the client based on a low bid from an inexperienced general contractor who can’t read a responsibility schedule. TRC owns it and stands behind [their work] because they understand the importance of our relationship with the client.”

Candelet credits TRC’s drive to get projects done right and on time as key. He provides an analogy that likens these practices to a positive dining experience. “TRC’s good meals far exceed their bad, including their last with me where we were under incredible time constraints to make a mall grand opening at Century City in Los Angeles,” he says. “It was one of their miracles.”

Favorite Flagship Debate

With dozens of flagship retail store projects to the company’s credit, Rectenwald says it’s almost impossible to choose a favorite.

He likes the idea of being able take his daughters, Raelyn, 10, and Aubrie, 7, to Times Square, where 40,000 visitors a day see the company’s work at American Eagle. It’s one way he’ll be able to show them the impact the family business and their father has had.

“New York is one of the busiest cities in the world for retail, and getting to do American Eagle’s flagship store in the epicenter of it is definitely a tremendous accomplishment for us,” Rectenwald says. “We’ve remodeled it at least five times. American Eagle is the customer that really helped us establish ourselves.”

The Jumpman Store, 306 Yonge St. in Toronto’s shopping district is another source of pride. The store itself is a product of Nike and Jordan collaborating with Foot Locker, and it boasts several specially designed interactive areas.

“Yonge Street is another great area for shopping in Toronto, like Times Square in New York, and that’s a fun store,” Rectenwald says. “We’ve been fortunate to do some really great projects since Nike and Jordan started partnering with Foot Locker to do collaboration stores like Jordan Brand’s The Jumpman Store, 306 Yonge St. in Toronto, Flight 23, Kicks Lounge, Fly Zone and a bunch of Jordan-brand stores.”

Next Up

There aren’t many national retail projects TRC hasn’t had a chance to participate in. One thing on Rectenwald’s work wish list, however, is to do a stadium or arena project.

“Growing up in Pittsburgh, you bleed black and gold,” he says. “My family owns season tickets for the Steelers and Penguins. To do a stadium or arena would be cool. One of our customers who we worked with at Nike is now with the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets, and we’ve had a great working relationship. If the opportunity arises, I think she’ll give us a chance and let us try it. That would be great.”