Metrokane was founded in 1983 by Riki Kane who had been an advertising copywriter and a syndicated journalist, creator of the popular newspaper word game, “Wordy Gurdy.” While travelling in Mexico, she purchased a manual citrus juicer, which she brought home to squeeze her morning orange juice. She was surprised to find that manual juicers had been extinct in the U.S. since the advent of electric citrus juicers in the ‘50’s. Convinced that the manual juicer is superior to the electric kind, she re-introduced it to the American market with a classic retro design called “The Mighty OJ.” Metrokane’s Mighty OJ Juicer was an immediate success in department and specialty stores around the country.

Initially, Ms. Kane ran the business from her apartment—expanding her line of juicers and fighting a long, but ultimately successful legal battle against Mighty OJ imitations (called “knock-offs” in the industry). As the company expanded, she was joined in the business by her husband, Bob Larimer, who had recently sold his advertising agency to a large company.