Stephen Tebo, founder and owner of Tebo Properties, was born in 1944 in the small mid-western town of Hill City, Kansas. The son of Lorene and John Tebo, Stephen began his career shining shoes at a near by barber shop at just eight years old. When Stephen was eleven years old he discovered his passion for collecting coins. A passion for coins combined with an incredible business savvy led Stephen to create a coin collecting business. Shortly after enrolling in Fort Hays Kansas State College, Stephen established his coin shop to off set tuition expenses. The coin business became so successful that he totally paid all of his college expenses for both a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics and a Masters Degree in Computer Science.
After graduating from Fort Hays Kansas State College in 1967, Stephen went to Rolla, MO where he received his Master’s Degree in 1968. He then packed his belongings into a moving truck and headed west toward the Rocky Mountains. Stephen arrived in the majestic city of Boulder, CO and opened Tebo Coin. Tebo Coin became a fruitful business and was sold to Daryl Mercer in 1978. The shop is still open to this day.
In 1968, in an attempt to order display cases for his coin shop, Stephen came across another great business opportunity. The display cases were manufactured in Madison, WI, but the manufacturers had no means to distribute the cases in a rapidly growing Colorado market. Seeing potential and opportunity Stephen offered to distribute the display cases throughout Colorado. By 1972 Stephen Tebo became the largest distributor of those particular display cases in the United States.
The enormous success and growth of both Tebo Coin and Tebo Store Fixtures forced Stephen to find more space for his businesses. Needing 4,000sf for his two businesses Stephen began looking for available space in Boulder. Again using his incredible business savvy Stephen decided to build a 10,000sf building, Tebo Square. Needing only 4,000sf for his coin and fixture shops, Stephen was able to lease the other 6,000sf of the building to other tenants. Soon renting the 6,000sf of space was enough to pay the loan payments on the entire 10,000sf building.
This is when Stephen Tebo realized that he sincerely enjoyed the idea of investing in commercial property. To this day Stephen still pursues his passion for commercial real estate and establishing quality relationships with the local business community. He now owns over 250 properties comprising over 4,000,000 square feet and leasing to over 900 commercial tenants.
