Bob grew up in East Kildonan (Winnipeg), where he attended Miles Mac High School, and then completed a Business Administration degree at Red River College. As a youth he joined his father’s Business at the age of 13 and then on a full-time basis after his graduation from Red River College in 1976.
Bob, his brother and two sisters became the owners of the business in 1978. Over the years Bob became the sole owner of the business. While there was little attention paid to generational change in the 1970’s Bob, his wife Cathy and two sons spent a great deal of time and energy leading to Matt and Marc becoming 3rd generation owners in 2018. Bob remains actively involved as the Executive Chairman of H. Tallman International (The Sr. Holding Company of the Family Holdings).
As the long-time owner and chief executive officer of Princess Auto, Bob helped to grow the small Winnipeg-based firm into a nationwide retailer, cultivated a passionate base of customers through a tireless focus on uniqueness of product and exceptional customer service. During Bob’s time as the owner, chief executive officer and president, Princess Auto grew from a small mail order house to a national retailer with stores in every province of Canada. Today with 54 stores and approximately CAD$ 1 billion in sales Princess Auto has evolved to non-family members leadership, bringing significant new skills to the company.
As his business grew, Bob and his family have shared their success with the community. They founded the Princess Auto Foundation to provide student bursaries for trades education at Canadian colleges (including RRCC). Each year The PAF provides partial scholarships to approx. 500 students each year in 15 colleges across Canada. Bob and his wife, Cathy, Matt and Marc, have created the Tallman Family Foundation (TFF) to support educational and community needs in Winnipeg. To date the TFF has provided approx. 200 FULL first-degree scholarships to Winnipeg students who are community minded, strong students and come from economic backgrounds that would make it difficult for them to attend university or college. Now with graduated students who have become schoolteachers, lawyers, doctors, dentists, engineers, pharmacists, business grads and others, this program continues to flourish. Cathy and Bob were leaders in the funding of several major projects in Winnipeg including, the Canadian Museum of Human Rights, The Assiniboine Zoo project, the New Aviation Museum being built in Winnipeg, as well as numerous smaller projects.