Few Fort Worth companies have been around as long as Royer Commercial Interiors, which this summer rebranded itself from Royer & Schutts after a consolidation of ownership. Kelley Royer, great-granddaughter-in-law of co-founder Homer Royer, and her son Charlie Royer III, are now the sole owners of the company.
Homer Royer sold supplies and office furniture. The company's evolved over more than 70 years, today offering turnkey workplace design, space planning, installation and move-in services. Longtime clients include TCU, Cook Children's and SMU. It's outfitting the new Dickies Arena under construction in Fort Worth. Of the several competitors in its space locally, Royer is the only one headquartered in Fort Worth. In October, as part of its rebranding, the company moved to new modern headquarters in the West Side's Museum Place from a nearby building it's been in for 17 years.
It's an 8,000-square-foot space, smaller than the 11,000 the company had, but it's significantly more efficient, with greater amenities and a much better showroom, which is what the company needs to present clients, say the Royers, who plan to use the space to host West Side events. "We're working through what we do every day," Charlie Royer says. "We're going to have more space to do what we do."
Royer Commercial has come on board to handle interior common areas for Fort Worth Inc.'s Dream Office, a three-story, 22,000-square-foot, Fort Capital-developed building underway at White Settlement Road and Nursery Lane in the West Side's River District. Fort Capital, founded by Chris Powers, is leading the development of the River District, positioning it as a West Side hangout, a place to live, work and play.
Besides furnishings for the interior common areas, Royer also will furnish the building's rooftop deck with outdoor furniture, "really nice stuff you see in a hotel," Royer says.
The building is next to the office building that Fort Capital finished last year in the River District: a two-story, 16,800-square-foot building. The building, occupied by a complementary collection of businesses ranging from oil and gas to family office, law and construction, got to 100 percent full quickly. The Dream Office building is rapidly filling up. It will follow the old-industrial style of the first building, with the same 1800s-era interior brick salvaged from a defunct factory in South Carolina. The exterior brick, like the first building, will be of a vintage style.
As in the long-running series of Dream Homes and Homes of Dreams put on by Fort Worth Inc.'s sister publication, Fort Worth Magazine, Fort Worth Inc. and general contractor PRIM Construction will team with some of the area's finest vendors to build a project with the latest design trends and amenities. The $3.6 million building, designed by The Beck Group, is scheduled to be complete by March 2019.
Dream Office Render
Dream Office Render
With its rebranding, it's a good time for Royer to participate in the Dream Office, the Royers say.
The company, with 26 employees (22 in Fort Worth and four in Dallas), has historically operated very conservatively and has a very strong cash position, the Royers said. The company, today at $20 million in annual sales, wants to grow to $25 million next year, says Kelley Royer, the CEO. Its core business segments are education, health care, corporate and government. Kelley Royer joined the company in 2004 and has put it on a short list of women-owned companies in the field.
Charlie Royer entered the company in 2005, deciding against pursuing auto sales. Earlier this year, he moved into the business development role from account executive. Being woman-owned has put Royer into business with state-bid contracts. "We wouldn't have been able to do it otherwise," Kelley Royer says.
Royer's largest customers have been with Royer for decades. TCU, a customer for 40 years, in recent years hired Royer to furnish the common areas and suites at the expanded and renovated Amon G. Carter Stadium. Royer's also done TCU's fraternity and sorority houses. Royer's worked for Cook Children's for 30 years, furnishing public and office spaces. "It's a relationship business," Charlie Royer says. "It's about always coming to the phone and taking care of them."
