Growing With Texarkana

Firmin’s marks 100 years as local business

The family business that has supplied Texarkana offices for five generations is turning 100 this year.

Firmin’s Office City will celebrate a century in business with a reception Thursday at its North State Line Avenue showroom.

In a recent interview the company’s owner, Charles “Chuck” Firmin III, spoke about what has changed—and what has not— since his great-grandfather, Harrry Firmin, founded the business as a print shop in 1918.

Firmin’s has been headquartered at its current location since the 1960s, and Firmin has been working there his whole life.

“As a little kid, I remember com-

ing up here, and my dad to get me out of his office would give me a dollar to go dust the furniture in the showroom,” he said. Now his son Steven Firmin works for him as a print and promotion specialist, one of about 30 employees at the company’s Texarkana location.

The business has grown like no one could have imagined in the early 1950s, when it began offering office supplies as a side consignment business. Now there are two other Firmin’s locations, in Terrell and Longview, Texas, and more than half of the company’s supply orders happen online.

“Our product mix has exploded over the years. We now have, including all the promotional product items, close to a million products that we sell,” including furniture, janitorial and break room supplies, printers and copiers, and more—even defibrillators—Firmin said.

“If we get your business and turn it upside down and start shaking, everything that falls out but the people we want to provide,” he said.

Firmin’s biggest local clients over the years include Red River Army Depot, Collom and Carney clinics and all of Texarkana’s school districts. They benefit from personal relationships with the company, Firmin said.

“It’s personal. People buy from people. Even if you have the internet, that doesn’t change that. So what we try to do is make sure our customers know we care about them,” he said.

Firmin says the Texarkana economy benefits from local spending, as well.

“I don’t think people realize when they buy from an Amazon, that money leaves Texarkana forever,” he said.

Continued growth is essential to the company’s future success, and Firmin feels the stress of continuing the family legacy.

“There’s a lot of stress and pressure being an owner,” he said. “The world is going to bigger and bigger, so I think we would have to grow at a phenomenal rate to continue to be an independent. … There’s not as many independent dealers nationally as there were five years ago. The ones that are there are bigger; they’re the ones that continue to grow.”

A reception celebrating the anniversary takes place 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Firmin’s Office City showroom, 2217 N. State Line Ave. Those who will attend are asked to RSVP to Marketing@firmins.com.

Staff photo by Karl Richter ■ Charles “Chuck” Firmin III poses for a photo Thursday at Firmin’s Office City on North State Line Avenue in Texarkana, Texas. Firmin is the fourth-generation owner of the family business that began in 1918 as a print shop.

Submitted photo This photo dates from the 1920s or ’30s and shows Harry Firmin, right, in his print shop in the basement of the Hotel Grim in Texarkana, Texas. The family business would eventually become Firmin’s Office City, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary...

Staff photo by Karl Richter ■ Steven Firmin, left, and his father, Charles “Chuck” Firmin III, pose for a photo Thursday at Firmin’s Office City on North State Line Avenue in Texarkana, Texas. Chuck Firmin is the fourth-generation owner of the family business that began in 1918...

Submitted photos Second generation owner Charles Firmin is shown in the photo at left with his wife, Gladys. Charles Firmin inherited the family business that would become Firmin’s Office City from his father, Harry, who founded it as a Texarkana, Texas, print shop in...