This year represents a remarkable milestone. BEB-Business Extension Bureau celebrates 75yrs in business!

First and foremost, we thank our clients and partners for your business and patronage. We appreciate you so very much and hope to serve you for another 75-years!

We also thank our incredible staff. You are the focal point of the exceptional service BEB is known for and because you display the value of true teamwork; we are also known for our agility.

San Francisco based Business Extension Bureau owned by J.C. Hendricks and operating since 1928, opened their Houston division in December of 1949.

Fresh from the University of North Texas, with a degree in Business, 23-year old Bob Royall was hired to run the sales department for the Houston office.

Five years later, leaving the University of Arkansas, Jim Tardy joined the firm as a bookkeeper. In 1955 Bob was promoted to General Manager and with Jim as his right-hand man, the Houston business grew.

The corporate office was focused on sales leads while Bob and Jim were concentrating on the new and more profitable medium known as direct mail.

Together Bob and Jim made an offer to buy the business and in November of 1959 they took ownership removing any connection to the San Francisco company. By 1970 they were the sole stockholders and the company remains privately owned and operated today.

Business Extension Bureau (BEB) has grown into the most established direct marketing company in Houston. Today our service offerings cross over multi-media such as list compilation, digital, offset and wide-format printing as well as interactive direct mail and cross-channel digital marketing, social media and website creation.

Bob remained involved with the business until he passed away in 2015. His second of three sons, Ron Royall, serves as President and CEO with Bob’s youngest son, Ro Royall is Executive Vice President.

Jim was involved with the business until his retirement. He passed away in 2020.

We are so proud of our rich history and the entrepreneurial spirit that has been passed to the next generation. We will continue to keep our clients interest first and foremost and bring a partnership of value that will enable our businesses to grow and flourish.

HOUSTON, TX- Houston residents have been facing USPS shipping delays for almost two months.

The delays are from a backlog at the North Houston and Missouri City processing centers. Packages are taking an average of 15 – 18 days to wind their way through the system for delivery.

Poor planning around the installation of a parcel sorter, and staffing shortages resulting from the USPS yearly lay-off of seasonal workers are the primary reasons for the delay.

Old sorters were removed from the North Houston plant to make way for the new parcel sorter, only to discover the new equipment couldn’t fit. As a result, North Houston did not have the capacity to process parcels and the backlog began.

North Houston and Missouri City facilities are undergoing major changes as part of US Postmaster General DeJoy’s Delivering for America plan.

The plan is to create new facility types called Regional Processing and Distribution Centers (RPDC) and Local Processing Centers (LPC). TRPDCs are the hubs for long-distance travel. LPCs bridge RPDCs and the path to final delivery. The North Houston facility is in the process of becoming the North Houston Regional Processing and Distribution Center. The Missouri City facility has turned into the South Houston Local Processing Center.

The idea is to reduce transportation. Long haul transportation is run between 200+ facilities today. DeJoy wants to reduce that number to 60.

U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls sent the Postmaster General a letter last month demanding answers to the cause of the problems and when to expect a solution.

When will the issues be resolved? That answer is unknown. Most don’t believe that it is going to be a quick fix either.

We will keep you abreast of delivery issues and resolutions as they occur. In the interim, plan your campaign deliveries based on slower than normal delivery.

Marketers are embracing extended reality (XR) technologies to enhance their campaigns, products, and services. XR includes augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR), and it allows for immersive consumer experiences. This technology has enabled  marketers to overcome geographical limitations and reach a broader audience.

Major brands like Etsy have leveraged XR for their marketing efforts, offering customers a unique experience. Experts believe that XR is the future of marketing and project the technologies will transform how brands build and maintain customer relationships by creating virtual worlds for brand followers.

Marketers have a range of XR technologies at their disposal, including Augmented Reality (AR), and Virtual Reality (VR). AR allows for realistic digital content creation, interactive games, and 3D brand experiences. VR provides fully immersive experiences in virtual environments. Emerging technologies like generative AI and real-time rendering are expected to play an increasingly important role in XR-based campaigns.

Apple’s upcoming Vision Pro headset is generating excitement among marketers, as it promises
immersive experiences and interactions with friends, apps, entertainment, and brands.

Print and mail are essential to XR marketing as printed materials can be enhanced and augmented with extended reality technologies like QR codes or AR markers, allowing for a seamless integration of digital and physical experiences for the audience.

Greetings from Houston! We hope that 2023 was a good year for you, and we thank you for your business and partnership.

The renovation of our building after the fire on Veteran’s Day 2021 was completed and we took occupancy in April of last year. It is quite a different look than before, and we absolutely love it. We hope that you will come by for a quick tour when you can.

2024 marks our 75th year in business and we start the year with cautious optimism. Throughout 2023, the economy avoided a recession, consumers reportedly continued to spend, and inflation slightly cooled. Seemingly, those are signs of stability. However, the threat of a recession still lurks, and many of us anticipate a bumpy year ahead.

The Conference Board (a global, nonprofit, business think tank) published a survey of the biggest risks for businesses in 2024. They surveyed more than 1,200 US executives and learned that recession is their top concern. 37% of executives surveyed said that they are bracing for a recession in the coming year.

Households are acquiring more debt as they begin to deplete the “free money” collected during the pandemic. Meanwhile, banks are toughening their lending standards.

The second biggest concern is inflation. Inflation has retreated since exploding nearly three years ago, but remains above anything we were used to before the pandemic.

The direct mail and printing industry continues to struggle with higher labor costs and finding qualified candidates for job openings. The “work from home” profile doesn’t fit within a manufacturing environment and we find that our teams work better when we are together and exchanging ideas.

Then there is the US Postmaster General who continues to deploy his “Delivering For America” plan by redefining delivery standards and raising postage rates.

The thing is; direct mail still draws a higher ROI than most other platforms. Point in case, we conducted an ROI analysis for one of our non-profit clients last year. Their investment of $110,000 (which included postage) resulted in collecting over $700,000 in donations. That is a 536% return.

We are committed to finding new ways to partner with our existing and future clients. During the process of expanding our products and services we have become the premier marketing production company of Houston. Our offerings have expanded to include data compilation, analysis, digital, offset, envelope, and label printing, promotional products, signage, digital marketing, email blasts, social media, hand fulfillment and even websites and SEO.

As we celebrate our 75th anniversary, we thank you for your patronage and trust. We look forward to serving you with new and innovative ways, and we hope to continue to serve Houston area businesses for another 75-years.

Sincerely,
Ron Royall
President