Despite Eric & Ryan’s fast friendship, they hadn’t talked business until a random grocery trip with their kids to Costco.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Perhaps it was fate that introduced the founders of Stockyard Supply Co.
Eric Nelsen is an Emmy-winning actor and producer, perhaps best known as Ennis for his role in the “Yellowstone” spinoff “1883.” Ryan Dukes is an Air Force veteran turned businessman.
Coincidentally, both were raised in Florida and both ended up marrying women from Fort Worth. And both will say that although they’re not from North Texas, they got here as quickly as they could.
Despite the similarities, their paths had never crossed until a year ago.
“We were sat at the same table for a charity event benefitting the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo,” says Nelsen, about how the two hit it off. “Our wives have been friends a long time and I think it was pretty purposeful that they were.”
Eric’s wife is fellow actress and producer Sainty Nelsen, the voice of Pillow Cat on the popular Netflix animated show “Gabby’s Dollhouse.” Ryan’s wife Taylor owns the website and online shop Taylor Duke’s Wellness.
Despite Eric & Ryan’s fast friendship, they hadn’t talked business until a random grocery trip with their kids to Costco.
“Toward the end of our grocery run, we started exchanging ‘hey, what’s next’,” says Dukes, who casually mentioned he’d been thinking about a western lifestyle clothing brand. Eric was sold.
“That was on a Sunday,” Dukes says. “Monday morning I get a call, no hellos, just, ‘I’m in.’”
Nelsen said he’d been looking to get involved in a western apparel company, but it was the name that hooked him.
“’1883’ was the biggest blessing in my life, it really integrated me into the Western world, the culture. And to me, Fort Worth represents so much of that,” Nelsen says. “And with a brand like Stockyard Supply Co., all I needed to hear was the name.”
The brand leans heavily into those roots, under the tagline “For the Cowboy in Us All.” Featuring a variety of shirts, hats, jackets and more, the duo say their love of their new hometown drives the design.
Clothing that honors Fort Worth’s cowboy culture and history, featuring breathable fabrics and updated styling that gives it a contemporary twist. It’s a fit for the city’s recent slogan: The Modern West.
“What makes Fort Worth unique?” Dukes asks. “Everybody talks about the Stockyards. And it just kind of evolved from there. And the reality is, this is where the West begins. Because that’s what Fort Worth’s about – it’s working really hard and also celebrating that work really well.”
The two are well aware that getting a new business off the ground is a tall order. But the Census Bureau lists Fort Worth as the country’s fastest-growing big city. The success of TV shows like “1883” and “Landman,” shot and filmed in Fort Worth, has helped boost the city’s profile and status as a destination for tourists happy to embrace its Western heritage.
Nelsen says that blend of old and new, historical and modern, could mean they’ve picked the perfect time to strike while the iron is hot.
“It does feel very serendipitous of how quickly this city and town and state is growing,” says Nelsen. “Those roots and that culture and that history of what really grew for it to be Fort Worth back in the 1800s is still there today as well.”
