When Ross Glen launched RGO in Calgary in 1966 with three employees and a typewriter dealership, he probably would not have predicted that six decades later his company would be the largest dealer of commercial furniture, window coverings, flooring, technology, architectural solutions and storage management in Western Canada. However, those who knew him well say the foundation he built made that kind of growth inevitable.
RGO’s story began with humble tools and a small team selling typewriters and office equipment that would become obsolete within a generation. What did not become obsolete was the business philosophy Glen embedded into the organization from day one.
“His focus was on doing what is right for the business in a way that also supports our people and our customers,” says Cathy Orr, RGO’s President and CEO. “When it is done right, those priorities are not in conflict — they strengthen one another.”
Alongside that principle, Glen held a disciplined commitment to fiscal accountability — reinvesting in the business year over year, owning assets outright and controlling costs.
“With the boom-and-bust economy we’ve been in for 60 years, the stronger our financial foundation, the better we could weather ups and downs,” Orr explains. “He was patient, playing the long game, and that was a good thing for our business.”
Glen, who was inducted into the Calgary Business Hall of Fame in 2016 and appointed to the Order of Canada in 2020, remained passionate about RGO until his passing in early 2025. Even in his final years, he came into the office daily, remained curious about what the team was working on, invested in the people, and felt proud of what they had built together.
As technology evolved, so did RGO. Computers replaced typewriters, and with them came a natural bridge to furniture and workspace design. The company began building its commercial furniture offering, then expanded into window coverings and flooring. Each new division followed the same operational model: deliver solutions expertise to clients through service, knowledge and products, while managing the full scope of the project from design through project execution and after-project service.
Orr herself is a testament to that growth. She joined RGO in 1983 after graduating from university and grew the window coverings division to the largest commercial window coverings dealer in Western Canada.
“It was trial and error in the early days,” she reminisces. “However, our first big window covering project that really put us on the map was winning the automated window coverings contract for the Olympic Oval.”
The 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics contract was a turning point for window coverings. It placed RGO in the running for large-scale, high-profile commercial projects and helped establish the company as a serious player in a competitive market.
Today, RGO operates across Calgary, Edmonton and Canmore, with showroom and warehouse facilities exceeding 200,000 square feet and a team of more than 200 experienced professionals. Its 130,000 square foot warehouse and inventory give clients something increasingly rare: consistency and flexibility to adapt to changing onsite conditions and construction schedules.
“We can take away some of the challenges clients come up against,” Orr says. “We can help them deliver on what they need to do, within budget and on schedule.”
When asked what has set RGO apart for six decades, Orr points to the company’s enduring presence in the community and places that it has helped shape.
“When I think about how much this city has grown and how we’ve been a part of it—that’s exciting,” she says. “In 60 years, RGO has been involved in almost every significant bricks-and-mortar landmark in one way or another.”
RGO has furnished healthcare facilities where patients recover, learning environments where children develop, senior living spaces where residents spend their final years with dignity and corporate headquarters where teams collaborate and innovate.
“The work we do is much more than selling goods and services,” Orr says. “As Alberta diversified, we diversified. Our core belief is that space matters – because the environments where people work, gather, learn and connect have the power to shape culture, performance and growth. That is why we say, ‘We make space for growth.’ For us, that growth begins with people: a team of solution experts who take the time to understand each client’s unique needs, challenges and aspirations, then bring forward the right combination of insight, products and support to help them succeed. Our breadth of offerings, strong supplier relationships and cross-sector experience gives us the expertise to respond with flexibility and purpose, whether we are supporting corporate workplaces, education, healthcare, hospitality or other evolving environments.”
Yet, no company survives six decades without navigating serious disruption. RGO has weathered multiple Alberta economic downturns, shifting workplace paradigms and most recently, the global pandemic. COVID-19 changed the workplace environment for many businesses.
RGO recognized the opportunities to support client needs to advance investment in technology and provide solutions in shifting to remote, hybrid and in-office configurations.
“It’s exciting to see change and help it along,” Orr says. “Whether it’s configuring furniture for better connection or to minimize distraction, we embrace whatever the environment requires.”
RGO has achieved Platinum status through Canada’s Best Managed Companies program and has also been recognized as a consecutive recipient of the Best Workplaces in Canada award.
“It’s a recognition that we’re evaluated by external entities across business sectors. It gives credibility to our team that we’re strong in the open market, not just in our own estimation.”
In 2024, Orr herself was named a Business in Calgary Leader, an honour she shares with her team by saying, “It’s really about the people here and what we’ve accomplished together.”
As RGO enters its 60th year, Orr has restructured the company’s strategic framework around a theme that feels both deeply personal and practically necessary: Powered by Legacy, Driven by the Future.
In the wake of her father’s passing, she reflected on what the milestone demanded—not nostalgia, but momentum. The result was a shift to focus on three pillars: legacy, future and integration.
“The legacy pillar is about relationship, culture and trust,” she explains. “The future pillar is about innovation, talent and markets. The integration pillar is about ensuring continuity and that change can coexist.”
That last pillar speaks to something honest about long-established companies: longevity can quietly breed complacency. Orr is candid about it. Financial stability, while a source of pride, can blunt the urgency to evolve. The new framework is designed to hold both realities in productive tension—honouring what was built while using the foundation to empower change and continuity.
Alongside the strategic refresh, RGO renewed its vision, mission and values and brought that refreshed identity to life across its rebranded fleet. To mark the milestone, RGO also introduced 60 Acts of Kindness, a community initiative that gives employees time during the workday to volunteer and contribute to causes close to their hearts.
“Some of it has become grassroots with things people brought forward that they wanted to do,” Orr says. “Our team is embracing it and engaging in it. There are lots of ways to give.”
What RGO has built over 60 years is not simply a dealership. It is a deeply embedded partner in the physical fabric of Alberta and a company that shows up for the communities it serves, invests in the people it employs and evolves with the environment around it.
From the Olympic Oval to the Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre, from the classroom to the boardroom, RGO continues to shape the spaces where Albertans live, work, heal, learn and connect. The products change, the partners evolve, but the philosophy Glen instilled from the beginning — do right by the business, by the people and by the customer — remains unchanged.
“That’s still our mantra to this day,” Orr concludes.
Sixty years in; that’s not a small thing. That’s everything.