How Tecovas Built Scalable Facilities Operations to Support Radical Hospitality 

Tecovas is an Austin-based western lifestyle brand known for turning shopping into an experience, more like visiting a friend’s ranch than a store. Across its 56 boutique locations (and 10+more planned for 2026), customers enjoy free cocktails, hat steaming, boot shines, and even boot branding. 

Behind every pour and polish is an unconventional retail setup. Each store blends bar-grade equipment such as keg systems, dishwashers, and restaurant plumbing with specialized western retail tools like built-in hat steamers and embossers. Even laundry pickup for try-on socks is part of the facilities equation. 

When Facilities and Maintenance Manager Mary Dodd joined in 2025, she and her team quickly saw that their existing facilities management system couldn’t keep pace with Tecovas’s growth and hospitality standards. Partnering with Fexa transformed their operations, giving them flexible, scalable technology to match their unique retail model. 

As Tecovas celebrated its 10th anniversary in October 2025, it’s set up for its next decade of growth with infrastructure that finally reflects its “Radical Hospitality” promise. 

The Challenge: When Multiple Pathways Create Confusion 

Tecovas began with a Texas-based CMMS platform. However, instead of simplifying operations, it added confusion. There were many ways that store teams could submit work orders: they could submit via the system, external forms, direct vendor calls, or messages to corporate – which created inconsistent workflows and fragmented communication. 

With requests scattered across emails, phone calls, and paper notes, the facilities team lacked visibility into what was happening at each location. This decentralization led to costly blind spots. In one case, a store hired a local pest control service even though it was already covered under a corporate preventive maintenance plan, which resulted in duplicate work and double billing. 

Because preventive maintenance wasn’t consistently documented across stores, the problem was likely more widespread than anyone realized. 

The Invoice Visibility Problem 

Tecovas’s previous system provided only high-level invoice summaries, showing broad categories for labor and materials without any detailed line-item breakdowns. This meant Mary couldn’t see things like: 

  • Hourly rates 
  • Trip fees 
  • Materials costs 
  • Service call fee breakdowns 
  • Processing or administrative fees 
  • Return trip charges 
  • Individual technician labortime 
  • Specific parts or equipment used 

For a growing company with specialized infrastructure across dozens locations, this lack of invoice detail represented a significant gap in facilities knowledge. Without being able to see these specifics, Tecovas couldn’t effectively manage vendor relationships, negotiate better rates, or understand their true asset spend across the portfolio. 

Assets That Require Diligence 

Unlike traditional retailers managing primarily HVAC units and basic building systems, Tecovas has very specific assets and infrastructure. This demands careful tracking (that can scale) items that are unique to their industry. 

This includes: 

  • Equipment for their bars 
  • Beverage Refrigerators 
  • Freezers 
  • Hat steamers 
  • Embossers 
  • Boot shine equipment 

Each asset comes with its own warranties and maintenance requirements, creating a mountain of documentation. 

Understanding who was servicing which equipment and what the company was spending became critical as Tecovas planned to increase its retail footprint over the coming years. The wrong technology choices at this stage could have created exponentially worse problems as new locations came online. 

The Turning Point: Fexa’s Role in Improving Operations at Tecovas 

Mary Dodd joined Tecovas at a time when the company was already considering a transition to a new facilities management or CMMS system. The inefficiencies they were experiencing were causing delays, interruptions, and overspending, and the decision-makers could see the writing on the wall: this was going to get worse. 

Mary brought a valuable perspective from a previous role, where she had learned about Fexa’s CMMS and refrigerant management productlines. She immediately saw the potential for Fexa to fix Tecovas’s FM issues. 

Tecovas needed something specific: a system that could grow alongside their business while smoothly managing warranty locations in their first year, including properly dispatching work to general contractors versus other vendor types. 

With 54 current locations at the time of implementation, growing to 56 by the end of 2025, and planning to open 10+ additional locations in 2026, scalability wasn’t optional. 

The company’s specialized infrastructure meant they needed more than a traditional CMMS designed primarily for standard retail assets. They required flexibility to track everything from HVAC/R units, hat steamers, commercial dishwashers to laundry services. 

Implementation: Navigating First-Time Software Migration 

When Tecovas selected Fexa as its new CMMS, it marked the start of a company-wide transformation. For Facilities Manager Mary Dodd, this was her first software implementation, and Fexa guided her through every step. 

The implementation worksheet provided by Fexa became an essential tool, giving Mary a clear framework to organize data from multiple disconnected sources. They were able to consolidate scattered information into one unified system, laying the groundwork for a smooth rollout. 

The Transformation: Moving away from a disjointed system 

One of the immediate improvements at Tecovas was the detailed line-item invoicing Fexa provides. Unlike the high-level “buckets” of information in their previous system, Fexa shows hourly rates,trip fees, and specific material costs. 

This new access to information helped Tecovas immediately understand its assets in a more comprehensive way. This kind of information helps organizations transition from an emergent approach to maintenance to a cost-saving preventative one.

Additionally, store teams can now see exactly when services are scheduled, and they can communicate directly with vendors through the platform. This creates a record of every communication, you don’t have to search through tons of notes to figure out what was discussed. 

Building an Infrastructure for Growth 

At Tecovas, Mary Dodd does most of the facilities management work on her own. This means that as the company grows, Mary’s workload can’t grow exponentially, or it will be unsustainable. Fexa is designed for flexibility and scalability. 

Some of the scalable features of Fexa include: 

  • Custom reporting from the field, covering costs, services, and maintenance 
  • A single source of information, so stakeholders across the company can get their data from one place 
  • Accessible information that store managers can use, rather than having to reach out to the FM with every single question 

Additionally, District Managers and Regional Managers now have access to the system and actively track spending across their stores. Monthly store profit and loss statements are accessible to District Managers, reducing the need for them to request information from the FM. The vision for the future is that store teams will own what happens in their buildings while Mary supports them, manages vendor relationships, and collects store feedback. 

All of this means that everyone is getting faster access to more information, without creating an increased workday burden for the FM. At Tecovas, Mary can focus on the parts of her job that demand immediate attention without pushing communication to the back burner. 

Asset Management: Beyond Traditional CMMS 

Tecovas’s asset management needs extend far beyond traditional CMMS capabilities. Fexa’s customizable asset templates allow the company to track everything from hat steamers built into counters to boot shine chairs to weekly laundry services. This flexibility makes Tecovas’s “Radical Hospitality” operationally possible. 

Key Results 

Mary is successfully managing facilities operations independently while the company pursues aggressive expansion. Store teams and District Managers now own what happens in their buildings,freeing Mary to focus on vendor management and strategic support.

  • Solo facilities manager successfully handling operations across 54+ locations with plans for 10+ additional stores in 2026 
  • Detailed line-item invoice visibility, which enables better cost management and vendor evaluation 
  • Eliminated duplicate services and overspending through centralized visibility 
  • Store teams and District Managers are empowered to own building operations through Fexa’s accessible platform 
  • Custom reports reducing direct inquiries to the facilities manager 
  • Monthly P&L data accessible to District Managers without FM intervention 
  • Smooth implementation despite first-time software migration 
  • Strong platform adoption within one month of store team launch 
  • Flexible asset management supporting non-traditional retail equipment including bars, hat steamers, boot shine chairs, and laundry services 
  • Separated PM dashboard, improving daily prioritization and focus 
  • Successful change management across both software and process transitions 

Detailed invoice visibility and custom reporting provide the data needed for cost management without creating constant requests to Mary. The smooth adoption—with stores actively using the platform after just one month—sets Tecovas up for sustainable growth as they celebrate their 10-year anniversary. Ready to transform your facilities management while supporting your unique operational needs? Request a free Fexa demo to learn how we can help your organization achieve similar results.