About Systems Office Furniture

Although similar to many companies, our story is unique to us. The company started after hard times and adversity struck. Our owners, William and Jennifer Ishmael, were faced with where we go from here. They had three young children to raise and support, so they decided to take all their skill sets and start their own company, and Systems Office Furniture, Inc. was born. Although William had been in the office furniture business since the mid-1980s, this was Jennifer’s first time experiencing the industry. She learned quickly and was vital to the start and growth of the company. Systems Office Furniture started in 2001; the business model was to facilitate large decommissions of office furniture, predominately cubicles and seating. Systems is what cubicles were commonly referred to back then, hence the company name. For about ten years, William and Jennifer acquired extensive inventories of office furniture and sold them to the wholesale office furniture industry.

Their three children grew up around the business, so in 2010, Jared Ishmael was the first to join the team after graduating from Texas A&M University. After college, Jared was mentored by William on everything he experienced and learned over the course of his career. Jared eventually started project managing his projects and currently runs our Systems Services department, which handles all of our clients decommission, liquidation, project consulting, and relocation needs. Kai Ishmael graduated from Sam Houston State University and joined the team after graduation. He started managing the warehouse and eventually moved into our retail sales manager role. Working in the warehouse and being hands-on gave him the foundation he needed to know how to problem-solve any issues that inevitably arise on projects. He does exceptionally well at listening to his customer’s needs and exceeding their expectations. His department has high client retention due to our philosophy that we treat you like family.

In 2015, Tara Laughter (Ishmael) joined the family after several years in the oil industry. The industry’s volatility continued to increase, and it was time for a change in careers. She started out working to revamp our marketing and branding. Over time, and after wearing many hats, she became Vice President. The morals and values instilled in all three siblings run deep throughout the company; every employee is a member of the family.

In 2013, the company established its first 50,000-square-foot retail warehouse facility in College Station, Texas. In 2016, 12,000 more square feet was added to the facility for additional storage space.