Dallas City Wire

Stacy Elliston and Kellie Sirna were looking forward to 2020. The co-founders of Studio 11 Design in Dallas had every expectation that the new year would bring more success.

“2019 was our best year ever and looking forward to carrying that into a new decade with continued growth and diversification,” Elliston told Dallas City Wire.

Then the world stopped. Or so it seemed. The COVID-19 pandemic forced people to stay home, crippling the travel industry and numerous related businesses. Studio 11 Design was caught up in the wave.

“We are an interior architectural design firm that focuses on projects within the hospitality industry,” Elliston said. “This would include hotels, resorts, spas, gaming, retail, restaurants, etc. We have also expanded into the venue space as well as have a healthy multifamily background.”

The pandemic slammed many businesses, and Studio 11 Design took a direct hit.

“When people don’t travel, they don’t stay in the places in which we design,” Elliston said. “If there aren’t guests, hotel and restaurant owners don’t see a revenue source, which halts our world very quickly. With the hospitality industry down 90 percent in revenue in a matter of a few days, it will take a while to climb back up the hill to where we all were in January/February — right now they are predicting 2022-2023.”

She said the impact was immediate and has been enduring.

“We have seen our number of projects decrease by 40 percent. Those that are still moving forward are those that seem to be prefunded, earlier in the design stage or that are about to install and ‘open,’” Elliston said. “This has also depended on the owner and how their cash position is affected. We’ve also seen the RFP/Proposal issuance from our firm slow to a crawl. Where we would issue upward of three to four proposals in a week, we’ve seen that many in a month. No doubt this will affect our pipeline tremendously.”

There is, however, a glimmer of hope.

“The flip side to this is how will hotels look when everyone comes back around to traveling,” Elliston said. “We are sitting on countless calls and webinars with hotel brands and developers to ensure that we are part of the future of the guest experience.”

Studio 11 Design opened its doors in 2012. A 2016 profile in Rue, a digital magazine that covers interior design, told its story.

“Founded four short years ago by Stacy Elliston and Kellie Sirna, the firm specializes in interior design, branding and curation for hospitality, multi-family, gaming and restaurant environments," the magazine noted. "The duo prides themselves on not having a specific aesthetic but, rather, giving the client exactly what they want. Studio 11 is known for pushing the envelope and creating fresh, inspiring designs that foster memories indigenous to their projects. As a result, they’ve grown rapidly. “

It has diversified its business over the years.

“Our firm has two additional service arms," Elliston told Dallas City Wire. "Brand Bottega, which specializes in the branding, concepting and operations assistance for the hospitality industry with food and beverage emphasis. The other being Lou Verne, which is our in-house art consulting, styling and curation team.” 

The dismal economic conditions did not force mass layoffs or furloughs at Studio 11 Design, Elliston said.

“For the short term, not too many in our firm,” she said. “Now as the months go on and we start to see the results of a slow run of proposals and projects being awarded, it will start to impact us greatly. We have to take a month-by-month approach to the team and retaining our talent.”

Elliston said the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program has been a welcome benefit.

“We’ve actually benefited greatly from the PPP loan," she said. "However the extension of this wasn’t something we qualified for because of the requirements of keeping head count at a certain level,” she said. “This type of ‘loan’ was perfect for our firm of 40 but any further aid would be most beneficial if it were to give us a bit more leeway in how we have to adjust to the headcount based on other factors that keep our business running ... which is people traveling and staying in hotels.”