Jim Roylance moved to Forbes in 1948, where he became a Spare Parts Specialist for Paddison & Co. Jim married Nea Gunn in 1952, establishing Jim Roylance PTY LTD in October 1955. The first premises was situated at 153 Lachlan Street, starting as a business stocking auto and tractor spare parts and adding lines of household and electrical items.
In 1960, the store moved to a bigger premises at 66 Lachlan Street, and the growth of the business forced another move in 1962 where they purchased F. Rath & Co in Rankin Street. At this time, F. Rath & Co were having their 60th year in business. The store remained there with upgrades along the way until 2001.
The year 2001 saw a move for the store to the Newell Highway where the store is situated today. Chris and Mick Roylance became involved in the family business once leaving school. With a company restructure in 2009, Mick took a new direction to become the owner operator of the outdoor and camping store, known as Blue Sky Outdoor experts. Chris’s son Justin, a third generation family member became a partner with Chris at this time.
Over the years the family has purchased other stores. 1995 saw a partnership in Canobolas Auto One and selling out in 1999. The year 2000 saw the opening of Roylances’ Automotive & Industrial in Port Melbourne servicing the mining and quarry sectors.
The Melbourne branch is going strong and they have seen a move to larger premises in Tullamarine in August 2015. 2008 saw the Roylance brand open a branch in Cobar NSW. After servicing the Cobar region for over 30 years, the family opted to open a branch to service not only the mining community but the local workshops and community. Roylance’s Melbourne and Cobar are continuing strong with the efforts of all five staff involved.
Last year saw big changes for Roylance’s. After 11 years of being independent, the family made the decision to re-join the Auto One group. This has been a positive move for the Forbes store. It has created a one stop destination in the Automotive Industry for trade and retail products within the Forbes and surrounding communities.
The Forbes store hosts 11 employees, all of who are locals. There are also long standing employees who are like family. John Pearce has been employed by Roylance’s for 39 years and Terry Churchill 19 years, just to name a few.
There has been a lot of changes and moving with the times for this family business. For over 60 years they have watched the way of technology change not only with computer systems and the like but also within the Automotive Industry.
The Roylance family are proud that they have been able to service the country over the past 60 years and will pride themselves to do so for many more years to come.