\u201cWe\u2019ve already seen the results,\u201d said Carley Myers, the ranch\u2019s senior vice president of marketing and a TCU graduate. Myers joined Four Sixes about 18 months ago, charged by Sheridan with expanding the brand\u2019s reach, while also respecting the history and character of the ranch.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me to not only maintain the history of the ranch, but continue the evolution of what this brand is, to really showcase that it is a lifestyle brand,\u201d she said. \u201cPart of my job is to make sure that the brand is excellent at every touchpoint.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After the 2017 Horned Frog graduate approached the school, students and faculty from the department of fashion merchandising in TCU\u2019s College of Fine Arts hopped at the chance to redesign the brand\u2019s trade show and retail experience. The students worked on everything from booth structure and layout to merchandising strategy to point-of-sale flow.<\/p>\n
The result was a more immersive brand experience that evoked the style and spirit of the Texas ranch that traces its history to its founding by Samuel \u201cBurk\u201d Burnett in 1870. The ranch now spans roughly 260,000 acres of King County scrubland with a herd of about 7,000 cattle in northwest Texas. It has long been recognized worldwide as a top-level horse breeding, racing and cattle ranch.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore this, our setup was built for convenience \u2014 quick to put up, quick to take down,\u201d Myers said. \u201cWhat the students helped create is something entirely different. It reflects the true quality of our brand and creates a better experience for the customer while staying true to who we are.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Burnett, of course, carved a wide swath through Fort Worth\u2019s history, as a longtime president of the Fort Worth Stock Show, the namesake to Burnett Park and the Burnett Building.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The family\u2019s connection to TCU has run through the school\u2019s history, which itself dates back to 1873. Burnett\u2019s second wife, Mary Couts Burnett, helped establish the library that bears her name with a $3 million gift to the school in 1923. His great-granddaughter, the late Anne Burnett Marion, is the namesake of the School of Medicine at TCU.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Four Sixes, along with its iconic \u201c6666\u201d brand, is one of a handful of American ranches recognizable by name alone. Its already high profile expanded after \u201cYellowstone\u201d creator Sheridan, who grew up on his family\u2019s ranch in Cranfills Gap \u2014 about 90 minutes south of Fort Worth \u2014 put the ranch onscreen. Sheridan and his wife, Nicole, both avid equestrians, later were part of a group that purchased the ranch<\/a> in 2022, reportedly for $320 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Four Sixes had a traveling booth for various Western events, such as the Fort Worth Stock Show, to sell merchandise related to the ranch.<\/p>\n \u201cIt didn\u2019t really capture the essence of what it felt like to be on the ranch, to be in the big house, as they call it,\u201d said Charles Freeman, chair of TCU\u2019s department of fashion merchandising. \u201cIt didn\u2019t convey the heritage of Texas. They wanted to change that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The students spent time with Nicole Sheridan and Myers to understand what the story was they wanted to tell via their merchandise sold at these events.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey wanted everybody that came in to feel like they were welcome at the Four Sixes, whether you had never ridden a horse or owned a pair of boots,\u201d Freeman said. \u201cThey wanted everyone to feel at home at the ranch through their interaction in that space.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Freeman enlisted design professor Albert Marichal and other students who developed 3D renderings of the Supply House<\/a>, the portable structure used at the various venues.\u00a0<\/p>\n The result? A storefront fabricated by Dallas-based Bayer Brothers Sets that\u2019s fully reconfigurable and designed to travel, adapt to different venues and maintain a consistent visual identity throughout.\u00a0<\/p>\n The TCU students and faculty designed a cedar, barn-like space that could be moved to different locations around the country. The students changed the way the merchandise was displayed in the space and also helped pick the products to sell.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey sell everything from glassware to kitchenware, clothing and accessories, knives, some high-end jewelry, even their special spice blends and coffee \u2014 all licensed from the Four Sixes,\u201d Freeman said. \u201cThe students did a phenomenal job of picking products that people want.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Myers said the Four Sixes knew they were creating a lifestyle brand.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA part of that is making sure that the products that we carry represent that,\u201d she said. \u201cAnother piece of it is making sure that aesthetically people are having this premium brand experience.\u201d<\/p>\n The ranch\u2019s retail experience will always include the iconic red sweatshirt and red ballcap, but new items and designs were added with the students\u2019 input.<\/p>\n \u201cWe knew we wanted to push the envelope in terms of what products we\u2019re carrying and how they\u2019re displayed,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The TCU students have recommended some new more trendy and fashion-forward items that have already proven popular, said Myers.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSome have sold out and others are still in product development,\u201d she said. \u201cThe students have also been helpful in knowing the latest, trending colors for various products. They have done a tremendous job picking the products people want.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Carys Ciobanu, a senior fashion merchandising major at TCU, spent nine months as an intern contributing to product development, buying reports and digital merchandising.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA few of my designs are actually going into production, which has been amazing,\u201d said Ciobanu. \u201cAt most places, you might contribute ideas, but you don\u2019t always see them move forward. The Sheridans really trusted me with that, and that\u2019s something I\u2019ll carry with me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Even though the new display has only been up in a couple of different shows, it has made an impact on the sales side, Myers said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Freeman said the brand has seen about a 40% year-over-year sales increase.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMost competitors out there are seeing declining sales year-over-year right now, and they\u2019re posting double-digit growth,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s impressive.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The sales increase comes along at the same time of a renewed interest in the Western lifestyle that has come to be known as the \u201cYellowstone effect,\u201d named after the popular Paramount+ series that was created and produced by Taylor Sheridan.\u00a0<\/p>\n That impact is real, said TCU\u2019s Freeman.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat Sheridan universe, whether it\u2019s \u2018Yellowstone\u2019 or \u2018Landman\u2019 or whatever, that is something that for the person watching those shows, they want to be part of it, to have a connection to it,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Freeman points to himself as an example. Growing up in Florida, he was more familiar with beaches and that lifestyle, but since moving to Texas, he\u2019s found himself buying his first pair of cowboy boots.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFor someone like me, who\u2019s not a cowboy, it\u2019s a chance to be part of that story,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can repeat that story hundreds of times over, I think. That\u2019s part of what the impact of those shows has been.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Neither party is ready to rein in the partnership.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAnything that we can do to give back to the next generation is something that the ranch is very passionate about,\u201d said Myers. \u201cIt\u2019s been an amazing fit so far.\u201d<\/p>\n She said interacting with the students is also a chance to educate them about the ranch and to promote the Western lifestyle and agriculture industry as a whole.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat is something that we\u2019re very excited about,\u201d Myers said. \u201cThat\u2019s also a part of our partnership.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Freeman said TCU working with Four Sixes is a natural fit.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe more successful the Four Sixes is, the more successful Fort Worth is and the more successful this community is,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bob Francis is business editor at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.\u00a0 This <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/05\/10\/beyond-landman-tcu-students-co-star-in-taylor-sheridans-expansion-of-four-sixes-marketing\/”>article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org”>Fort Worth Report<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<img src=”https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=80&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><\/p>\n <img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/?republication-pixel=true&post=535421&ga4=2820184429″ style=”width:1px;height:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/05\/10\/beyond-landman-tcu-students-co-star-in-taylor-sheridans-expansion-of-four-sixes-marketing\/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } <\/script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/fortworthreport.org\/p.js”><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Bob Francis, Fort Worth Report May 10, 2026 Texas Christian University co-stars on Taylor Sheridan\u2019s \u201cLandman,\u201d but…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":787360,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,7371,7372,321757,3221,6270,12045,10077,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-787359","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-fort-worth","10":"tag-fortworth","11":"tag-highered","12":"tag-marketing","13":"tag-retail","14":"tag-taylor-sheridan","15":"tag-tcu","16":"tag-texas","17":"tag-tx","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116552431621816271","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=787359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/787360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=787359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=787359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=787359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Final-Selects_6666-Ranch-Pop-Up_20260223_R62B5413-scaled.jpg\")
The Four Sixes pop-up shop. (Courtesy | TCU, photo by James Anger)<\/p>\n
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