OfficeWorks Back to the 80's

"The whole concept of what was to become Officeworks started with a discussion in late 1983 with a former colleague from my sales team at Xerox. He had left Xerox a year after I had and his new role was the Territory Manager for Herman Miller. His top objective was to find a new dealer for the Central Indiana market. Despite being two years into a new career in commercial real estate with the FC Tucker company, I agreed to explore the opportunity. After researching Herman Miller and the contract furniture industry, I saw the potential for a $3 - $5M business. Following several recruiting visits to Herman Miller's HQ in Michigan, we agreed with a handshake to become the new Herman Miller dealer in Indianapolis.

The following six months were a whirlwind of activity, involving the creation of a new company, building and furnishing a showroom, hiring team members, and creating the first business plan. On October 1, 1984, Officeworks opened in a vacant office in Merchants Plaza with borrowed and broken furniture. Sales for that year were a modest $392.00. However, by 1986, sales grew to $2.1M, and Officeworks became one of the five original Office Pavilions in the country, a new distribution concept from Herman Miller. Leveraging Herman Miller's strong resources and assembling a talented and engaged team, Officeworks experienced a growth track of over 500% in the next three years, reaching $10.8M in sales by the end of the decade. I recall those early years as a time of excitement, anticipation, fear, and "now what?" As with most small businesses, the team wore many hats, including unloading 18-wheelers on the loading dock at both Merchants and Castleton."