Posted on 02/18/2006 5:49:18 AM PST by TaxRelief
(snip)....Under a three-year contract that went into place Feb. 1, state agencies are directed to buy all their office supplies from Atlanta-based Office Depot. In the past, agencies had been allowed to choose from several companies, including several North Carolina suppliers.
"The small businesses are the ones who pay the most taxes back to the state," said Christopher Sharpe, vice president of Piedmont Office Suppliers in Greensboro. "It won't put us out of business, but it will definitely hurt the bottom line."
He estimated the contract will cost six independent suppliers in the state more than 100 jobs and $24.5 million a year in sales. The companies will also lose business from city and town governments that buy under the state contract.
The businesses appealed unsuccessfully to the state Department of Administration, which oversees the contract, to be added to a list of alternate suppliers that agencies could use if they were unhappy with Office Depot or couldn't find what they needed there, Sharpe said.... (snip)
...."Based on the information provided by Office Depot, they have 28 stores located in NC that create 1,100 jobs and substantial revenue in this State,"....(more)
(Excerpt) Read more at heraldsun.com ...
Good eye! The very best kind of "supply chain management". And the leading national chain store to tap in order to make it happen. Someone has their act together and the sore losers are singing the blues.
Fact is, this kind of consolidation of procurement is only possible with large successful national supply entities such as Office Depot...over 20+ years in business 100+ stores nationwide and an excellent value story for major customers requiring services at all levels. A terrfific top management team and solid management at all levels right down to the store level.
The truth is at a certain level of supply,which this is, little "mom and pop" supply makes no sense at all and the economies of scale are simply not possible to achieve.
This story needs Office Depot's "benefits" story added to it for the average serious corporate buyer to see the true "value-added" side of this good business decision.
Congratulations on a solid business decision well made.
ADD: Correction. Over 1000 stores and numerous regional supply depots including motorized delivery as well as UPS strategic delivery, nationwide.
Final Add: Office Depot is often erroneously "lumped in" with the the "Big Box" chain stores which they are Definitely Not and strive mightily to avoid by structuring their business model to assiduosly steer past the costly ,low net income business that "Big Box" retailers inevitably encounter.
It is because of their "lean ,mean and high service" to small and large business customers that thier success lies.
Agreed. Tax payers the big winners here.
I especially object to the practice them having a display model of a product out on the floor, with the little slip-holder full of stock slips when they don't actually have any stock of the product in-store.
In the case of Seattle it's not because they're out of the product but they never actually had the stock in the store.
So instead of saying, up-front on the display "This product is in our warehouse and must be delivered in a day or two" you take the slip down, wait in line for help and then wait for the person helping you to search for the product and then come back only to tell you, "We don't keep those in stock here. Would you like us to order it and have it delivered?"
All I can do is stand there and think, "WTF did I walk down here for? I came down because I've seen what I want here before and I assumed you actually carried it in the store. If I'd known I was going to have to order it and have it delivered, I would have sat on my skinny ass in my warm office and ordered it on the f% #ing internet."
There's nothing that pisses me off more - in terms of business - than having my time wasted and this minor bait-and-switch that Office Depot pulls really, really gets my goat.
Thanks for that comment. Actually Office Depot will very likely replace those estimated 100 "lost jobs" with many more as service commences. They have an excellent tho not as well publicized trackrecord of active hiring at the local level and promotion from within.
This will be a major success story for the state of North Carolina from a number of standpoints.
So how long have you been working for Office Depot?
Those "stock slips" that irritate you really are not meant to indicate actual inventory on hand at the store level.
You are not alone in thinking that that is their purpose and in being disappointed.
You best hope for satisfaction is direct contact with sales staff at the store level. What they don't have in instore inventory is almost always available from nearby stores or supply depots. And all of it is addressable on instore computer terminals.
Don't go away mad. Let 'em know your concerns. They will bend over backwards to take care of you and keep you as a customer. (Add: some locations need help and mgmt. is very aware of it.)
Sounds like it!
Actually they have a great new store in my town that came in and replaced a few going out of business stores.
My family and neighbors shop there a lot and we are reasonably happy with their products,services and the like.
I wonder if they have any "cheer leader" openings?
Tee Hee!
Actually these office supply contracts are one of the greatest opportunities for quick efficiencies. My personal experience is that normal savings ranges when migrating to a competitively bid contract with companies like Staples or OfficeDepot will be in the 25-50% range. The reason is that markup with many of the smaller distributers and retail outlets is huge, and because office supplies are a pure commodity play, the advantages of scale and logistics capacity are enormous.
I have no quarrel with Office Depot. In fact, they're my main outlet for office supplies. What I DO have a quarrel with is the state commandeering the rights of small towns and cities when it comes to spending taxpayer dollars.
Spending should be in the hands of local governments where the taxpayers can keep track of how THEIR money is spent. It gives the taxpayers more control over expenses.
Notwithstanding my comment in post 13 above, since it is the NC state government that we are talking about, I remain skeptical that the contract negotiated was as cost effective as it could have been, and also that there was not corruption and some form of quid pro quo involved in the decision!
I had a not so great experience with Office Depot (25 miles from my home). I took the little ticket to the counter to purchase a voice recorder for my daughter, and they had to "check with other stores" to see they had any in stock.
Later that day, I received a phone call that "it was no longer available", and I would have to choose another product. First of all, it was 25 miles away, and secondly, I had made a careful, time-consuming choice from the items on display. THEY SHOULD HAVE REMOVED THE DISPLAY.
I declined to return to choose a MORE expensive recorder that also might not be available. I asked for a credit to my credit card.
To this day I have been unable to get that credit, except as a store credit, and because they have my funds my daughter still does not have a recorder, one year later. Office Depot is just too far away. Maybe one day I will get back there, but I doubt it.
Kinda like Wally, huh?
This appears not to be a state directive to local governments, but only to state agencies, which is appropriate.
Actually, closer to Amazon, since everything is shipped directly to the end users from various warehouses around the country.
I have decided not to give them anymore of my business. Went shopping for a new desk and found out that Office Depot carries an entire line of Christopher Lowell furniture. I choose not to shop anywhere that promotes sodomites.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.