Industry News
Papermate Liquid Paper DryLine Grip Recycled Correction Film
This Papermate correction film includes an easy-use grip applicator. It is made from 72% recycled material and is great for correcting single and multiple lines of text. The super strong, tear-proof white correction film resists breaking and applies dry for instant corrections. The Papermate Liquid Paper DryLine Grip contains 472 inches of film which is nearly 100 inches more than the competition making this a great value!
Part No. PAP-1744480 (2 per pack)
Free & Easy Toner Cartridge Recycling!
OSS is pleased to offer an easy inkjet and laser toner recycling program to our customers!
The Link 360 Laser & Inkjet Cartridge Recycling program provides collection boxes and/or bags for your empty toner cartridges at your location or multiple office locations. All you have to do is place your empty toner cartridge back into its original box and drop it in the collection box. When the collection box is full simply seal it up and give it to your U.P.S. driver for prepaid pickup. Each collection container has a pre-addressed shipping label attached so returning your empties doesn’t get any easier! The collection containers are free too!
Call our office today and get started with the Link 360 Laser & Inkjet Cartridge Recycling program. A service from the earth friendly professionals at Office Supply Services!
Custom Filing Products Can Save You Money & Time!
Office Supply Services understands that your business needs are unique. That is why OSS helps you meet those needs with custom filing products designed to lower your records management costs. If you can design it, we can create it!
You can save money by having commonly used forms and documents printed directly on the divider or the folder. Keep your documents secure by incorporating fasteners that come in several styles and can be installed in any folder, in any position, best suited to your individual needs.
Indexes and Dividers help you quickly locate information within a folder. These custom designed indexes and dividers reduce the hassle and time spent locating information contained in complex charts and folders. Custom Pockets to contain x-ray film, deeds, CD’s and photos can be pre-installed in any location and provide the perfect way to secure documents that can’t be punched. We can custom imprint your labels too!
Color-Coding your files can also reduce your labor costs! Eighty percent of filing costs are spent on the labor required to pull and re-file documents. Studies have shown that executives/doctors spend an average of 3-4 hours per week looking for missing information. Implementing the correct coded filing system can cut your total costs by up to 40%. Specialty strip labels can be bar coded to digitally track the location of your records. Folders can be pre-labeled and applied to any standard end-tab folder during the production process. Simply provide us with a database and consider the job done! Alpha, Monthly, Numeric, Terminal Digit and Yearly labels are available. Call one of our filing specialists and we can assist you in designing a color-code system that meets your records management requirements. Your custom filing system may also save you valuable filing space too!
Manila and vinyl pockets, custom printed tabs and dividers, fasteners in several styles located in any position glued or embedded, and color-coded strip labels are all products that can be designed and utilized to help you reduce your costs and increase your productivity. A unique service provided to you from the professionals at Office Supply Services!
Study Points to Big Box Impact on Local Economies and It's Not Good!
by Simon De Groot
If you’re an independent dealer and you do nothing else after reading this issue, point your Web browser to www.AndersonvilleStudy.com, home of a remarkable study that confirms what most of use have known instinctively for years—big box operations aren’t good for the economic well-being of local communities.
Andersonville is a long-established neighborhood on the north side of Chicago with a commercial district known for its quaint facades and greenery, its history as a Swedish settlement, its current diversity, and, for now at least, a notable absence of big box outlets. However, disposable income in the community has been increasing, and that has drawn growing interest from national chains that see a potentially attractive new market.
So far, nothing too much to get excited about. It’s a pattern that’s been seen in literally thousands of suburbs and small town communities across America. The big guys move in with a barrage of advertising and promotion that drowns out their local, small business competition. And that local competition, battered by the onslaught and the accompanying increase in commercial rental rates, either moves on or closes its doors entirely.
What makes Andersonville different is how the local business community reacted to this threat. A coalition of the local business groups banded together and retained Civic Economics, an economic analysis and strategic planning consulting firm, to conduct a study aimed at determining the impact of big box operations on the local economy compared to homegrown companies. The results were eye-opening to say the least:
- For every $100 in consumer spending with a local firm, $68 remains in the Chicago economy
- For every $100 in consumer spending with a chain firm, only $43 remains in the Chicago economy
- For every square foot occupied by a local firm, the local economic impact is $179
- For every square foot occupied by a chain form, the local economic impact is only $105
The bottom line: Locally owned businesses generate a substantial local premium in terms of their value to the overall economic health of their communities—58 percent more in terms of raw dollar value and a whopping 70 percent more in terms of space occupied!
Another study in Austin, Texas, three years ago, found a similar pattern. For every $100 in customer spending at Borders, the total economic impact uncovered by the study was only $13. The same amount spent with a local merchant yielded more than three times the local economic impact at $45.
Given the financial and marketing muscle of the national chains and their expertise and experience in opening locations, it’s not hard to figure out why they’re so successful in penetrating new markets. But each time one of our customers spends a dollar, that represents a decision made about the future direction of his or her community.
Most of those decisions are made on the spur of the moment, with scant consideration to their long-term implications. Now, however, there’s an opportunity to educate customers and prospects and show them that buying locally is about a whole lot more than just being nice to a neighbor.
Bog box chains operate very efficient retail machines. But they also operate equally efficient export businesses, rapidly moving local dollars out of local communities and into the coffers of corporate giants literally thousands of miles away.
The folks in Andersonville and Austin deserve all the credit in the world for throwing the spotlight on the impact the big box presence has on the long-term health and viability of their communities.
It’s happening in your market, too; but most of your customers and prospects are blissfully unaware. Now, you’ve got the chance to do something about it.
