Photo Credit: Blaine Schultz
Nancy Kidd
On her first day at Office Furniture Resources Nancy Kidd was given two office chairs to sell. She sold the pair for $150. When she reported back to the basement that served as an office that evening, her boss handed her $75. She never looked back. Today Kidd is Vice-President of Wholesale.
Founded in 1991 by the husband-and-wife team of Tom and Suzanne Quinlan, the new and pre-owned commercial furniture store at 8787 W. Brown Deer Road previously had locations in Milwaukee’s Third Ward and on 76th Street before settling in Granville. OFR also has locations in Madison, Chicago and St. Louis. This podcast details the history and the human side of the long-running business.
OFR’s business encompasses retail, online, outside sales, wholesale as well as a decommissioning division for businesses that are downsizing or moving to repurpose furniture. The Granville location offers a large showroom for walk-in customers. “This style of space allows us to show off our business and all the traffic on Brown Deer Road makes it easy to find us,” Kidd says. “In this business, if you can’t see it you can’t sell it.”
Of the pandemic, Kidd admits it was a tough year. She says OFR was deemed an essential business and even saw sales from clients who needed equipment to support workers who transitioned to working from home.
Women’s Business Enterprise
Along with the Quinlans and Kidd, Stephanie Durbin is a co-owner. With at least 51 percent female ownership, OFR is a certified Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) member, collaborating with woman-owned, minority-owned, and small business companies to strengthen the business community and generate more opportunities for all.
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With an emphasis on pre-owned, OFR has made environmental impact a priority and takes a wholistic approach to furniture that has reached the end of its life cycle. For the most responsible furniture removal, OFR employs ReThink99 Landfill Diversion Service. This signature level of re-purposing adds waste to energy processing to bring the landfill diversion rate to 99%.
Find out more about the business at the Office Furniture Resources website.
