23.0°
Sold! The American Mail Center (above), located near Safeway, was acquired by the Office BOSS in January and will serve their retail customer base. Photo by Emiyl Rademacher |
CommentsThere's a New BOSS in Town
By Beth IngallsPublished: March 11, 2010
click for slideshow
Jeff Ridgel took a giant leap when he left his corporate career to purchase Bradbury’s, a small office supply store in Truckee, with his wife, Carrie, in 2006. As an accomplished engineer with four degrees, he’d been commuting from Truckee to manage radar systems and other technical projects for clients like Raytheon and the U.S. military, but the transient, frenetic lifestyle began to lose its luster. “Being part of a community is something I never got to do before,” says Ridgel. “We left the corporate world behind for a reason. The Office BOSS is a family operation, and we truly love being part of this community.”
With three children, one in college, one at Truckee High School, and a toddler, the Ridgels are involved in just about everything they can while operating a growing business. The Office BOSS delivery truck doubles as the Truckee High jazz band’s equipment bus for out of town gigs. “If you haven’t been on one of these band tours, you have to go!” Ridgel says, as only a proud supporter could. Between Truckee Rotary activities, civic meetings, soccer, and other community events, Ridgel has a full schedule and clearly loves taking part in everything he can, but he’s not all fun and games.
“After we bought Bradbury’s Office Supplies, we immediately began to expand. We kept the original name at first to maintain continuity, then added “Services” to make the acronym “BOSS” and reflect the fact that we were more than just office supplies. Now we’ve transitioned completely to our new brand, the Office BOSS, Inc.”
Located in the Airport Business Park, the Office BOSS has over 1,000 commercial customers around the region, a growing internet customer base, and offers a full range of office products, large format reproduction and copy services, computer and art supplies, office furniture, shipping services, and more. With the acquisition of the American Mail Center in the Safeway center in January, Office BOSS will have two locations in Truckee. According to Ridgel, “The American Mail Center business model will be cross-pollinated at both of the Office BOSS locations. At the airport facility, shipping services will be expanded to include FedEx, UPS, and USPS, while the American Mail Center location will now carry office products, art supplies, stationery, and gifts.” Once the new location is operational, the airport site will become more of the commercial hub for the business.
As part of a 3,500-member office supply co-op, the Office BOSS buys directly from product manufacturers to keep prices competitive. They also offer free delivery for orders over $50 across the entire region, giving customers the kind of service and satisfaction that Ridgel knows can’t be matched by their big box competitors in Reno, namely Office Depot and Staples.
“We are very excited about where we are — our market share has increased during this recession. Even though orders are down, our customers have increased. We are positioned well for when the economy comes back,” Ridgel says.
Boreal Mountain Resort is one satisfied customer. “When we need something special, they go out of their way to get it for us, and the staff is always nice,” says Cookie West, Boreal’s human resources director.
West admits that there have been times when she had to justify a slightly higher cost on certain items, but in the end, the ease of ordering and exchanging, getting items delivered quickly, and the high level of customer service that come along with using the company wins out.
“Plus, they care about the local community and they’re involved in the local community,” West says.
The Office BOSS is an advocate of the Think Local First program, and while it’s obviously a strategy that benefits the company’s own bottom line, it’s plain that for Ridgel the reasoning goes much deeper than that. “The impact of buying from local businesses is so extremely important to a community like ours,” he says. “If we don’t support local businesses that are involved and put dollars back into the place we love, the reasons we came here in the first place will be gone.”
That’s boss.
~ Comment on this story below.
0 Reader Comments so far ...
Be the first to comment on this article!