Two companies buy assets of Today's Office

by Karen E. Culp

SBJ Staff

Today's Office has seen its last tomorrow. The Springfield office furniture store sold the two franchises it held, each to different companies, and leased its building to Office Furniture USA, a division of Springfield Office Supply.

Bill Abbott is the owner of Springfield Office Supply, which also owns Springfield's Office Plus, an office supply and furniture store at 618 N. Stewart Ave. Abbott has acquired a lease on the building at 3861 South Ave., which will continue to be a showroom, and has taken over one of the franchises held by Today's Office, the Office Furniture USA franchise.

Another franchise the company held was with Steelcase, and that franchise has been taken over by Howsmon's Workplaces, a Joplin-based office furniture company that has a Steelcase dealership in Joplin.

Both companies closed on their deals in mid-January. Today's Office was previously owned by Marvin Moles, who still owns the building Abbott's company leases on South Avenue.

Howsmon's is owned by the Howsmon family and has been in business 38 years, said Ranse Oswald, who will serve as manager of the Springfield operation until a permanent manager is hired.

Howsmon's is setting up shop at 3045-L E. Chestnut Expwy. The store will be called Howsmon's Office Interiors and will open March 1. It will have a show floor and a staff of 12 to 15, Oswald said. Those employees will include about four outside salespeople, six installers and some designers.

Steelcase manufactures systems furniture for offices, including cubicle walls, work surfaces, cabinets and other types of system furniture.

Abbott described Steelcase's line as being higher grade, while the Office Furniture USA line is more of a mid-range grade, for smaller offices that perhaps can't afford to spend too much on furniture. Steelcase supplies systems for a number of large companies that need to get the maximum use out of their space, Oswald said.

"We may deal with customers who say, 'I have X number of square feet and I need to get 35 people in there. Can you help me?' That is a lot of times what we do. Other customers may come to us with a particular design in mind," Oswald said.

Though the Howsmon's store will sell only Steelcase furniture and three other brands, it will not sell office supplies, as the Office Furniture USA store eventually will.

The former Today's Office store has 5,800 square feet of showroom, and Abbott said he plans to add a line of supplies in the near future. Abbott carries some of the same furniture brands at the Springfield's Office Plus store that he carries at the Office Furniture USA store, and he has a "mini show floor" at that store, but a large portion of the store is dedicated to supplies.

"I will eventually put a supply line in the south store because I think there's a need for that down in that area, but for now we're focusing on the transition," Abbott said.

Abbott has been in the office furniture and supply business for 38 years. He took over Springfield Office Supply in 1988; the company was founded in 1910.

The Howsmon company is now in its second generation of ownership by the family, and John Howsmon will oversee the development of the Springfield operation.

With the Steelcase franchise in Springfield comes 700 to 800 customers for Howsmon's, Oswald said. The company is the fourth to hold the Springfield Steelcase franchise.

"We're here to stay. We've been a mainstay in Joplin for a number of years, and we plan to stick around in Springfield, too," Oswald said.

Both Howsmon's and Office Furniture USA have catalogs, as well. Office Furniture USA employs seven and Abbott said he will add more employees as needed. The Springfield's Office Plus store employs 23.

"This has been a tremendous opportunity for me and is a good marriage for our business.

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Bill Abbott's Office Furniture USA will take over the former Today's Office Showroom.[[In-content Ad]]