Feature

THE PRODUCTS WE SELL

What are the office products that we remember the most? Industry peers and the OPI team have been putting their heads together and come up with an eclectic mix of the interesting and iconic – and some best-sellers to boot

Bulldog clip

“I have seen many products come and go, but some have been around for centuries and still have a useful purpose. The humble pencil has been around since the 1600s, the stapler since the 1800s and the versatile bulldog clip since the early 1900s. We have many core lines that were pretty much ‘right first time’.” – Tina Russell, Director of

Purchasing, Nemo and Office Club

Macintosh Classic

“In October 1990, Apple launched the Macintosh Classic, a sub-$1,000 computer. I was working at Björsells (which became Staples and is now part of Lyreco), which was a Macintosh reseller, and thought it was a great opportunity to sell within our industry. Our Mac department and Apple Sweden said this was out of the question. We all know what happened to Apple after this...” – Michael Alfinson, Procurement Manager, AllOffice

Post-it Note

What started life as the humble Press ’n Peel, the Post-it Note has become a global success for 3M. Launched in 1980, today there are more than 4,000

Post-it products.

USB flash drive

Launched at the end of the 1990s, USB flash drives became ubiquitous in the 2000s. With their ultra-portability, ever-expanding storage capacity and cheap price, they were a favourite giveaway at events and exhibitions.

Rexel Auto Feed shredder

ACCO Brands introduced the world’s first Auto Feed shredder to the market in 2008. Says Mark Griffiths, Director of Neon Orient: “The Auto Feed shredder was based on true consumer insight and featured groundbreaking technology. It was not without some false starts, but provided huge consumer benefits and is still going strong today. You can tell it’s a good thing as this is now the category standard.”

HP LaserJet

The first HP LaserJet was released in 1984, creating an entirely new printer market. During the 1990s, it became a very popular printer choice for offices and schools. It still is.

FriXion pen

“Smooth writing, erasable and wonderful colours. I never imagined FriXion pens would make it into the top 10 so quickly! Not long after they launched, Customer Services called me to explain that a client had gone to a meeting, taken notes, left the notebook on the dashboard of the car (in the sun)... and the information had disappeared. The customer was distraught. A quick call to Pilot and we had a solution – put the notebook in the freezer! The words reappeared.” – Andrea Kenna, Sr Director Core

Categories for Category, Commerce Platform & Data Management, Office Depot Europe

Pandemic products

COVID-19-related products such as hand sanitiser and face masks are now business supplies staples. Also included in this category are air purifiers, which were already becoming popular in the workplace before the pandemic. Designed to help create healthy indoor air spaces as part of the overall well-being trend, air purifiers are now perfectly positioned as a potent tool in the fight against airborne viruses such as coronavirus. In fact, the AeraMax Pro from Fellowes Brands and the Leitz TruSens range are both North American Office Products Awards (NAOPA) 2021 finalists (see page 100 for the full NAOPA shortlist). September/October 2021

Mobile phones

“The big ‘stone in the pond’ has been technology and the ripples have been felt everywhere, both personally and across our industries. As an example, it was in 1991 that I was the proud owner of a brand new British Telecom Ivory ‘transceiver’. You don’t always recognise the significance of a new thing until much later.

Also, in those days, the idea of a photocopier in a home was unthinkable. 20 years later, a copier, printer and scanner device was almost expected. Now, we are emailing, scanning, PDFing, Googling, WhatsApping, all from highly portable mobile devices – we’re doing practically everything but printing.”

– Steve Robinson, General Manager, UK & Ireland, Safescan

Sit-stand desk

As employers have edged towards making the office a healthier environment for staff, the popularity of ergonomic furniture has risen alongside it.

Especially sit-stand desks are becoming more and more sophisticated, with integrated software designed to encourage movement throughout the working day.

As a result of the pandemic and increased work-from-home, sit-stand desks are now frequently requested in all working environments.

Coffee

Sales in the breakroom category were going great guns for dealers before March 2020, with coffee leading the way. As employees slowly return to the workplace, they will likely need their cup of joe even more. Thankfully, vendors have upped their game with expanded coffee options, including all-important touchless technology for coffee machines from companies such as Nespresso Professional. The OPI team loved these pictures so much we couldn’t resist sharing them. By way of background, John George, Managing Director of JGBM – and son of company founder John George Sr – says: “JGBM started out as the sole UK distributor for Silver Reed typewriters, then Sanyo dictation machines were added.”

John George Sr with the newly launched Silver Reed 25CE Golfball typewriter in 1980.

Heading off to a dealer in 1981 with an urgent order for three Silver Reed manual typewriters.

John George in 1983 with an EX55 Daisywheel launch poster on the wall.

Interesting to note that the two brands in the photo – Silver Reed and Sanyo – no longer exist.