2010 Office 1 E-Shop launch in France

04 May 2010

(West Palm Beach, Florida.) -- OFFICE 1 SUPERSTORES INTERNATIONAL Inc. today announced the launch in France of its first Web-Franchising joint venture.

OFFICE 1’s joint venture partners are Romain Zwiller, owner of two office products superstores in Aubiere, France and Celia Zwiller, an E-Commerce entrepreneur and owner of a site selling a vast assortment of office chairs at:  www.direct-siege.com

This will be the first purely E-commerce joint venture for OFFICE 1 and a test of its new web-franchising concept. OFFICE 1 franchisees will operate stockless and store-less utilizing the OFFICE 1 E-Shop platform from which to sell to customers with Soft-Carrier acting as the logistics supplier.

Further entries though joint ventures in other major European markets are programmed for 2010 and it is expected that a number of OFFICE 1 master franchisees in existing markets will add web-franchising to their traditional retail franchises starting with Italy and Ireland.

OFFICE 1 in Indonesia

01 May 2010

(West Palm Beach, Florida.) -- OFFICE 1 SUPERSTORES INTERNATIONAL Inc. today announced the forthcoming introduction of OFFICE 1 superstores in Indonesia.

The Master Franchise, the Kawan Lama Group, was founded in 1955 in Jakarta as a small family business and has evolved to become the market leader in commercial and industrial retail. The group runs a chain of 40 home improvement stores under the brand of American hardware giant ACE and also operates, “Index / Informa”, a furniture retail chain, with 24 outlets offering a full range of furnishings for the home, office and commercial spaces.

At a meeting held in Sofia, at Office 1’s European Headquarters, Prabowo Widyakrisnadi, the President Director of Kawan Lama Retail Group and OFFICE 1’s CEO, Mark Baccash, signed the Master Franchise Agreement and shared their vision for the long-term growth of OFFICE 1 on the vast Indonesian market.

Mr. Widyakrisnadi stated that in line with its mission, “to be the leading retailer of hardware and lifestyle products in Indonesia, Kawan Lama will be building state-of-the-art shopping malls in convenient locations throughout the country. These modern facilities will feature flagship stores of Ace Home Center and Informa as well as OFFICE 1 as anchors, making these malls a one-stop shop for home improvement and lifestyle.”

The launch of the first OFFICE 1 outlet in one of these malls is scheduled for the end of this year.

The OFFICE 1 entry in the rapidly developing market of Indonesia follows upon the 2009 launch in the Philippines with the Rustan Group, and provides a strong platform for further expansion in the Asian continent.

Office1 International at Paperworld 2010

01 February 2010 Frankfurt, Germany

Frankfurt, Germany, February 1 2010. Office 1 Superstores International attended the annual Paperworld fair in Frankfurt. The event gathers sector-relevant suppliers from all over the world to share the latest trends and innovations in the Paper, Office Supplies and Stationery industry.

Office 1’s Purchasing team was onsite meeting various international partners as well as interesting new vendors. Initial talks were held with suppliers from China, India, Germany and USA. The new agreements will be announced later in 2010.

At the end of a challenging and tough 2009, the beginning of 2010 already shows some positive signs and optimism. The majority of players in the stationary and office products industry are coming up with innovative ideas and cost-saving solutions for their clients.

An interesting trend is the raising importance of retail items. A vast number of vendors were represented, offering a huge selection of gifts, luxury items, books, cards as well as craft and hobby assortment.

Our team also met several Office1 Master Franchisees, among them – Azerbaijan, Slovenia, Slovakia, Lithuania and Iceland. Each country has taken various steps to make the most of the difficult market conditions, entering new sales channels and expanding their assortment. Many franchisees are planning to open the ever more popular Online shops.

To learn more about Office 1 International, please contact us or visit our Facebook page.

E-Commerce Conference in Sofia

11 November 2009

Sofia, Bulgaria, November 7, 2009. Office 1 Superstores International held a conference attended by a group of master franchisees  to introduce the new OFFICE 1 Web Platform and unveil future plans for expanding the OFFICE 1 franchise concept to E-Franchising or virtual franchises without stores or stock.  

The agenda featured discussions regarding the opportunities and challenges of going online and the benefits of developing a global strategy for cooperation in the fast growing e-commerce market. Mark Baccash, President and CEO, announced to the group of attending master franchisees the forthcoming launch of OFFICE 1 E-Commerce joint ventures in a number of Western countries following up on the very successful launch of OFFICE 1 Ireland in early 2009 as an E-commerce only company.

For further information regarding opportunities in  E-Franchising please contact the OFFICE 1 European Headquarters at europe@office1international.com.

OFFICE1 announces first virtual Master Franchise

18 August 2009 West Palm Beach, US

Office 1 Ireland has launched a state of the art e-commerce website that marks the symbolic transition between bricks and mortar retail to state of the art e-shop.

The Office 1 Ireland website will provide customers with a user friendly platform presenting 22,000 office products to be delivered to end user across Ireland or the UK within twenty four hours.

This will be a pure ecommerce virtual solution with no warehousing, no delivery vans, no paper catalogues and a limited staff. The focus is to provide customers with a unique online shopping experience and exceptional service.

Basic to the model is a single source Logistics Supplier/wholesaler in each country. Spicers Wholesaling in Ireland and VOW (formally Kingfield Heath) in the UK.

The order process is very simple and offers the customer an easy to use enjoyable experience. The site can offer comprehensive B2C and B2B functionality that targets all levels of customers; from home and student customers to large corporate accounts.

Please visit OFFICE 1 Ireland here and OFFICE 1 UK here.

OFFICE 1 Peru: Rapid Expansion

17 August 2009 Lima, Peru

A year after the inauguration of its first store in Lima, OFFICE 1 Peru launched its eleventh outlet this month despite a difficult economic situation worldwide.

Chacarilla store

Ejercito store

Begonias store

Three new OFFICE1 locations will be launched in the next three months, followed by store openings in the cities Arequipa and Trujillo, both major economic centers in Peru.

Guadalajara Launch

23 July 2009 Guadalajara, Mexico

OFFICE 1 OPI magazine article

01 May 2009

Recent publication in OPI magazine May issue.

(click image to enlarge)                                                                     (Image source: opi.net)

OFFICE 1 Global Franchisee Meeting

23 February 2009 Istanbul, Turkey

On February 19 and 20, the 10th Annual  OFFICE1 Master Franchisee Meeting took place in Istanbul. Messrs  Sacit and Mehmet Samli, master franchisee for Turkey, hosted the meeting at the Sheraton Princess in Maslak.

President and CEO Mark Baccash recapped the group’s developments in the past year and reviewed the prospects for growth in the context of the global economic crisis.

Speakers from various Office 1 countries presented the progress of their franchises and participated in discussions on prospects for product sourcing, collective buying and how best to face current economic conditions.

The meeting ended on a high note at a fish restaurant on the Bosporus with all participants looking forward to a difficult but manageable year and to the next global gathering.

OFFICE 1 launches new Spanish website

03 November 2008 West Palm Beach, US

OFFICE 1 has launched Spanish version of its corporate website i.e. www.office1international.com. This newly added feature will allow Office 1 to provide an “in language” experience for the Company’s Spanish speaking customers around the world.

With the recent addition of Mexico, Peru and Venezuela to OFFICE 1 family, the launch of Spanish corporate portal was logical step. Our new website www.office1international.com/es/ will enable Spanish speaking customers to learn about the Company and its history and read about our current projects and events. Americas is a market with great importance to OFFICE 1 that we have long kept in our sight. It is now that our unique concept can be presented in this part of the world in its native tongue.

Additional updates and resources will become available in the coming months.

Visit OFFICE 1 Spanish website here.