As the name implies, Office Centre/Teacher’s Pet, Crowley, Louisiana, combines two businesses in one. Office Centre offers 35,000 products focused on business needs, while Teacher’s Pet sells an estimated 65,000 items focused primarily on K-12 schools.
According to CEO Jason Guillory, nearly 70 percent of the company’s $3.5 million annual sales are to schools. Interestingly, online accounts for just three to five percent. The company has two retail stores and a seasonal satellite store, but these also account for a small percentage of revenue. So, what’s the moneymaker?
“We do a lot of what we call ‘backdoor retail business,’” Guillory explains. “Big-ticket items like classroom furniture, lockers, entire playgrounds—anything school. We do a little of everything, so we always have something going on.”
Building relationships
Guillory believes the company’s success is thanks to a few intertwined factors. “The first is personal service and relationships,” he begins. “We don’t have voicemail. Our customers talk to a real person when they call. We also do everything we can never to tell a customer ‘no.’ Just because it’s not in our catalog doesn’t mean we can’t find it. If a customer asks for something we don’t offer, I will try to open an account with a vendor that carries it. And when we do installs, we don’t just drop the items off. We leave them ready for kids to play with in the playground and workers to start working at their desks.
“We also have an excellent group of people that I don’t have to micromanage, which makes my job easier,” he continues. “We have six inside people and eight sales reps—one’s been with us 25 years. Our reps know time management and are held accountable. When they go to an area, they know to see as many people as they can and build relationships.”
A three-way win
One of the company’s newer sales reps has been a triple win, as Guillory explains: “There was an office product dealer in a parish next to Crowley. We would try to get business from there, but its customers were loyal. When the company closed down, one of the sales reps and his wife started their own business. He had loyal customers and did well for six or seven years. Then, three years ago, he said he couldn’t do it anymore. So, I suggested he work with us. I told him I’d supply everything he needed, pay him a commission and all he’d have to do was sell. After lunch, he went out, made one phone call and came back and we had a deal. He’s doing great—he still calls on his customers and we have more business.”
Locally speaking
The buy local trend has been extremely successful for Office Centre/Teacher’s Pet, partly because it is a two-way street. “I could go down the road 40 miles to buy a new car or insurance and maybe save myself a few thousand dollars,” says Guillory. “But we patronize those that patronize us and keep our dollars local.”
But while the company sells locally, it’s also happy to accept federal dollars: “The government spends a lot of money on school programs. The schools have to spend the money and because we have relationships, they spend a lot of it with us. They will tell us to send an invoice for X amount and then we send them the product as needed.”
Guillory has considered doing business in less rural areas in the state, including Baton Rouge and New Orleans, but has concluded that it wouldn’t make sense: “If I do business in a bigger town, I’d have to work twice as hard to get jobs and make the same or less. With a $100,000 project in a big town, I’d end up grossing 10 percent where I can make 25 percent in a rural area with a lot less headaches and travel.”
Headquarters: Crowley, Louisiana
Top management: Jason Guillory, CEO
Main wholesaler: Essendant
Annual sales: $3.5 million
Percentage of online sales: 3%- 5%