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Company
president Edward D. Stanfield says, "The customer drives the
bus." One example of what he means is free delivery of even a
single item and placement of products wherever the customer wants,
even if that means each box of paper goes to a different room. Other
services include installation of office furnishings, 24-hour-a-day
ordering from the Internet site and service by sales
representatives.
Stanfield
said he hopes to open a Lincoln store by the first of the year. His
son Ed Stanfield Jr. has begun looking at Lincoln locations. The
senior Stanfield said he is seeking a downtown site: "We are
more of a traditional company, and I want to be in a traditional
location."
He
said Lincoln struck him as a "small but independent town"
with much good-sized business for its size. The first step, taken in
July, was to join the Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce and
to contact Mark Smith, director of economic development. Since then
Glenn Brunk sales representatives have secured a number of accounts
in Lincoln.
Stanfield
expects to hire one to three employees here, beginning with someone
to operate the store. "In Lincoln I envision more products and
more depth" in the retail store than in Springfield, he said.
At
first deliveries will be made from Springfield, and bulky products
bought by Lincoln customers may have to be stored in the Springfield
warehouse. Eventually Stanfield hopes for on-site storage and a
driver based in Lincoln. "The intent is to be a local company
in Lincoln," he said.
Glenn
Brunk Stationers’ motto is "Providing the best customer
service for 42 years." One aspect of this is knowing products
and their relative differences. For example, Stanfield asked, why
sell three different staplers? "Each has a particular
niche," he said, and Glenn Brunk salespeople have to be able to
explain what they are. "We’re not the grocery store," he
explained. "We survive because of service."
Stanfield,
who worked as an adult rehabilitation counselor for 10 years, is
proud of being the only retail agent in Springfield for replacement
toner cartridges remanufactured by United Cerebral Palsy. Both
disabled and non-disabled people participate in rebuilding the
cartridges, which are fully guaranteed; the cartridge will be
replaced or money refunded if it fails while it still contains
toner.
Stanfield
said there is a huge difference between remanufactured cartridges
and older ones that were refilled and then leaked or did not work.
United Cerebral Palsy has a cartridge analyzer that tells what
components need to be replaced. The rebuilt cartridge is then
reanalyzed to make sure it passes before it is boxed. Stanfield said
the analyzer can even predict future failure so a component can be
replaced before it fails. "There is no down side to it,"
he said. Prices are one-half to one-third off retail; the cartridge
is "as good as or better than" new; and proceeds go to
programs for disabled children and adults.
[to top of second column in
this article]
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The
Glenn Brunk store at 2222 S. Sixth Street in Springfield is
surprisingly small for a company that sells office furniture as well
as supplies. Stanfield said he furnishes individual offices or whole
buildings but "most of the work is done in our customer’s
office" using catalogs and computer modeling. Furniture brands
offered include HON, Creative, Indiana Desk, National (a division of
Kimball Industries), LUI and DMI. Some ready-to-assemble furniture
from Bush, O’Sullivan and Sauder is available, but Glenn Brunk
delivers it assembled.
The
business also offers repaired scratch-and-dent office furniture.
Stanfield buys it from wholesalers sight unseen, refurbishes it and
sells it at 40 percent of the retail price. Just now, he said, he is
long on lateral files.
The
business was founded in 1955 by Glenn and Mary Brunk. Mr. Brunk was
a former combat medic who landed at Omaha Beach on D-Day. The Brunks
began business from their garage, offered only one product —
billing machine ribbons — and installed them free. Stanfield said
the installation was a major factor because the ribbons went
"deep in the bowels of the monster machines." The business
moved first to Fifth Street and then to its current location on
Sixth Street, next door to Gallagher’s steakhouse.
After
Glenn died in 1972, Mary Brunk ran the business. In 1988 she hired
Malinda Stanfield as bookkeeper, then office manager, and in 1997
the Stanfields bought the business with the provision that the name
not change. Ed Stanfield, who had managed copier dealerships, made
the shift from the hardware to the supplies that go in it. He said
it has been "an absolute howl ever since."
All
three Stanfield sons work in the business. Ed Jr. is a sales
representative, Joe is a delivery driver, and Bill, a Champaign
resident, works on his day off. Glenn Brunk Stationers also employs
two other sales representatives, another driver and a bookkeeper. Ed
Stanfield Sr. is president, and Malinda Stanfield is
secretary-treasurer.
The
company stocks a larger variety of paper rolls for such machines as
cash registers and credit card machines than anyone else in
Springfield, Ed Stanfield said. As with other bulky products, Glenn
Brunk will store excess rolls for the customer. Each customer has a
separate skid in the warehouse, and employees can easily see when
one is running low. Among products in the warehouse are Willamette
Industries boxes made in Lincoln and Sphinx paper for a business
that requires paper made in a union mill.
The
company sells in quantities ranging from individual envelopes and
notepads to reams and skids of paper. Orders are placed twice daily,
delivered at 2 a.m., opened and repackaged for customers, with
drivers on the road by 9 a.m. Stanfield said he envisions a similar
procedure for the Lincoln store.
[Lynn
Shearer Spellman]
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Chamber
prepares for Christmas parade
[OCT.
2, 2001] Lincoln’s
annual Christmas parade will be in downtown Lincoln on Thursday,
Nov. 29, at 7 p.m. "May Your Days Be Merry and Bright" is
the theme for this year’s parade, co-sponsored by the
Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce and the city of Lincoln.
The
chamber is accepting entries from businesses, industry, governmental
agencies, schools, civic and not-for-profit groups, and religious,
youth and charitable organizations. There is no charge to enter, and
cash prizes will be awarded.
The
evening parade features marching bands, lighted floats and vehicles,
and military marching units. Groups are encouraged to use motorized
vehicles in an attempt to reduce the number of walking entries.
"We’re also looking for a business or a group to sponsor the
Santa Claus float," says chamber director Bobbi Abbott.
"The parade’s final entry is the Santa float, and it needs to
be impressive!"
Interested
participants may call the chamber of commerce at 735-2385 or e-mail chamber@lincolnillinois.com
for an entry form or further information.
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The
Chamber Report