OFFICE 1 Master Franchisees Conference 2012

04 May 2012

The OFFICE 1 annual Global Conference took place on April, 27^th in Rome, Italy. It was attended by master franchisees and joint venture partners from ten countries in Africa, Asia and Europe.

The theme of this year’s Conference, organized and hosted with the logistics support of OFFICE 1 Italy, was “The New Office 1 and the New Age of e-commerce.” Conferees were updated on the latest developments and improvements of the OFFICE 1 E-commerce platform, already running in eight countries and were updated on some of the newest developments at OFFICE 1 such as its newly formed and fully staffed e-commerce Division, the Web Associates Program, Store in Store concept, and the new CES program (Corporate E-Solutions Services).

This conference was an opportunity for all OFFICE 1 team members to get updated, meet with each other and exchange views and experiences from all over the world. The conference ended with a dinner at a venue near the Pantheon which ended up late into the night after much toasts and libations.

Following the conference, there are firm plans for expansion of the OFFICE 1 E-commerce platform in Turkey, Czech Republic, Libya and Indonesia.

For more pictures from the Conference please go to the OFFICE 1 International fan page on Facebook.

OFFICE 1’s Director European Operations Promoted to Managing Director Worldwide

24 April 2012 International

Mr. Radostin Kirilov, who has been with OFFICE 1 for 11 years, most recently as Director European Operations, has just been promoted to the newly created position of Managing Director Worldwide at the European Headquarters of OFFICE 1 International.

Mr. Kirilov started his career as Store Manager in 2001 at OFFICE 1 Bulgaria. Three years later he joined OFFICE 1 International as Marketing Coordinator.

His promotion to Managing Director Worldwide is a recognition for his contribution to the growth of OFFICE 1 in launching many countries with innumerable stores during his tenure. In his new function, Radostin will be responsible for OFFICE 1’s global marketing and operations activities while also managing its investments in the Ecommerce Joint Ventures in France, Germany and the Czech Republic.

This promotion specifically recognizes his leadership and accomplishments in the transformation of OFFICE 1 from a retailer based company to a future oriented one deeply focused on Ecommerce and fully capable of assisting and supporting the company’s master franchisees and partners as they compete and gain recognition in the new Ecommerce environment. 

Mark Baccash in Top 100 OP Resellers 2012

18 April 2012

Every year OPI Magazine publishes a list of the Top 100 executives from leading resellers, wholesalers and dealer groups in the office products world. OPI’s goal is to reflect trends in this industry as well as to highlight the key players who influence the OP market.  

OFFICE 1 International’s CEO, Mark Baccash, has shared this honor for the 5^th year running. Please take a look at this featured article from OPI Magazine. The full list can be downloaded from the OPI website. 

OFFICE 1 Iceland Acquires A4 School and Office supplies

22 February 2012

On December 31st 2011, the OFFICE 1 Iceland Master Franchisee - Egilsson ehf bought all the shares of its main competitor in the market A4 Skrifstofa og skóli (A4 School and Office supplies).

After approval of the transaction by legitimate authorities, the merger of these two established brands is expected to start any moment.

The new company will be led by the current CEO of OFFICE 1 Iceland and owner of Egilsson ehf – Mr. Egill Þór Sigurðsson who stated: „Together we are stronger“ while discussing the merger.

The company is expected to hold the leading position on the Icelandic market. It will continue offereing quality products and services to its individual and corporate customers. The key product categories will be office, school and computer supplies, educational devices, arts and crafts, suitcases, board games and puzzles. This large assortment will be distributed through wholesale, B2B and 6 retail stores.

„Even though these two companies have been competing on the Icelandic market for years, their strengths have been in different categories and different channels. Therefore, to us it looks like the perfect match, and we look forward to continuing our good cooperation with our valued suppliers around the world.“ - Mr. Sigurðsson said.

The economy of Iceland was one of the first European economies to collapse a few years ago. Egilsson and OFFICE 1 were both affected. Fortunately, OFFICE 1 Iceland has surmounted these difficulties and now directs all its efforts towards greater business development.

OFFICE 1 Haiti Grand Opening

09 February 2012

OFFICE 1 Haiti officially launched on January 18^th, 2012.

Located in a high traffic area just outside the city center of Port-au-Prince, the new store offers to business and consumers a wide product assortment at unbeatable prices. In addition, the clients will benefit from the convenience of placing orders by phone or fax and free delivery.

OFFICE 1 Haiti celebrated its Grand Opening with special promotions and a 15% discount covering the whole assortment. More than 20 journalists attended the event which was covered by leading TV stations, newspapers and websites.

Future plans call for the launch of the OFFICE 1 e-commerce platform, a first for this emerging market.

The above photograph taken on opening day features Mark Baccash, OFFICE 1 International CEO as well as Claudel Dumas OFFICE 1 Haiti General Manager surrounded by his management staff.

For more pictures from the event please go to OFFICE 1 Haiti Grand Opening on Facebook.

Women Leaders at OFFICE 1

30 January 2012

As we all know women rule the office. They are the ones who more often than men do take the decisions regarding purchasing of office products and keep offices organized. They also run companies. If we say that in many firms it is still difficult for women leaders to be promoted to the highest management levels, in OFFICE 1 it is quite the opposite. Many of our Master Franchise operations are managed by very successful women leaders.

We would like to reveal their stories and philosophy and hope they will serve as inspiration for young and ambitious individuals. With this in mind we have started publishing blitz interviews with the amazing female General Managers of OFFICE 1 in 7 countries under the heading “Women Leaders at OFFICE 1”.

The first two interviews of Mrs. Darja Figelj of OFFICE 1 Slovenia and Mrs. Ingrida Jablonske of OFFICE 1 Lithuania are already published and can be found on the OFFICE 1 Facebook page. 

Glenn Reed Takes the Lead of OFFICE 1 Indonesia

23 January 2012

Mr. Glenn Reed who has been with OFFICE 1 since 1996, most recently as VP Operations worldwide, has wrapped things in the US to join OFFICE 1 Indonesia as General Manager reporting to Prabowo Widya Krisnadi, President Director of the Kawan Lama Group, a publicly held company and OFFICE 1 master franchisee.

Additionally Mr. Reed will be counseling and guiding in the building of a state of the arts Logistics Center in Jakarta to reflect the greatly expanded and ambitious plans of Kawan Lama in B to B and Ecommerce.

This is not the first time that Glenn has packed his bags and picked up assignments away from headquarters. He was the GM of OFFICE 1 Italy from 2003 to 2007 and thereafter head of OFFICE 1 China in 2007-2008.

During all his years of service, Mr. Reed has always been in the thick of battle where the stakes were highest and utmost gallantry and hard work were required. His move to Jakarta is a reflection of the growing importance of this populous and fast growing country and the great potential it holds for OFFICE 1 International.

“I have been proud and happy to be associated with Glenn all these years and am grateful to him for the numberless stores he launched in his long, loyal and productive career. May he continue to do great things and never lose his lust for adventure!” – said Mr. Mark Baccash, CEO of OFFICE 1 Superstores International Inc.

OFFICE 1 Explores Scandinavia and Russia

29 November 2011

OFFICE 1 Superstores International  contracted Agema Consulting AS,  a Norwegian consulting agency specialising in restructuring, turnarounds, M&A and assisting companies in entering new markets, to help it locate Scandinavian and Russian Master Franchisees and Joint Venture partners.

Agema Consulting AS already met with several contract stationers in the Russian regions of Krasnodar, Samara, St. Petersburg. It is expected that this search will result in the appointment of a master franchisee or regional developers for these areas.

OFFICE 1 Business Visit In Indonesia

24 November 2011

Business review meeting in Jakarta attended last week by Tasya Widyakrishnadi, OFFICE 1 Indonesia Project Leader, Radostin Kirilov, Director of Operations, and Mark Baccash, CEO, in what is undoubtedly OFFICE 1 latest and most beautiful superstore in the world.

Left to right: Radostin Kirilov, Tasya Widyakrishnadi, Mark Baccash.

Left to right: Tasya Widyakrishnadi, Mark Baccash.

For more interesting photos from OFFICE 1 Indonesia, please visit our Facebook fan page.

OFFICE 1 Regional Meeting in Bulgaria

15 November 2011

A regional meeting took place recently in Sofia, Bulgaria. It was attended by the OFFICE 1 Master Franchisees of Italy, Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and the OFFICE 1 International Team headed by Mr. Mark Baccash, CEO of the company.

The meeting’s main objective was to review the latest developments and improvements in the OFFICE 1 E-Commerce Platform and Associate Program already up and running in France www.office1.fr and Germany www.office1shop.de.

Following the meeting, Greece will be the first country to launch the E-Commerce project by end year followed by Italy sometime in 2012.