Combination of old and new work well for Coast
Service and technology keep company
competitive
Jack and Jim McClunn, operators of Coast Office Supply, Shrewsbury, talk about their expanding operation in their new location on Shrewsbury Avenue, Tinton Falls.
How does a family-run office supply business hold its own against the giant chains it competes with? By combining a tradition of excellent customer service with new technology, according to the owners of Coast Office Supply Inc., a Tinton Falls fixture for 30 years.
"We’re taking technology and leveraging it to better serve our customers," said John (Jack) McClunn, an owner of Coast Office Supply. "We’re upgrading our phone service and we have a Web site in development that will provide functions like order entries. It will be a portal for our clients to take care of their office supply needs. We’ll launch it later this year."
"We have to be able to offer them something the big guys can’t," added his partner and brother, James (Jim) McClunn. "That’s the dollar value of service. Time is money, and in office supplies, the less time a customer spends on ordering, the more successful we are."
According to the McClunns, the paperless world pundits predicted computers would create hasn’t materialized.
The McClunns say their quality service to their customers hasn’t changed since their great-grandfather, John F. McClunn, announced the opening of his office supply store in Manhattan.
"The paperless office is an ironic concept; it just hasn’t happened. More paper is used now than ever," said Jack.
"People thought non-use of paper would result from the advance of technology, but it’s really the complete opposite," said Jim.
"People want tangible things, reports and spreadsheets. You can’t drag a computer to a conference," added Jack.
Rather than putting the company out of business, technology has actually increased demand for office products and streamlined the supply chain, the brothers said.
"Our catalog has actually increased in size three times over what it was 20-25 years ago," said Jim. "Until the late 1970s, nobody was buying computer supplies; Post-its weren’t invented yet. PCs have revolutionized our industry.
"We’re also much quicker on our feet," he added, "and we’re trying to continually increase that by using technology. If somebody calls with an order today, we’ll have it tomorrow. We can get over 25,000 items by the next day."
While the product line has grown, the need to keep supplies on hand has diminished due to computer applications that have speeded delivery from wholesale suppliers.
As a result, the McClunns recently relocated Coast Office Supply from the 8,000-square-foot retail/office/warehouse space it occupied at 803 Shrewsbury Ave. to a 2,000-square-foot office space at 766 Shrewsbury Ave.
"We no longer need to carry the inventory and storage we used to," said Jim. "Our suppliers can ship overnight, so we’ve been able to shrink our warehouse needs. Technology really reduces the need to carry a large inventory."
Moving to smaller quarters has enabled the staff to work together more closely, boosting communications and improving the workflow, he said.
These add up to better customer service — a factor the McClunns say has made Coast Office Supply one of the area’s leading commercial office suppliers, and helped it go up against giants like Staples during a decade when 60 percent of the nation’s independent office suppliers closed their doors.
That same combination of technology and service has fostered the company’s growth as a supplier of office furniture over the past five years.
"We’ve been able to grow that part of the business, especially modular furniture," said Jim. He said the company provides office layout and design service using computerized programs for customers like Fort Monmouth.
"What makes us different is that remodeling an office can be disruptive," said Jack. "We work closely with customers and minimize that. We go the extra mile to make sure their operation goes smoothly. That’s what the word of mouth has been."
More technological advances are in the works. A new application being installed is a wireless system that will track deliveries and improve communications with drivers and the sales force.
"I have a lot of other ideas. I know what technology can do," said Jack McClunn, who took a hiatus from the family business in 1995 to become chief financial officer of ePresence, a successful Red Bank technology company he and his partners sold in 2000. "It will serve our customers better, and everything we do is focused on that."
The McClunns are carrying on a tradition of customer service that dates back four generations to their great-grandfather, John F. McClunn, who began working for a New York office supply purveyor in 1887. In 1909, he decided to strike out on his own and founded McClunn & Co. in downtown Manhattan where his customers included many of the prominent steamship lines of the era.
John F. was succeeded by his son, William, whose son Jack eventually took over the business. When he tired of the commute from his Rumson home, Jack McClunn opened Coast Office Supply on Shrewsbury Avenue in 1972.
"He brought a new model to the area," said Jack, referring to his late father. "He started selling office supplies aggressively by discounting and promising better service and prices and delivering on it."
"We’re an old family business, but we’re changing with the times," noted Jim.
"And we’re very proud of it," added Jack, displaying a 1909 announcement of his great-grandfather’s "new" business.
"The words say, ‘Offering fair, honest and straightforward methods, prompt and efficient service. Goods of the highest standard with the lowest possible prices,’" he said. "That’s still how we do business, even with wireless delivery tracking."