Update on Topdeq USA and National Business Furniture

The 11/30/2009 Office Furniture Trends post: Office Furniture Mail Order Company is Shut Down  detailed the recent shut down of high-end office furniture mail order provider Topdeq USA, by its German based parent company, TAKKT. In that post, it was noted that TAKKT also owns National Business Furniture (NBF), a mid-priced mail order provider of office furniture.

Office Furniture Trends received a request from NBF to respond to our 11/30/2009 post. The following is NBF's unedited response:

"The decision by TAKKT to close Topdeq USA actually doesn’t provide any insight to the performance of National Business Furniture. NBF is entering its 35th year of business on a very strong footing. Although our direct-mail catalog is still a large part of our business, we have successfully navigated the changing consumer landscape by developing an experienced national sales force, opening multiple warehouses and creating a powerful and successful website.

NBF’s performance consistently beats BIFMA’s numbers year after year. As we head into 2010, we feel NBF will continue its upward trend by being wherever our customers need us to be; whether it’s by mail, on the web or in person."

I wholeheartedly agree that the closing of Topdeq USA doesn't directly say anything positive or negative about NBF. It does however indicate challenges for NBF's parent company. My observation was (and still is), that the direct mail (catalog) sales channel is dying. Any organization that relies on direct mail catalog sales as their primary source of revenue will continue to face "challenging" times.

NBF is a respected player in our industry, and we look forward to competing with them long into the future.