Bill Zimmermann doesn’t answer after-hours calls at his business, Office Outfitters, but he’s awfully glad his friend Benjamin Sasse did in 2007.
Zimmermann, who was completing an MBA at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, had run out of printer ink and couldn’t find any at Shopko in Waupaca. He called Lighthouse Office Supplies at about 5:45 p.m., and Sasse told him the store was closed but to come down and he could get some ink.
The two talked, and Zimmermann learned Sasse was leaving the area and getting ready to sell the business.
Zimmermann was ready to move on from a corporate position but didn’t think he would find an opportunity in Waupaca, a place he loves and where he hoped to remain. After overcoming some reservations from his wife, Mary, the Zimmermanns purchased the business and soon changed the name to Office Outfitters.
“It was an opportunity for us to stay in Waupaca,” Zimmermann says. “We love it here.”
They demonstrate their commitment to the community by returning 50% of their net proceeds to community groups.
“We run the business as a ministry,” says Zimmermann, who is a member of the Christian business leaders group C12. “We have a large presence.”
That presence is obvious, with a delivery van zipping around the Waupaca area and steady traffic streaming in and out of the retail store.
Office Outfitters focuses on office supplies, office furniture, printing, packing and shipping, and promotional products. The business has 12 employees but can scale up for large projects like installing workstations and conference room furnishings.
People can order items at Office Outfitters’ e-commerce site and receive next-day deliveries in the Waupaca area, as well as once-a-week deliveries in outlying areas including Waushara and parts of Shawano counties.
The business also has benefitted from adaptability. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it launched Ink Box, which came together on a slow Saturday. Zimmermann crunched some numbers and realized it didn’t pay for the store to stay open on Saturdays. He also recalled his need for ink after hours and all the times he had walked through an airport and marveled at the variety of items sold through vending machines.
A vending machine, branded Ink Box, was installed outside the store and did well enough that he decided to invest in three more. The idea was to target communities where Shopko stores had closed, so he found sites in Wautoma, Ripon and Adams.
While initial sales warranted the investment, Zimmermann says it might take some tweaking for further expansion of Ink Box.
“It serves its purpose with our banker’s hours and no weekends,” Zimmermann says.
And like the rest of Office Outfitters’ pandemic response, it demonstrated just how nimble the business could be. Zimmermann says 2020 ended up being Office Outfitters’ most successful year up to that time.
He credits the creativity and hard work of his employees for that success and for Office Outfitters’ ongoing ability to make a big impact in a small community.
