OFIS Furniture LLC recently marked the first anniversary of its showroom in North Brunswick.
In business for more than three decades, OFIS Furniture built its business by buying the biggest brands in chairs, desks and other office furniture from closing or downsizing companies, refurbishing the items, then selling them at deep discounts to other businesses. Last December, however, when it became clear that remote work was likely here to stay, owner Russell Castro opened his showroom to the public.
“The longer people were sitting on folding chairs in their makeshift home offices, the clearer it became that they needed an upgrade, and I knew we could help,” Castro said. OFIS Furniture offers chairs from such makers as Steelcase, Herman Miller, Knoll, Haworth, Bernhardt and others, as well as sit/stand desks, soft seating, couches, club chairs, work pods, stacking chairs, side chairs, ottomans, benches, cubicles and more — at 75%–80% off retail prices. Everything is refurbished, cleaned, sanitized and sold with extended warranties.
“Customers tell me they had taken their office furniture for granted and never realized they had been sitting on a$1,200 chair at work,” Castro said. “When their backs start to hurt, a cheap chair from Amazon isn’t going to cut it. We’re experts at providing refurbished high-end furniture at low prices to companies, so we figured why not start selling to the public?”
During the past year, the company’s 125,000-square-foot showroom has become a destination for workers seeking to furnish their home offices with high-end furniture at affordable prices. “Business has been booming,” Castro said. “There are lines around the corner every Saturday when the showroom opens, and people are coming from as far away as Boston and Delaware to find the perfect chai. It’s been so successful that we opened a second location in Florida. With companies rethinking their office configurations, and people settling into home or hybrid work spaces for the long run, we expect to celebrate many more anniversaries serving the public.”
