Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 12, 1990 TAG: 9004130605
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-16 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GRACE BOSWORTH SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The shelves in his store are emptying, but there are still spread sheets, column pads ranging from two to 30 columns. "Not many people use these anymore," says Childress.
There are several shelves of ledger books, bound in red, green and black leather, different sizes and styles. "I don't think these are made anymore, these may be the last of their kind. Most of what these books did is on computers now."
Childress sees the closing as a result of changing office and business technology as much as anything else. "I've got things here nobody uses anymore."
He pulls a pink sheet in a 3-M wrapper from a shelf. "People used to clean typewriters with this, you know, when the ribbon clogged up the letters. With everyone using carbon ribbons, or no ribbons at all, there's not much call for this. It was a good product, but time has passed it by."
Childress was no stranger to retail office supply sales. He and his wife originally bought the business, known as Webb Office Machines in 1973.
"Back then it was mostly machines, like calculators, typewriters, Ditto machines, mimeograph machines. We serviced what we sold; that was important to our customers. We also carried all the inks, and stencils and fluids, the pads, all the things people needed. We changed the name to Shenandoah Office Machines."
By 1980, he and his wife, Darryll, were thinking of making a change.
"We were, well, both very tired. You have to stay with a small business. We worked every week, from 50 to 100 hours; there was no real time off. We didn't take vacations and we closed on only a few holidays." They sold the business.
The new owners expanded the supply line and cut back on machines. Now the inventory included wax letters, copy measurers, materials for layout and artists. They changed the name again, this time to Shenandoah Office Supply.
The new venture that Childress had in mind when he sold out didn't work; in 1987 he bought the business back. "It ran pretty well for a while, but then the wholesale market became more competitive. Catalog sales, places like Sam's Wholesale Club, and a new branch of Salem Office Supply just down the road, all of them absorbed quite a chunk of the valley market. We were running on a mom-and-pop plan and just couldn't compete," he said.
"I don't think it was a mistake to have a place like this in the '70s, but both times and methods of supply have changed," he continued.
Childress estimates that inventory for setting up a place like his now would be $40,000 at a minimum and then there would be rent, utilities, payroll, taxes and other costs. "We had relatively low volume, so I could do my own accounting, but a new person might need to add costs for accounting and legal advice. Don't leave out advertising.
"Actually, coming into this business today, you probably could do well working out of your own home. You don't need all this overhead. You could hit the road to take orders, buy from distributors, and deliver." He has suffered some health problems, "I couldn't take a routine like that right now.
"A newcomer would have to be very sure he or she knew the market and the competition. There are high volume needs for things like copy paper and computer paper, but most of those suppliers are now located here in the valley, so somebody at retail is at a distinct disadvantage."
Childress could say little about his plans for the future. "I really don't know what we are going to do. Right now I have to figure out how to dispose of all these ring binders, indexes, student report folders, office scales, paper clips and magic markers, just for openers. I'll probably truck a lot of it off to flea markets on weekends and then, well, we will just have to see."
by CNB