Longtime office supply company opening new furniture gallery
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New furniture showroom opening at Porter’s Office Products
REXBURG – A longtime office supply store is opening a new furniture showroom soon.
Porter’s Office Products at 1050 North 2nd East has been offering ink, notebooks, paper and other office supplies for decades. It has since become one of the only office furniture dealers in the area. It provides desks, chairs, couches and other items for businesses, schools and medical clinics.
Some of its biggest clients are the Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho State University and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes.
The company is inviting the community to see its new furniture gallery during a grand reopening on June 13.
Sales manager Shawn Call tells EastIdahoNews.com they’ll continue to offer office supplies. They’re just shifting their focus to the office furniture to be more competitive in the marketplace.
“There’s a hole in the office furniture (space). A lot of places have stopped selling, or it’s just really hard to get to,” Call says. “Everybody that buys furniture wants to come in and look at it and try it out. I think it’s going to be great for the area.”
Porter’s has an office design center at its Rexburg store to customize furniture for customers’ needs. It allows customers to take chairs from the store and try them out. Call says these services are what set it apart from competitors.
All its products are made in America, and since it’s a family-owned company, Call says customers can be confident the money they spend is staying in the community.
“Customers can call us and reach somebody on the phone. No robots. It’s always going to be a personalized touch from somebody here at this location,” says Call.
Mark Porter has owned Porter’s Office Products since 1998. He took it over from his grandfather, Warren, who is the son of the original owner, Arthur.
Porter’s Office Products got its start in 1915. Its original location was on College Avenue in a variety store. At the time, Arthur also owned a printing business and the local newspaper now known as the Rexburg Standard Journal.
Arthur ended up selling each aspect of the business to his sons. The printing business became Artco, which is now The Occasions Group. Warren bought what became Porter’s Craft & Frame. Warren’s son, Chuck, and his wife, Linda, owned it for many years before selling it in 2018.
RELATED | Porter’s Rexburg location to close permanently on Saturday
Today, Adams Publishing Group owns the Standard Journal.
Porter’s Office Products operated in the back of the craft store for many years. It eventually outgrew the space.
“In January 2021, a building north of Rexburg was purchased to facilitate the commercial and retail office supplies,” according to the company’s website.
It merged with Bangs Office Products of Pocatello in 2009 and added Steelcase to its wide line of office furniture.
Call says the opening of the new furniture gallery will allow the company to better serve customers. He’s excited to unveil it during the grand reopening next week.
“It’s going to be great for the community to have a local spot to customize their offices or home offices. We have price points that will compete with Amazon and will go all the way up to high-end furniture with 15-year warranties — so we’ll have something for everybody,” he says.
The grand reopening is happening from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. There will be a ribbon-cutting with the Rexburg Chamber of Commerce, along with food vendors, prizes and giveaways.
Porter’s Office Products is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
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