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Alex Goldblum, co-owner of Stamford Wrecking Co.'s Office Furniture Outlet, is pleasantly surprised by the discount retailer's growth in recent years.
The payroll has swelled 10 times from three people in 1983, when the outlet moved a short distance from its 30-year home to 375 Fairfield Ave. in Stamford.
Goldblum keeps sales figures confidential, but other numbers add perspective to the scope of the operation. The company has a fleet of 30 tractor trailers, a customer base of 20,000 companies, a 50,000-square-foot showroom and a 100,000-square-foot warehouse.
"Every year we've grown 15 to 20 percent," he said. "We have four tractor trailers on the road every day delivering office furniture and picking up used furniture from different places
Stamford wrecking buys and sells both new and used office furnishings. Its spectacular success has made the office Furniture Outlet a sort of must-stop-shop; it has become a favorite week-end hangout for bargain hunters.
"It's part of Stamford's flavor," said Goldblum. "It has become, besides being a nice retail store, a place to browse and see what new merchandise we've brought in."
The company's growth has brought about a change in the nature of its patrons. Previously, it supplied small and medium companies, but "now we service Fortune 500 companies."
The huge display space lets visitors connect with the merchandise surrounding them--an advantage catalogs lack. "The furniture-outlet concept we have developed allows people to see, touch and feel what they buy. People like that very much."
Stamford Wrecking's fortunes began soaring in the late 1980s when Drexel Burnham Lambert folded. The company acquired 80 tractor trailer loads of furniture worth $250,000 from the defunct investment firm, amassing an inventory that helped it become a low-cost source of quality products.
The company also benefited from...