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Work-from-Home Means Dramatic Shift in Office Furniture Business
Local businesses like Rework and the Office Furniture Center have seen a dramatic uptick in noncorporate walk-in business and online orders, the Chicago Tribune reported. The business is coming from office workers who are hunkering down for a longer stint of working from home than they initially expected when the downtown Chicago office market all but shut down eight months ago.
The sprawling Office Furniture Center showroom in the West Side’s Lawndale neighborhood has seen walk-in business triple and its online business soared to 962 orders in September. That compares with 40 sales in the year-ago period.
Some corporations are creating accounts that allow workers to choose a desk and chair and have it billed directly to their employer, said Mason Awtry, CEO of Chicago-based Wurkwel, parent company of Office Furniture Center.
“We have seen walk-in traffic increase dramatically during the course of the pandemic,” Awtry told the Tribune.
Photo courtesy of Office Furniture Center.
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