July 20, 2021 | Bill Esler
Archbold, OH—Eyeing a sea change in the post-pandemic workplace, Sauder Woodworking has launched Sauder Commercial Office™. The newly branded business gathers a number of existing office furnishing brands, including Commercial Extensions, a collection of robust furnishings upgraded to be in compliance with ANSI/BIFMA standards.
Though known for its flat packed ready-to-assemble residential furniture, for the first time Sauder is shipping pre-assembled desks and other items such as component drawers, in deference to business furniture purchasers who do not have time or resources to assemble items.
In addition to Commercial Extensions, several other lines within the Sauder Commercial Office furniture meet or exceed ANSI/BIFMA compliance for safety, durability, and structural integrity.
“Even before the pandemic dramatically shifted work patterns and environments, we saw a growing trend toward remote work, satellite offices, and shared workspaces,” says Mike Lambright, senior director of Marketing at Sauder. “Our development into this arena has been in the works for several years, and we have been ‘quietly’ launching commercial grade product into our residential furniture line since 2016.”
While residential office furniture has always been a leading business category for Sauder, it eyes a need for more selection of office furniture with enhanced performance, a trend accelerated by COVID-19 and work-from-home situations. The dynamic work-from-home surge has created a need for varied styles of office furniture with broader function. So Sauder seized on the opportunity to launch the effort in a more public way. Three Sauder product lines— Office Works, Worksense, along with Commercial Extensions—offer different ways of imagining commercial office furniture to meet the diverse needs of today’s consumer and business customer.
“These products represent a performance upgrade to our standard residential offerings and include designs that play well in work-at-home environments,” says Lambright. “Fully assembled items and pre-assembled components like drawers and desk pedestals offer a level of convenience and ease of installation.”
More formal office touches such as the Affirm collection’s Classic Cherry finish and universal commercial design meet BIFMA testing standards with high wear melamine surfaces and impact resistant edges. The Worksense line includes a stylish mid-century modern line with slatted louvered moulding and cord-wrangling grommet holes.
For Sauder Commercial Extensions, popular residential office furniture selections received a serious upgrade, and were designed and tested to meet commercial ANSI/BIFMA standards. The solutions complement existing residential furniture and also work as add-ons to larger Worksense installations in matching styles. Consumers can maximize work-at-home functionality or work-at-work livability with these stylish, innovative, and performance-oriented designs.
Sauder Woodworking Co. is the leading North American producer of ready-to-assemble furniture. A family-run business based in Archbold, OH, Sauder embraces sustainability measures that reuse and recycle more than 98 percent of its solid waste materials. Sauder combines more than 85 years of American manufacturing experience with expanded global sourcing capabilities to meet the needs of consumers and retail customers. The company currently offers nearly 50 furniture collections that enable everyone to experience the joy of affordable style.
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