What happens when curiosity meets execution? George Dargham, founder of Office Furniture 4 Sale, shares how a logistics insight sparked a thriving business. Hear how he scaled from local ads to global sourcing, mastered rapid installs, and embraced “resimercial” design to meet the modern workplace.
Office Furniture 4 Sale website
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_02 (00:40):
Welcome to another episode of CRE Cafecito, the
CCIM Miami District Podcast.
Today we're excited to haveGeorge Dargam, owner and founder
of Office Furniture for Sale,along with Alana de Alzaga with
us, and they're going to tell usa little bit about the stories.
And thank you for sponsoringtoday's podcast.
(01:02):
Appreciate all your support youhave for the CCIM Miami District
and uh the community at large.
So with that, welcome to theshow.
Thank you, Ruben.
Thank you.
It's a pleasure to be here withyou.
Well, thank you, George, andthank you, Alana.
George, you know, let's get kindof to the beginning.
I always like to start with uhhaving people get to know a
little bit about you, a littlebackground, like you know, tell
us what was George, you know,early days, high school.
(01:24):
Let's go back.
SPEAKER_00 (01:25):
High school.
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (01:26):
Wow.
So I was born and raised here inMiami.
I went to private schoolsthroughout Miami.
I went to Columbus High School,graduated from Columbus in 1993,
and from Columbus went to MiamiDade, and then went to FIU, and
then graduated and got into theworking class.
SPEAKER_02 (01:48):
Nice, nice.
So you graduated and got in toget started working.
Yeah.
And then and then, you know, howdid we go from graduation to
this empire of furniture?
SPEAKER_01 (01:57):
Empire.
SPEAKER_03 (01:58):
That's nice to thank you for that.
SPEAKER_01 (02:01):
Well, you know, my first job, my first corporate
job out of college was withOffice Depot's corporate
headquarters.
And that was based out of DelrayBeach at the time.
And that was in 1999.
And got a job as a logisticsdirector for them and managing
(02:23):
different efficiencies withintheir warehouses, operation, you
know, solving operationalbottlenecks that they had
throughout all theirdistribution centers.
And it was great.
I stayed there.
I was working for them for aboutsix years, moved around a little
bit with inside the company.
And then I got the itch.
You know, I grew up in a veryentrepreneurial family.
(02:45):
And so, you know, observing mydad, my mom, and building the
business that they had, and whatwhat what really supported my
sisters and I throughout ourchildhood.
You know, my dad was a huge rolemodel for me.
And so one of my last projectswith Office Depot was what to do
about customer returnedmerchandise.
(03:08):
They had they had a major issuewith regards to competing
against Amazon.
Amazon, as you guys know,accepts any and all returns.
Right.
So Office Depot needed tocompete in that arena.
So, but they didn't really havea great reverse logistics
strategy.
So, yes, they were receiving allthe returns, but they were
either throwing them away, theywere donating them, they had a
(03:33):
few guys that would buy here andthere, but nothing consistent,
nothing professional.
So I don't know.
I was I was in my office, and I,you know, I recall just thinking
to myself and thinking this isnot what I want to do for the
rest of my life.
I I I was younger, I was 29 andI was able to risk.
(03:58):
I wasn't married, I didn't havechildren.
You know, I know that I can liveon bread and water if I have to.
So and I had a little nest eggsaved up.
So nothing.
I decided to leave.
And then but I left in apositive way.
I came and came back to them andI negotiated a contract with
them where we would buy alltheir customer return
(04:18):
merchandise.
No questions asked.
SPEAKER_00 (04:21):
So you saw the opportunity.
SPEAKER_01 (04:22):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:23):
You created also like your little Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (04:26):
And so we nothing.
The the agreement started offSouth Florida and then it
branched out into floor all ofFlorida, then Southeast United
States, and then all the entireeastern coast of the United
States.
So that's how we started thecompany.
And that was we were receivingdesks and chairs and copy paper,
(04:47):
everything.
And I never thought I would openup to the public.
My idea was just to transfer,you know, sell container loads
of that assorted goods to theCaribbean, to South America,
Central America, to, as awholesaler, to resellers down
there.
And that it started off in thatway and it was going well.
(05:08):
And and then I had an employeeof my father's company one time
told me, she goes, George, whydon't you put that furniture in
the, you know, why don't you putan ad in El Clarín?
And I'm like, and Clarín.
I don't know if you guys haveheard or heard of that paper.
It's like a little local thingthat you get you pick up in the
supermarkets, right?
(05:30):
And so whatever.
I I put an ad in and I startedgetting people locally calling
me and saying that they thatthey want they wanted
inexpensive furniture.
And so our business started offreally, that's where it really
started taking shape.
And and it was a part of the itwas like 07-08 era where where
(05:53):
the recession hit, hard, thehousing crisis hit, and so a lot
of people lost their jobs.
And so what happens is when alot of people lose their jobs
and there's no other job totake, they start whatever
company they can start, right?
For themselves.
And and so that was our market.
(06:13):
It was the startup companies whowere, you know, couldn't afford
new, who couldn't afford you ordidn't know how to access used
or didn't want to buy used.
Right.
And so we were the solution forthat problem.
We were giving open box officefurniture, desks that had a
(06:34):
minor imperfection, a chair thathad a minor imperfection, and at
30 to 50 to 70 percent below theOffice Depot retail price.
Wow.
And then we were offering theservice of delivering and
assembling the whole thing.
And so that's how the businessreally started taking shape.
But since you know, that wasfrom 05 to you know the 08, 9
(06:59):
era.
And then, but today we're a verydifferent business today.
But you know, it was one time Ithink uh a new CEO came in to
Office Depot and said, Hey, whyare we giving this guy in Miami
all our copy paper and all ourchairs?
We can just be selling them uh50% off in our stores and trying
to they were trying to gettraffic back into their retail
(07:22):
stores.
Everybody's just buying themonline on Amazon, and so that
that that's the the trend thateverything has been going.
So that CEO had had some ideasthat they wanted to employ, so
they took away the chairs fromus, they took away copy paper
from us.
So I thought to myself, okay,well, you know what?
(07:44):
I'm just gonna go to China.
So I went to China back in 2018and found the same chairs, found
the same quality or betterquality, actually, and started
importing it ourselves.
Wow.
And so we're actually getting itcheaper than we were getting it
through the outlet channel,believe it or not.
(08:04):
And so it was just aneye-opener.
And it was funny that a lot ofpeople would tell me, a lot of
our vendors would tell us, hey,don't go to China.
It's gonna be, it's too hard.
They're gonna they're gonna messyou up, they're not gonna, you
know, it's gonna be.
I don't want to say the wordscrew you up.
Yeah, but whatever.
I mean, apologies.
But uh yeah, they're gonna screwyou over and you know, you gotta
(08:25):
watch your back.
SPEAKER_03 (08:26):
Right, right.
SPEAKER_01 (08:27):
And so I thought, yeah, you know what, if you
could do it, I can do it.
And so I just decided to go, andand it wasn't the way that they
described it.
And so, yeah, we startedimporting our own lines of
furniture, of desks, of chairs,of everything.
So fast forward to today, we area commercial grade office
(08:47):
furniture full service dealer.
Meaning we import our own lines,we sell our own commercial grade
quality desks versus like officedepot would have, let's say,
home office furniture, and whichdoesn't stand the test of time
in a true commercial setting.
So we've upgraded our lines,we've upgraded our seating, but
(09:08):
we're also dealers of US-madeoffice furniture products as
well.
So we're dealers of Han, we'redealers for AIS, which are these
well-known manufacturers in thecountry.
SPEAKER_02 (09:21):
So that's a great story.
Sorry, I should think I don'tknow if I went too long.
No, no, no, it's perfect.
Officefurnitureforsale.com.
Is that like the name from thebeginning?
SPEAKER_01 (09:31):
Yeah, yeah, that is the name.
That has been the name from thebeginning.
It's it's it's it's uh it's adouble-edged sword, right?
Because you know, the companyoriginally was a value retail
operation, right?
Right.
So the name Office Furniture forSale was was catchy because it
it it would it appealed to thepeople that were trying to save
(09:54):
money.
Right.
Right.
And so we are still verycompetitive price-wise, and
however, the qual our qualityhas increased a lot.
It's not that we're moreexpensive or anything, it's just
that we're we're offering adifferent quality of furniture
and a different experiencetoday.
Right.
(10:15):
Where people or companies aregonna call us to design their
space, you know, from beginningto end.
So we have design specialiststhat work for us, and that when
a client calls us, they eitherthey're moving their offices,
they're opening up a new office,they're renovating, they'll call
(10:35):
us, and they're you know, we'rehappy now that we can be able to
send experts to sit down withthem, understand their business
from the beginning to end,right?
Understand what this individualneeds, what that department
requires, and also what's theirtime frame, what's their budget,
what's their what's theirexpectation.
(10:58):
And so from that initialconversation, our design team
creates a design that they canvisualize, they can see it's a
3D rendering, 2D plan views.
SPEAKER_00 (11:10):
Being able to to visualize and create things,
it's easier when you arefull-time doing it.
But it's not many times you youjust pop into a space and you
see it like this is fullfurniture, this will go here and
there.
And and I think that's where wego, like that's that's what
where we have fun.
I think that creating iscreating it's always a process
(11:31):
of fun, and it's always nice toto visualize and make upgrades
to an actual space.
You will say, here it goes,maybe that's not the right way.
And always from the point ofunderstanding the needs of our
clients and customers.
What also uh George has alwaysthis four quick questions you
(11:51):
have to ask, and it's what'syour budget, what's your time
frame?
SPEAKER_01 (11:55):
Your time frame, your your design preferences,
this the aesthetic preference,the aesthetic preference, then
and your functional needs.
SPEAKER_00 (12:02):
And your functional needs, and and right from there,
that's where all the processbegins.
And it it goes really smooth andand it it it works out pretty
well.
SPEAKER_02 (12:12):
Is there any particular memory of a a client
you're like, he came in or she,you know, they came in and say,
Hey, I need something likeyesterday, and you were able to
help them out.
Or is there one particular storythat kind of I know you probably
have hundreds of stories.
SPEAKER_01 (12:27):
Yeah.
Look yeah, the other day, NovaSoutheastern University, which
is a client of ours, they calledus that they're they need to
they need to quickly furnish aspace enabled to in order to get
a certain grant that they wereapplying for.
And we had the inventory instock.
(12:48):
We were able to get it done.
We are obviously prioritizedtheir need because it was an
urgent request.
And so we were able to get itdone within seven days, you
know, five, seven days.
But you know, uh somebody askedme the other day what what it is
that that I love about what Ido.
(13:08):
And you know, I wouldn't say Ilove selling desks and selling
chairs, right?
It's I don't think that's whatimpassions me.
And I didn't understand thisuntil I started the company.
And so I, you know, at first itwas all dollars and cents for
us, right?
For me.
I I looked at, yeah, I was ableto get something at a very low
(13:29):
price and sell it at asubstantial margin.
And yeah, that made sense.
And that's how I was going tocreate my my life, you know.
But what I started understandingor started realizing was that
these people that would come in,they're all entrepreneurs that
are all in the beginning, verymore in the beginning than now,
right?
More now it's a lot more largercorporations and and mid-sized
(13:53):
companies that you know, you'rea little distanced away from the
actual entrepreneur, thefounder, or whoever that was
that created the company.
But initially, when I was reallydealing with the small business
operator, it was it was it wasfascinating to hear all the
ideas that they had, all the theinnovative approaches that they
(14:15):
were they were bringing tomarket.
One one guy, one guy stands outin my mind, and it was
fascinating.
I mean, I I I was impressed.
He didn't even buy, he ended upnot buying for me.
He but I didn't care.
I don't care.
He came in.
He came in, he sat with me, andI, you know, I started talking
to him.
Hey, what do you do?
And he starts sharing with mewhat his what his business is,
(14:38):
and he says, Well, you know,we're replacing plastic.
And I'm like, replacing plastic.
Okay, go what do you mean?
He says, Well, you know the gelcaps for, you know, aspirin or
not aspirin, sorry, for likemedicine, you know, the material
used for the gel cap to createthe gel cap.
(14:58):
So he's able to re-engineer thatmaterial to be able to create
plastic bags, plastic bottles,plastic anything.
And they're fully dissolvable.
SPEAKER_02 (15:09):
Oh wow.
SPEAKER_01 (15:10):
Because as you know, when you take a pill, right?
A gel, is it gel cap?
Is it or I'm thinking of the onethat you open the capsule.
That that capsule, yeah.
So, you know, obviously itdissolves in your in your in
your body, right?
So, and he's uh I go, no way, II couldn't believe it.
And he says, Oh, I'll show you.
(15:31):
And he goes out to his car,comes back in, he brings like a
like a little grocery paintnylon bag.
SPEAKER_02 (15:38):
And no, Cubans would call that in the best way in
Cuba, una javita.
SPEAKER_01 (15:43):
Exactly.
Exactly.
He brought me he brought me ajavita, and he goes, Hey, can I
can I have a cup of water?
And I go, Yeah, sure.
And I give him a cup of water,and he puts the javita inside
the cup of water, and he stirsit, and sure enough, it
disappears.
Oh, wow.
It dissolves the whole bag.
And I had touched the bagbefore, and I I was like, Wow,
(16:05):
this is a real bag.
This is David Cup of the bag.
You couldn't tell thedifference, you couldn't tell
the difference between a typicalplastic bag and this particular
bag.
Wow.
And so I thought, oh my god,this guy's gonna, this guy's
gonna be a billionaire.
Yeah.
Right.
But he didn't want to spend, youknow, 200 bucks on a desk.
(16:27):
But whatever.
It didn't matter.
I don't care.
And I I I kept his informationand I kept in touch with him
over the years.
And I told him, dude, if youever need an investor, I would
invest whatever you whatever youneed.
Wow.
I want to be in.
And and I don't know, you knowwhat?
It's funny.
You know, people have an amazingidea, amazing know-how, but they
(16:47):
just sometimes they it theydon't know how to take it off
the ground.
Yeah, you know?
That's it.
And you can have a millionideas, but if you don't know how
to implement it and how to makeit make it a profitable venture,
I don't know.
You know, it's a sad it's sadbecause it would have really, I
think, helped the environment.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (17:05):
But uh well, speaking of the know-how, a lot
of that comes with experiencegoing back to your 29-year-old
self when you said, Hey, youknow, I'm gonna launch and and
and do this kind of thing.
And then you moved on, youswitched it, I'm gonna go
straight to China and and start,you know, yeah.
So things obviously change,things are shifting.
We have one of our CCIM lunchescoming up, is about tariffs.
And then you're actuallyprobably in the middle of all of
(17:28):
that.
You mind shedding some light?
Uh what do you think of what'sgoing on?
SPEAKER_01 (17:33):
Before Trump, right, okay, we were uh zero percent
tariffs and life was beautiful.
Right.
Right.
People were saving money, wewere making good profits, it was
it was great.
When when the initial Trumptariffs took place and it
implemented a 20% tariff on our20 or 25?
(17:54):
20, I think it was 20, yeah.
20% tariffs on all Chinaimported goods.
Look, I mean, China is the thefactory of the world, you know.
Absolutely.
It's not easily replaceable.
It's not like you can and youknow, his logic was, well, just
go and make your stuff somewhereelse.
So initially I was okay with it.
(18:15):
You know, I I was I was pro thetariffs.
I was pro I I said, okay, well,whatever, we have to suck it up,
we have to do what's right forthe country.
And I was uh I was a proponentof it.
And it's fine.
So we started we did start goingand seeking other manufacturers
(18:35):
in different parts of the world.
I mean, we looked at Brazil, welooked at Malaysia, we looked at
Vietnam, we looked at Lithuania,so we ended up starting to
import case goods like desks andstorage and cabinets and whatnot
from Lithuania and greatproducts, great quality, but
(18:55):
when in comparison to the to thelanded costs, in comparison to
China and to Lithuania,Lithuania at the time had zero
percent tariffs.
So it was about a wash.
It was about a wash betweenbetween the post-tariff cost,
not the pre-tariff cost, right,and the Lithuania cost.
(19:16):
And so we we but we I decidedbecause I thought, okay, this is
not gonna stop here.
Let's let's put let's put someseeds and some roots into other
factories and around the world.
And so we started reallyinvesting a lot more into
Lithuania and bringing thatmerchandise in.
(19:37):
The actually the room that we'resitting in right now is from
that same factory.
SPEAKER_02 (19:41):
Oh, wow.
SPEAKER_01 (19:42):
Yeah.
This is so we you know, this isa silent room that comes in
different sizes.
This happens to be a four-personone, but they come larger and
smaller and phone booth size andwhatnot.
Right.
But yeah, so Lithuania became avery good strategic partner for
us.
And then, but you know, the onlyone product that we really have
(20:04):
a significant challenge infinding another factory is is
office chairs, office seating.
It's very hard.
All the components, taking themto different countries and
whatnot, it raises the price toa point where it really doesn't
make sense for the consumer.
So even with the 20% tariff, andeven now today, with the new
(20:25):
additional tariffs that raise itup to 55%.
Right?
So we're paying 55% on allimported goods from China.
Wow.
But believe it or not, it'sstill competitive.
Wow.
Even after the 55%.
And we've I've we have notchanged our pricing.
Really?
(20:45):
Yeah.
I've really absorbed a lot ofit.
Absorbed a lot of the cost.
And uh you know, during the theCOVID era, we had there was
major shipping costsfluctuations, if you can recall.
Oh, absolutely.
Remember container containerprices were through the roof,
25,000.
Pre-COVID, I was paying$2,500 acontainer.
Yeah.
(21:05):
Post-COVID or during COVID, Iwas paying, God, I think it got
up to even$20,000 for acontainer.
Yeah.
And you can't stop, right?
If you stop, you you might aswell just close your door.
Right.
So you have to keep going, keepgoing.
And so we had risen our costs,our prices in in to to handle
(21:27):
those increased shipping costs.
And then shipping costs did godown.
We did reduce our pricesslightly, but not drastically.
And then and then when these newtariffs came in, I looked at the
margins.
I said, listen, these are we'restill able to have a healthy
enough margin to support ourcompany and our employees and
(21:47):
our salaries and whatnot.
So I just decided to keep themthe way it is.
And just absorb it, and it iswhat it is, you know.
Are we constantly looking fornew sources?
Yes, but honestly, it's veryhard to find.
I mean, Vietnam, for example,they offer office chairs.
There's several office chairfactories, but their minimum
(22:08):
order quantities are are huge.
And they're not the factoriesare not up to par yet.
SPEAKER_02 (22:13):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (22:14):
To produce, for example, if I put a container
order, I just put a containerorder in two days ago with two
of my factories in China, andthey're gonna you know produce
it in 30 days.
That same order in Vietnam willtake probably double that.
So it'll take 60 days for themto produce it, and then another,
whatever, 30 or 40 days to shipit over.
(22:35):
It's a much harder process tomanage when you get out of the
efficiency of what China is.
SPEAKER_02 (22:41):
Right, right.
Well, I I know time's a littleshort.
I only a couple more questions.
Uh, one's more local on thesense of, you know, you've been
in the business now, and Alanaand I know you're the guys on
the front line with the officemarket, the commercial office
market kind of going through itsthing.
People working a little morefrom home, so you know, trying
to get back there.
(23:02):
We've seen in the last couple ofyears, at least for me, you
know, you know, everything fromthe standing desk to all sorts
of different types of chair.
What what kind of trend, or isthere any particular trend that
you're seeing that here in inSouth Florida or different parts
of the country, in particularwith office furniture, has been
changing, or this is where we'regoing with these more open
(23:23):
spaces with sound booth or Idon't know.
Yeah.
No, no, you're you're hitting itright.
SPEAKER_01 (23:27):
You're hitting it right.
SPEAKER_00 (23:28):
Like Nordic, Nordic kind of style?
SPEAKER_01 (23:30):
Yeah, like so organizations are becoming more
flat, right?
So, you know, you you you don'thave the traditional
hierarchical type oforganizational model that you
had back in the 80s and the 70sand 90s.
So as as companies become moreflat and from an organizational
standpoint, they they want amore collaborative type work
(23:54):
environment.
You have the new generationthat's coming out of college
right now that's expecting morefrom where they work.
You know, when I got out ofcollege, I was happy to sit in a
cubicle and get paid and listento my boss and say yes, sir, and
yes, ma'am, and do whatever theysay.
Now the the generation is ismore thoughtful.
(24:15):
They they're more they're theywant to be more involved.
They want to, you know, theywant to blend their work with
their life or their personallife.
And so all that translates to adifferent type of furniture
model.
You know, you want to you wantan environment that's they call
it resimercial, right?
Residential, commercial blend.
(24:35):
So you want to have a that'swhat you know, for example, we
work.
You go into a we work and it'svery, I mean, I don't even know
if we work is still around.
I guess whatever those placesare right now, right?
Those co-working spaces.
Co-working space, yeah.
You go into these spaces and andit you feel at home.
You're sitting on these gorgeousleather sofas, you have coffee,
you have sodas, you havewhatever you have sushi on the
(24:58):
side, you have whatever youwant, and you have a cool vibe.
Yeah, you have a greatatmosphere, you have a lot of
people around and people,like-minded people.
So I think companies arechanging the designs, changing
the way they think and how theyset up their offices to attract
(25:19):
that talent.
You design your space for a fewdifferent reasons.
You design your space for, yeah,you have clients coming over and
you want to make your space lookprofessional and polished.
Uh you have investors who come,they they want to see, hey,
where's our money going to, youknow?
(25:39):
Are you sitting in a usedcubicle somewhere or whatever?
Or you make the space look toomodern.
But the m but one of the bigbiggest reasons to update your
space is really to attracttalent.
Because that's what it's gonnatake to get people to, you know,
why do are they gonna work, youknow, they a lot of these kids
(26:01):
or young professionals have manyoptions.
So they can either work forthemselves, you know, in this
creator type of economy, theycan work for themselves, they
can work for, you know, Google,Apple, whoever, you know, one of
these guys, or they can or theycan work for you.
So how are you going to attractthem?
(26:24):
How are you going todifferentiate your space to make
it more attractive for somebodythat's coming out right out of
college that has has their hasit very clear in their mind what
kind of environment they want towork in.
And so, yeah, the spaces arebecoming open, collaborative.
We did shy away from that duringCOVID, and I had a lot of my
(26:45):
clients calling me saying, hey,put separations up, put you
know, barriers up.
And you know, and then yeah, thestate the work from home, I was
terrified.
I was terrified.
That was in my thought, in mymind, in 2020.
I thought that was the end of mybusiness.
Wow.
I mean, I sent people home.
I I didn't know if they werecoming back, I didn't know what
(27:05):
the future of office was goingto be.
And but you know, I honestly I Igive a ton of credit to Governor
Ron DeSantis for opening up thestate and making it open for
business.
Yep.
You know, saying, hey, Floridais open for business.
And we have had a ton of NewYorkers come, we had a ton of
Californians come, we had a tonof people from around the
(27:28):
country come.
And for me, that was that was weboomed.
And so, yeah.
Well we we we we give a lot ofcredit to to the governor and to
the to the yeah, yeah, in a morelighter way of seeing it, you're
old, I'm more young, so you knowI'm easy with that word.
(27:50):
Easy with the driver's license.
Let's confirm the differencehere.
SPEAKER_00 (27:54):
No, it's true, but what what it is true, I'm
millennial.
I'm a millennial.
SPEAKER_01 (28:00):
Are you okay?
SPEAKER_00 (28:01):
Yes, I am.
I'd like the right on theborderline.
SPEAKER_02 (28:03):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (28:04):
And what you're looking when you go to work in
an office.
Yeah, or you you put it in thein the office and you want like,
I'm tired of being in the stess,so they want to get their laptop
and go to an open space, but notin a in a benching.
And they want to go into a nice,comfy lounge chair, or they want
just to get like a little boothand be like a part of everyone.
(28:28):
Some it I think the workspacesnow are like going with the flow
and also with the moody'sbecause we're humans and you're
not in the same mood every day.
So when when you come to theoffice, if you're able to
provide spaces that get intothose moods, that that works for
(28:48):
you.
And I think that at the end ofthe day, it reflects on the
efficiency of the work thatyou're getting from your
workforce.
SPEAKER_02 (28:55):
Just to wrap up, thank you very much.
As closing words, what words,what would you say to a young
George or to those out therelistening that they're early in
their careers, they're cominginto commercial real estate, or
you know, they're they're justgetting an a it's difficult,
it's challenging, it's verycompetitive, whether you're in
brokerage or on the lending sideand office space.
I'm sure you're finding a lot ofcompetition.
(29:16):
What words would you say to ayoung George?
SPEAKER_01 (29:18):
Well, the young George is my son, right?
I have I have a son and I I talkto him all the time.
And what I what I tell him is isand and and you know, it's very
hypocritical for me to say itbecause I I didn't take this, I
didn't think like this as ayounger George.
(29:38):
But don't worry about the money,right?
Money comes, money comes, moneywill come.
I tell my son all the time, Igo, find what you love, do what
you love.
When you do what you love,you'll do it well.
And when you do something well,people will find you.
And eventually people will endup paying you for whatever it is
(29:59):
that you do well in life.
Right.
But the most important thing isto find something that
impassions you, that moves you,that that gives you purpose
every day.
You know, I think I think we weget lost in in the economy of
life.
You know, we we we're trying tokeep up with the Joneses.
(30:20):
We want the next, we want thelatest car, we want the latest
iPhone, we want the latestvacation.
You know, we're looking atInstagram, we see all these
people traveling the world, andyou're like, how do they do
this?
Right?
And and you know, we we'retrying, we're trying to keep up,
and it's just unhealthy at theend of the day, I think.
I think it's unhealthy.
To live like that, and I thinkyou just have to find something
(30:42):
that you love and do it rightand do it well, and just be be
an expert at whatever it is thatyou love.
SPEAKER_02 (30:49):
Very well said.
Thank you very, very much.
I'll make sure to include yourwebsite and your contact info uh
in the show notes and uh Georgeand Alana with Office Furniture
for Sale or what's the acronymagain?
Uh OFRS.
Or we'll see what the futureholds.
But you know, you guys have beenvery, very gracious.
Thank you for letting us useyour space.
(31:10):
Thank you for sponsoring uh withCCIM Miami District and this
podcast.
And we look forward to uh futureevents and hopefully uh a lot of
people getting a lot more officefurniture from you guys and in
you know helping out thiscommercial real estate community
that we have.
SPEAKER_03 (31:24):
Nice.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (31:26):
Yeah, I mean the the the CRE community has been
really a huge help for us eversince we started networking with
with not only CCIM but withNAOP.
We it's really opened up a lotof doors for us and we're really
grateful to the CRE, to the CREsthat we work with, the brokers
(31:46):
that we work with, who havetrusted us with their tenants,
with their clients.
It's we don't take it lightly.
If we're referred by a CRE, if aclient is referred by our CRE,
it's a top priority in thecompany.
It's a top priority.
We want to make sure that thoseCREs look good and uh and and
(32:06):
that's our that's our that's ourmain focus, making sure that
they're happy.
So yeah, thank you.
Well, thank you guys very much.
Welcome to another episode of CRE Cafecito, the
CCIM Miami District Podcast.
Today we're excited to haveGeorge Dargam, owner and founder
of Office Furniture for Sale,along with Alana de Alzaga with
us, and they're going to tell usa little bit about the stories.
And thank you for sponsoringtoday's podcast.
(01:02):
Appreciate all your support youhave for the CCIM Miami District
and uh the community at large.
So with that, welcome to theshow.
Thank you, Ruben.
Thank you.
It's a pleasure to be here withyou.
Well, thank you, George, andthank you, Alana.
George, you know, let's get kindof to the beginning.
I always like to start with uhhaving people get to know a
little bit about you, a littlebackground, like you know, tell
us what was George, you know,early days, high school.
(01:24):
Let's go back.
SPEAKER_00 (01:25):
High school.
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (01:26):
Wow.
So I was born and raised here inMiami.
I went to private schoolsthroughout Miami.
I went to Columbus High School,graduated from Columbus in 1993,
and from Columbus went to MiamiDade, and then went to FIU, and
then graduated and got into theworking class.
SPEAKER_02 (01:48):
Nice, nice.
So you graduated and got in toget started working.
Yeah.
And then and then, you know, howdid we go from graduation to
this empire of furniture?
SPEAKER_01 (01:57):
Empire.
SPEAKER_03 (01:58):
That's nice to thank you for that.
SPEAKER_01 (02:01):
Well, you know, my first job, my first corporate
job out of college was withOffice Depot's corporate
headquarters.
And that was based out of DelrayBeach at the time.
And that was in 1999.
And got a job as a logisticsdirector for them and managing
(02:23):
different efficiencies withintheir warehouses, operation, you
know, solving operationalbottlenecks that they had
throughout all theirdistribution centers.
And it was great.
I stayed there.
I was working for them for aboutsix years, moved around a little
bit with inside the company.
And then I got the itch.
You know, I grew up in a veryentrepreneurial family.
(02:45):
And so, you know, observing mydad, my mom, and building the
business that they had, and whatwhat what really supported my
sisters and I throughout ourchildhood.
You know, my dad was a huge rolemodel for me.
And so one of my last projectswith Office Depot was what to do
about customer returnedmerchandise.
(03:08):
They had they had a major issuewith regards to competing
against Amazon.
Amazon, as you guys know,accepts any and all returns.
Right.
So Office Depot needed tocompete in that arena.
So, but they didn't really havea great reverse logistics
strategy.
So, yes, they were receiving allthe returns, but they were
either throwing them away, theywere donating them, they had a
(03:33):
few guys that would buy here andthere, but nothing consistent,
nothing professional.
So I don't know.
I was I was in my office, and I,you know, I recall just thinking
to myself and thinking this isnot what I want to do for the
rest of my life.
I I I was younger, I was 29 andI was able to risk.
(03:58):
I wasn't married, I didn't havechildren.
You know, I know that I can liveon bread and water if I have to.
So and I had a little nest eggsaved up.
So nothing.
I decided to leave.
And then but I left in apositive way.
I came and came back to them andI negotiated a contract with
them where we would buy alltheir customer return
(04:18):
merchandise.
No questions asked.
SPEAKER_00 (04:21):
So you saw the opportunity.
SPEAKER_01 (04:22):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:23):
You created also like your little Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (04:26):
And so we nothing.
The the agreement started offSouth Florida and then it
branched out into floor all ofFlorida, then Southeast United
States, and then all the entireeastern coast of the United
States.
So that's how we started thecompany.
And that was we were receivingdesks and chairs and copy paper,
(04:47):
everything.
And I never thought I would openup to the public.
My idea was just to transfer,you know, sell container loads
of that assorted goods to theCaribbean, to South America,
Central America, to, as awholesaler, to resellers down
there.
And that it started off in thatway and it was going well.
(05:08):
And and then I had an employeeof my father's company one time
told me, she goes, George, whydon't you put that furniture in
the, you know, why don't you putan ad in El Clarín?
And I'm like, and Clarín.
I don't know if you guys haveheard or heard of that paper.
It's like a little local thingthat you get you pick up in the
supermarkets, right?
(05:30):
And so whatever.
I I put an ad in and I startedgetting people locally calling
me and saying that they thatthey want they wanted
inexpensive furniture.
And so our business started offreally, that's where it really
started taking shape.
And and it was a part of the itwas like 07-08 era where where
(05:53):
the recession hit, hard, thehousing crisis hit, and so a lot
of people lost their jobs.
And so what happens is when alot of people lose their jobs
and there's no other job totake, they start whatever
company they can start, right?
For themselves.
And and so that was our market.
(06:13):
It was the startup companies whowere, you know, couldn't afford
new, who couldn't afford you ordidn't know how to access used
or didn't want to buy used.
Right.
And so we were the solution forthat problem.
We were giving open box officefurniture, desks that had a
(06:34):
minor imperfection, a chair thathad a minor imperfection, and at
30 to 50 to 70 percent below theOffice Depot retail price.
Wow.
And then we were offering theservice of delivering and
assembling the whole thing.
And so that's how the businessreally started taking shape.
But since you know, that wasfrom 05 to you know the 08, 9
(06:59):
era.
And then, but today we're a verydifferent business today.
But you know, it was one time Ithink uh a new CEO came in to
Office Depot and said, Hey, whyare we giving this guy in Miami
all our copy paper and all ourchairs?
We can just be selling them uh50% off in our stores and trying
to they were trying to gettraffic back into their retail
(07:22):
stores.
Everybody's just buying themonline on Amazon, and so that
that that's the the trend thateverything has been going.
So that CEO had had some ideasthat they wanted to employ, so
they took away the chairs fromus, they took away copy paper
from us.
So I thought to myself, okay,well, you know what?
(07:44):
I'm just gonna go to China.
So I went to China back in 2018and found the same chairs, found
the same quality or betterquality, actually, and started
importing it ourselves.
Wow.
And so we're actually getting itcheaper than we were getting it
through the outlet channel,believe it or not.
(08:04):
And so it was just aneye-opener.
And it was funny that a lot ofpeople would tell me, a lot of
our vendors would tell us, hey,don't go to China.
It's gonna be, it's too hard.
They're gonna they're gonna messyou up, they're not gonna, you
know, it's gonna be.
I don't want to say the wordscrew you up.
Yeah, but whatever.
I mean, apologies.
But uh yeah, they're gonna screwyou over and you know, you gotta
(08:25):
watch your back.
SPEAKER_03 (08:26):
Right, right.
SPEAKER_01 (08:27):
And so I thought, yeah, you know what, if you
could do it, I can do it.
And so I just decided to go, andand it wasn't the way that they
described it.
And so, yeah, we startedimporting our own lines of
furniture, of desks, of chairs,of everything.
So fast forward to today, we area commercial grade office
(08:47):
furniture full service dealer.
Meaning we import our own lines,we sell our own commercial grade
quality desks versus like officedepot would have, let's say,
home office furniture, and whichdoesn't stand the test of time
in a true commercial setting.
So we've upgraded our lines,we've upgraded our seating, but
(09:08):
we're also dealers of US-madeoffice furniture products as
well.
So we're dealers of Han, we'redealers for AIS, which are these
well-known manufacturers in thecountry.
SPEAKER_02 (09:21):
So that's a great story.
Sorry, I should think I don'tknow if I went too long.
No, no, no, it's perfect.
Officefurnitureforsale.com.
Is that like the name from thebeginning?
SPEAKER_01 (09:31):
Yeah, yeah, that is the name.
That has been the name from thebeginning.
It's it's it's it's uh it's adouble-edged sword, right?
Because you know, the companyoriginally was a value retail
operation, right?
Right.
So the name Office Furniture forSale was was catchy because it
it it would it appealed to thepeople that were trying to save
(09:54):
money.
Right.
Right.
And so we are still verycompetitive price-wise, and
however, the qual our qualityhas increased a lot.
It's not that we're moreexpensive or anything, it's just
that we're we're offering adifferent quality of furniture
and a different experiencetoday.
Right.
(10:15):
Where people or companies aregonna call us to design their
space, you know, from beginningto end.
So we have design specialiststhat work for us, and that when
a client calls us, they eitherthey're moving their offices,
they're opening up a new office,they're renovating, they'll call
(10:35):
us, and they're you know, we'rehappy now that we can be able to
send experts to sit down withthem, understand their business
from the beginning to end,right?
Understand what this individualneeds, what that department
requires, and also what's theirtime frame, what's their budget,
what's their what's theirexpectation.
(10:58):
And so from that initialconversation, our design team
creates a design that they canvisualize, they can see it's a
3D rendering, 2D plan views.
SPEAKER_00 (11:10):
Being able to to visualize and create things,
it's easier when you arefull-time doing it.
But it's not many times you youjust pop into a space and you
see it like this is fullfurniture, this will go here and
there.
And and I think that's where wego, like that's that's what
where we have fun.
I think that creating iscreating it's always a process
(11:31):
of fun, and it's always nice toto visualize and make upgrades
to an actual space.
You will say, here it goes,maybe that's not the right way.
And always from the point ofunderstanding the needs of our
clients and customers.
What also uh George has alwaysthis four quick questions you
(11:51):
have to ask, and it's what'syour budget, what's your time
frame?
SPEAKER_01 (11:55):
Your time frame, your your design preferences,
this the aesthetic preference,the aesthetic preference, then
and your functional needs.
SPEAKER_00 (12:02):
And your functional needs, and and right from there,
that's where all the processbegins.
And it it goes really smooth andand it it it works out pretty
well.
SPEAKER_02 (12:12):
Is there any particular memory of a a client
you're like, he came in or she,you know, they came in and say,
Hey, I need something likeyesterday, and you were able to
help them out.
Or is there one particular storythat kind of I know you probably
have hundreds of stories.
SPEAKER_01 (12:27):
Yeah.
Look yeah, the other day, NovaSoutheastern University, which
is a client of ours, they calledus that they're they need to
they need to quickly furnish aspace enabled to in order to get
a certain grant that they wereapplying for.
And we had the inventory instock.
(12:48):
We were able to get it done.
We are obviously prioritizedtheir need because it was an
urgent request.
And so we were able to get itdone within seven days, you
know, five, seven days.
But you know, uh somebody askedme the other day what what it is
that that I love about what Ido.
(13:08):
And you know, I wouldn't say Ilove selling desks and selling
chairs, right?
It's I don't think that's whatimpassions me.
And I didn't understand thisuntil I started the company.
And so I, you know, at first itwas all dollars and cents for
us, right?
For me.
I I looked at, yeah, I was ableto get something at a very low
(13:29):
price and sell it at asubstantial margin.
And yeah, that made sense.
And that's how I was going tocreate my my life, you know.
But what I started understandingor started realizing was that
these people that would come in,they're all entrepreneurs that
are all in the beginning, verymore in the beginning than now,
right?
More now it's a lot more largercorporations and and mid-sized
(13:53):
companies that you know, you'rea little distanced away from the
actual entrepreneur, thefounder, or whoever that was
that created the company.
But initially, when I was reallydealing with the small business
operator, it was it was it wasfascinating to hear all the
ideas that they had, all the theinnovative approaches that they
(14:15):
were they were bringing tomarket.
One one guy, one guy stands outin my mind, and it was
fascinating.
I mean, I I I was impressed.
He didn't even buy, he ended upnot buying for me.
He but I didn't care.
I don't care.
He came in.
He came in, he sat with me, andI, you know, I started talking
to him.
Hey, what do you do?
And he starts sharing with mewhat his what his business is,
(14:38):
and he says, Well, you know,we're replacing plastic.
And I'm like, replacing plastic.
Okay, go what do you mean?
He says, Well, you know the gelcaps for, you know, aspirin or
not aspirin, sorry, for likemedicine, you know, the material
used for the gel cap to createthe gel cap.
(14:58):
So he's able to re-engineer thatmaterial to be able to create
plastic bags, plastic bottles,plastic anything.
And they're fully dissolvable.
SPEAKER_02 (15:09):
Oh wow.
SPEAKER_01 (15:10):
Because as you know, when you take a pill, right?
A gel, is it gel cap?
Is it or I'm thinking of the onethat you open the capsule.
That that capsule, yeah.
So, you know, obviously itdissolves in your in your in
your body, right?
So, and he's uh I go, no way, II couldn't believe it.
And he says, Oh, I'll show you.
(15:31):
And he goes out to his car,comes back in, he brings like a
like a little grocery paintnylon bag.
SPEAKER_02 (15:38):
And no, Cubans would call that in the best way in
Cuba, una javita.
SPEAKER_01 (15:43):
Exactly.
Exactly.
He brought me he brought me ajavita, and he goes, Hey, can I
can I have a cup of water?
And I go, Yeah, sure.
And I give him a cup of water,and he puts the javita inside
the cup of water, and he stirsit, and sure enough, it
disappears.
Oh, wow.
It dissolves the whole bag.
And I had touched the bagbefore, and I I was like, Wow,
(16:05):
this is a real bag.
This is David Cup of the bag.
You couldn't tell thedifference, you couldn't tell
the difference between a typicalplastic bag and this particular
bag.
Wow.
And so I thought, oh my god,this guy's gonna, this guy's
gonna be a billionaire.
Yeah.
Right.
But he didn't want to spend, youknow, 200 bucks on a desk.
(16:27):
But whatever.
It didn't matter.
I don't care.
And I I I kept his informationand I kept in touch with him
over the years.
And I told him, dude, if youever need an investor, I would
invest whatever you whatever youneed.
Wow.
I want to be in.
And and I don't know, you knowwhat?
It's funny.
You know, people have an amazingidea, amazing know-how, but they
(16:47):
just sometimes they it theydon't know how to take it off
the ground.
Yeah, you know?
That's it.
And you can have a millionideas, but if you don't know how
to implement it and how to makeit make it a profitable venture,
I don't know.
You know, it's a sad it's sadbecause it would have really, I
think, helped the environment.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (17:05):
But uh well, speaking of the know-how, a lot
of that comes with experiencegoing back to your 29-year-old
self when you said, Hey, youknow, I'm gonna launch and and
and do this kind of thing.
And then you moved on, youswitched it, I'm gonna go
straight to China and and start,you know, yeah.
So things obviously change,things are shifting.
We have one of our CCIM lunchescoming up, is about tariffs.
And then you're actuallyprobably in the middle of all of
(17:28):
that.
You mind shedding some light?
Uh what do you think of what'sgoing on?
SPEAKER_01 (17:33):
Before Trump, right, okay, we were uh zero percent
tariffs and life was beautiful.
Right.
Right.
People were saving money, wewere making good profits, it was
it was great.
When when the initial Trumptariffs took place and it
implemented a 20% tariff on our20 or 25?
(17:54):
20, I think it was 20, yeah.
20% tariffs on all Chinaimported goods.
Look, I mean, China is the thefactory of the world, you know.
Absolutely.
It's not easily replaceable.
It's not like you can and youknow, his logic was, well, just
go and make your stuff somewhereelse.
So initially I was okay with it.
(18:15):
You know, I I was I was pro thetariffs.
I was pro I I said, okay, well,whatever, we have to suck it up,
we have to do what's right forthe country.
And I was uh I was a proponentof it.
And it's fine.
So we started we did start goingand seeking other manufacturers
(18:35):
in different parts of the world.
I mean, we looked at Brazil, welooked at Malaysia, we looked at
Vietnam, we looked at Lithuania,so we ended up starting to
import case goods like desks andstorage and cabinets and whatnot
from Lithuania and greatproducts, great quality, but
(18:55):
when in comparison to the to thelanded costs, in comparison to
China and to Lithuania,Lithuania at the time had zero
percent tariffs.
So it was about a wash.
It was about a wash betweenbetween the post-tariff cost,
not the pre-tariff cost, right,and the Lithuania cost.
(19:16):
And so we we but we I decidedbecause I thought, okay, this is
not gonna stop here.
Let's let's put let's put someseeds and some roots into other
factories and around the world.
And so we started reallyinvesting a lot more into
Lithuania and bringing thatmerchandise in.
(19:37):
The actually the room that we'resitting in right now is from
that same factory.
SPEAKER_02 (19:41):
Oh, wow.
SPEAKER_01 (19:42):
Yeah.
This is so we you know, this isa silent room that comes in
different sizes.
This happens to be a four-personone, but they come larger and
smaller and phone booth size andwhatnot.
Right.
But yeah, so Lithuania became avery good strategic partner for
us.
And then, but you know, the onlyone product that we really have
(20:04):
a significant challenge infinding another factory is is
office chairs, office seating.
It's very hard.
All the components, taking themto different countries and
whatnot, it raises the price toa point where it really doesn't
make sense for the consumer.
So even with the 20% tariff, andeven now today, with the new
(20:25):
additional tariffs that raise itup to 55%.
Right?
So we're paying 55% on allimported goods from China.
Wow.
But believe it or not, it'sstill competitive.
Wow.
Even after the 55%.
And we've I've we have notchanged our pricing.
Really?
(20:45):
Yeah.
I've really absorbed a lot ofit.
Absorbed a lot of the cost.
And uh you know, during the theCOVID era, we had there was
major shipping costsfluctuations, if you can recall.
Oh, absolutely.
Remember container containerprices were through the roof,
25,000.
Pre-COVID, I was paying$2,500 acontainer.
Yeah.
(21:05):
Post-COVID or during COVID, Iwas paying, God, I think it got
up to even$20,000 for acontainer.
Yeah.
And you can't stop, right?
If you stop, you you might aswell just close your door.
Right.
So you have to keep going, keepgoing.
And so we had risen our costs,our prices in in to to handle
(21:27):
those increased shipping costs.
And then shipping costs did godown.
We did reduce our pricesslightly, but not drastically.
And then and then when these newtariffs came in, I looked at the
margins.
I said, listen, these are we'restill able to have a healthy
enough margin to support ourcompany and our employees and
(21:47):
our salaries and whatnot.
So I just decided to keep themthe way it is.
And just absorb it, and it iswhat it is, you know.
Are we constantly looking fornew sources?
Yes, but honestly, it's veryhard to find.
I mean, Vietnam, for example,they offer office chairs.
There's several office chairfactories, but their minimum
(22:08):
order quantities are are huge.
And they're not the factoriesare not up to par yet.
SPEAKER_02 (22:13):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (22:14):
To produce, for example, if I put a container
order, I just put a containerorder in two days ago with two
of my factories in China, andthey're gonna you know produce
it in 30 days.
That same order in Vietnam willtake probably double that.
So it'll take 60 days for themto produce it, and then another,
whatever, 30 or 40 days to shipit over.
(22:35):
It's a much harder process tomanage when you get out of the
efficiency of what China is.
SPEAKER_02 (22:41):
Right, right.
Well, I I know time's a littleshort.
I only a couple more questions.
Uh, one's more local on thesense of, you know, you've been
in the business now, and Alanaand I know you're the guys on
the front line with the officemarket, the commercial office
market kind of going through itsthing.
People working a little morefrom home, so you know, trying
to get back there.
(23:02):
We've seen in the last couple ofyears, at least for me, you
know, you know, everything fromthe standing desk to all sorts
of different types of chair.
What what kind of trend, or isthere any particular trend that
you're seeing that here in inSouth Florida or different parts
of the country, in particularwith office furniture, has been
changing, or this is where we'regoing with these more open
(23:23):
spaces with sound booth or Idon't know.
Yeah.
No, no, you're you're hitting itright.
SPEAKER_01 (23:27):
You're hitting it right.
SPEAKER_00 (23:28):
Like Nordic, Nordic kind of style?
SPEAKER_01 (23:30):
Yeah, like so organizations are becoming more
flat, right?
So, you know, you you you don'thave the traditional
hierarchical type oforganizational model that you
had back in the 80s and the 70sand 90s.
So as as companies become moreflat and from an organizational
standpoint, they they want amore collaborative type work
(23:54):
environment.
You have the new generationthat's coming out of college
right now that's expecting morefrom where they work.
You know, when I got out ofcollege, I was happy to sit in a
cubicle and get paid and listento my boss and say yes, sir, and
yes, ma'am, and do whatever theysay.
Now the the generation is ismore thoughtful.
(24:15):
They they're more they're theywant to be more involved.
They want to, you know, theywant to blend their work with
their life or their personallife.
And so all that translates to adifferent type of furniture
model.
You know, you want to you wantan environment that's they call
it resimercial, right?
Residential, commercial blend.
(24:35):
So you want to have a that'swhat you know, for example, we
work.
You go into a we work and it'svery, I mean, I don't even know
if we work is still around.
I guess whatever those placesare right now, right?
Those co-working spaces.
Co-working space, yeah.
You go into these spaces and andit you feel at home.
You're sitting on these gorgeousleather sofas, you have coffee,
you have sodas, you havewhatever you have sushi on the
(24:58):
side, you have whatever youwant, and you have a cool vibe.
Yeah, you have a greatatmosphere, you have a lot of
people around and people,like-minded people.
So I think companies arechanging the designs, changing
the way they think and how theyset up their offices to attract
(25:19):
that talent.
You design your space for a fewdifferent reasons.
You design your space for, yeah,you have clients coming over and
you want to make your space lookprofessional and polished.
Uh you have investors who come,they they want to see, hey,
where's our money going to, youknow?
(25:39):
Are you sitting in a usedcubicle somewhere or whatever?
Or you make the space look toomodern.
But the m but one of the bigbiggest reasons to update your
space is really to attracttalent.
Because that's what it's gonnatake to get people to, you know,
why do are they gonna work, youknow, they a lot of these kids
(26:01):
or young professionals have manyoptions.
So they can either work forthemselves, you know, in this
creator type of economy, theycan work for themselves, they
can work for, you know, Google,Apple, whoever, you know, one of
these guys, or they can or theycan work for you.
So how are you going to attractthem?
(26:24):
How are you going todifferentiate your space to make
it more attractive for somebodythat's coming out right out of
college that has has their hasit very clear in their mind what
kind of environment they want towork in.
And so, yeah, the spaces arebecoming open, collaborative.
We did shy away from that duringCOVID, and I had a lot of my
(26:45):
clients calling me saying, hey,put separations up, put you
know, barriers up.
And you know, and then yeah, thestate the work from home, I was
terrified.
I was terrified.
That was in my thought, in mymind, in 2020.
I thought that was the end of mybusiness.
Wow.
I mean, I sent people home.
I I didn't know if they werecoming back, I didn't know what
(27:05):
the future of office was goingto be.
And but you know, I honestly I Igive a ton of credit to Governor
Ron DeSantis for opening up thestate and making it open for
business.
Yep.
You know, saying, hey, Floridais open for business.
And we have had a ton of NewYorkers come, we had a ton of
Californians come, we had a tonof people from around the
(27:28):
country come.
And for me, that was that was weboomed.
And so, yeah.
Well we we we we give a lot ofcredit to to the governor and to
the to the yeah, yeah, in a morelighter way of seeing it, you're
old, I'm more young, so you knowI'm easy with that word.
(27:50):
Easy with the driver's license.
Let's confirm the differencehere.
SPEAKER_00 (27:54):
No, it's true, but what what it is true, I'm
millennial.
I'm a millennial.
SPEAKER_01 (28:00):
Are you okay?
SPEAKER_00 (28:01):
Yes, I am.
I'd like the right on theborderline.
SPEAKER_02 (28:03):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (28:04):
And what you're looking when you go to work in
an office.
Yeah, or you you put it in thein the office and you want like,
I'm tired of being in the stess,so they want to get their laptop
and go to an open space, but notin a in a benching.
And they want to go into a nice,comfy lounge chair, or they want
just to get like a little boothand be like a part of everyone.
(28:28):
Some it I think the workspacesnow are like going with the flow
and also with the moody'sbecause we're humans and you're
not in the same mood every day.
So when when you come to theoffice, if you're able to
provide spaces that get intothose moods, that that works for
(28:48):
you.
And I think that at the end ofthe day, it reflects on the
efficiency of the work thatyou're getting from your
workforce.
SPEAKER_02 (28:55):
Just to wrap up, thank you very much.
As closing words, what words,what would you say to a young
George or to those out therelistening that they're early in
their careers, they're cominginto commercial real estate, or
you know, they're they're justgetting an a it's difficult,
it's challenging, it's verycompetitive, whether you're in
brokerage or on the lending sideand office space.
I'm sure you're finding a lot ofcompetition.
(29:16):
What words would you say to ayoung George?
SPEAKER_01 (29:18):
Well, the young George is my son, right?
I have I have a son and I I talkto him all the time.
And what I what I tell him is isand and and you know, it's very
hypocritical for me to say itbecause I I didn't take this, I
didn't think like this as ayounger George.
(29:38):
But don't worry about the money,right?
Money comes, money comes, moneywill come.
I tell my son all the time, Igo, find what you love, do what
you love.
When you do what you love,you'll do it well.
And when you do something well,people will find you.
And eventually people will endup paying you for whatever it is
(29:59):
that you do well in life.
Right.
But the most important thing isto find something that
impassions you, that moves you,that that gives you purpose
every day.
You know, I think I think we weget lost in in the economy of
life.
You know, we we we're trying tokeep up with the Joneses.
(30:20):
We want the next, we want thelatest car, we want the latest
iPhone, we want the latestvacation.
You know, we're looking atInstagram, we see all these
people traveling the world, andyou're like, how do they do
this?
Right?
And and you know, we we'retrying, we're trying to keep up,
and it's just unhealthy at theend of the day, I think.
I think it's unhealthy.
To live like that, and I thinkyou just have to find something
(30:42):
that you love and do it rightand do it well, and just be be
an expert at whatever it is thatyou love.
SPEAKER_02 (30:49):
Very well said.
Thank you very, very much.
I'll make sure to include yourwebsite and your contact info uh
in the show notes and uh Georgeand Alana with Office Furniture
for Sale or what's the acronymagain?
Uh OFRS.
Or we'll see what the futureholds.
But you know, you guys have beenvery, very gracious.
Thank you for letting us useyour space.
(31:10):
Thank you for sponsoring uh withCCIM Miami District and this
podcast.
And we look forward to uh futureevents and hopefully uh a lot of
people getting a lot more officefurniture from you guys and in
you know helping out thiscommercial real estate community
that we have.
SPEAKER_03 (31:24):
Nice.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (31:26):
Yeah, I mean the the the CRE community has been
really a huge help for us eversince we started networking with
with not only CCIM but withNAOP.
We it's really opened up a lotof doors for us and we're really
grateful to the CRE, to the CREsthat we work with, the brokers
(31:46):
that we work with, who havetrusted us with their tenants,
with their clients.
It's we don't take it lightly.
If we're referred by a CRE, if aclient is referred by our CRE,
it's a top priority in thecompany.
It's a top priority.
We want to make sure that thoseCREs look good and uh and and
(32:06):
that's our that's our that's ourmain focus, making sure that
they're happy.
So yeah, thank you.
Well, thank you guys very much.
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