It was 2007 and after ten years at 500 Washington Street and close to 40 years on the 500 block of Washington Street, we decided to make the move to a smaller, more centrally located base of operation. There we could start from the ground up as the "greenest office supply store in the world."
First and foremost, we wee going to build our new store entirely of reused material and fixtures from our previous location. We took apart several fixtures, the cash wrap area, mirrored slatwall and, along with our greenest of inventory, put it all into storage until we could move into our new place. My father in law Peter, a retired engineer, was instrumental in the dis-assembly and re-assembly of the materials for reuse. Key to Peter's operation was the effective use of Avery 3/4 inch fluorescent dots, carefully placed to ensure successful reconstruction.
We rebranded our business as Waldeck's-Office Supplies for A Small Planet to better highlight our eco-orientation.
We provided free recycling of laser/inkjet cartridges, cell phones and batteries.
Next, we retrofitted all our light fixtures with low mercury, compact fluorescent tubes through the SF Energy Watch program. Soon, we became green certified by the SF Department of the Environment (our 500 Washington Street store was green certified as well).
We loaded the store with as many eco-friendly products as we could get our hands on. It was fun!
With a vibrant Starbucks directly across from us, a robust e-commerce platform called ECinteractive and a potentially lucrative State of California office supply contract, we felt we were entering a golden age of Waldeck's. All seemed wonderful, all was wonderful....
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Where Have All The Waldeck's Gone?
Recently, I was reflecting upon the over half century of Waldeck's existence here in this wonderful city of San Francisco. Since we always rented space during our fifty five years in business, I wanted to compile a list of "Where have all the Waldeck's Gone?" and who replaced them.
The first spot, 200 Davis Street, the old Produce Mart, is now Three Embarcadero Center.http://www.embarcaderocenter.com/ec/
The next location, 542 Sansome Street, is now Station 13 of the San Francisco Fire Department. http://www.sf-fire.org/index.aspx?page=176 We moved because the fire station was being built.
Moving across the street to 501 Sansome, the Niantic Building built atop the old Niantic Hotel is now 505 Sansome Street with a plaque commemorating the site of the Ship Niantic. In Waldeck's actual location is the yummy Specialty's.http://www.specialtysdirect.com/home_stores.asp
After 501 Sansome was condemned we moved over to 524-526 Washington Street. Today, our good friends at Speedway Digital Printing www.speedwayprinting.com occupy 524 Washington Street and, at 526 Washington Street, is Kvanum a Swedish Home/Office Fixture Company founded in 1923
http://www.kvanum.com/showrooms/usa/san-francisco
We then opened a second store located in Three Embarcadero Center (the site of Waldeck's first location). After fourteen years there giving it our best shot, we decided to close. Today, in the Waldeck's space is Phoa Hoa Noodle Soup, the largest Vietnamese restaurant Chain in North America. http://www.phohoa.com/locator_01.html#Anchor-USA.
After learning that 524-526 Washington Street would have to go through seismic retrofitting, we opted to move down the street to 500 Washington Street. A few years later, our wonderful upstairs neighbors, the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), bought the building. Today, the space once occupied by Waldeck's will now become a conference center for PPIC. I think that's really cool!
The first spot, 200 Davis Street, the old Produce Mart, is now Three Embarcadero Center.http://www.embarcaderocenter.com/ec/
The next location, 542 Sansome Street, is now Station 13 of the San Francisco Fire Department. http://www.sf-fire.org/index.aspx?page=176 We moved because the fire station was being built.
Moving across the street to 501 Sansome, the Niantic Building built atop the old Niantic Hotel is now 505 Sansome Street with a plaque commemorating the site of the Ship Niantic. In Waldeck's actual location is the yummy Specialty's.http://www.specialtysdirect.com/home_stores.asp
After 501 Sansome was condemned we moved over to 524-526 Washington Street. Today, our good friends at Speedway Digital Printing www.speedwayprinting.com occupy 524 Washington Street and, at 526 Washington Street, is Kvanum a Swedish Home/Office Fixture Company founded in 1923
http://www.kvanum.com/showrooms/usa/san-francisco
We then opened a second store located in Three Embarcadero Center (the site of Waldeck's first location). After fourteen years there giving it our best shot, we decided to close. Today, in the Waldeck's space is Phoa Hoa Noodle Soup, the largest Vietnamese restaurant Chain in North America. http://www.phohoa.com/locator_01.html#Anchor-USA.
After learning that 524-526 Washington Street would have to go through seismic retrofitting, we opted to move down the street to 500 Washington Street. A few years later, our wonderful upstairs neighbors, the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), bought the building. Today, the space once occupied by Waldeck's will now become a conference center for PPIC. I think that's really cool!
Monday, January 18, 2010
The Dreams of An Office Products Eco-Retailer
Happy New Year! As Waldeck's enters 2010, I find myself fantasizing about products that I'd love to stock but I don't think they exist. Hey, maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised and all these items are available, I just haven't found them yet.
Here are my Top 10 Eco-Friendly Products that could make Waldeck's customers world that much more wonderful.
1) A rechargeable battery display that reflects the true cost and environmental savings of rechargeable battery usage. It's apparent that the major battery companies would prefer not to sell or promote rechargeable batteries.
2) A battery recharger that could recharge 24-36 batteries at a time. That way batteries can be reused in a more industrial environment.
3) A refillable pen kit. A roller/gel/ballpoint pen with 5-10 refills in a handy storage case. Currently, pen refills are sold in individual packaging. Similar to recharging batteries, the writing instrument industry doesn't seem to really want their pens to be refilled.
4) A handcranked or squeeze-action powered laser pointer. They can do it for flashlights and radios, why not laser pointers and other electrical devices.
5) Recycled content toilet paper in a denser triple or quad rolled format. No core on the inside would be nice as well.
6) A device, like a soda fountain, that can dispense a variety of eco-friendly cleaning liquids into reusable personal dispensers.
7) A similar dispensing device that could be used for powdered cleaning products as well.
8) A hand pump powered compressed air duster for computers. The aerosol cans seem so inefficient and wasteful.
9) Recycled content Scotch tape. I've found it in packaging tape but not in the regular desk top rolls. Come on 3M, it's called "Magic Tape", work your magic and make it eco-friendly.
10) An affordable duplex printing multifunction machine. Yes, printing on both sides of the paper is eco-desirable but for the smaller user, it's cost prohibitive.
Here are my Top 10 Eco-Friendly Products that could make Waldeck's customers world that much more wonderful.
1) A rechargeable battery display that reflects the true cost and environmental savings of rechargeable battery usage. It's apparent that the major battery companies would prefer not to sell or promote rechargeable batteries.
2) A battery recharger that could recharge 24-36 batteries at a time. That way batteries can be reused in a more industrial environment.
3) A refillable pen kit. A roller/gel/ballpoint pen with 5-10 refills in a handy storage case. Currently, pen refills are sold in individual packaging. Similar to recharging batteries, the writing instrument industry doesn't seem to really want their pens to be refilled.
4) A handcranked or squeeze-action powered laser pointer. They can do it for flashlights and radios, why not laser pointers and other electrical devices.
5) Recycled content toilet paper in a denser triple or quad rolled format. No core on the inside would be nice as well.
6) A device, like a soda fountain, that can dispense a variety of eco-friendly cleaning liquids into reusable personal dispensers.
7) A similar dispensing device that could be used for powdered cleaning products as well.
8) A hand pump powered compressed air duster for computers. The aerosol cans seem so inefficient and wasteful.
9) Recycled content Scotch tape. I've found it in packaging tape but not in the regular desk top rolls. Come on 3M, it's called "Magic Tape", work your magic and make it eco-friendly.
10) An affordable duplex printing multifunction machine. Yes, printing on both sides of the paper is eco-desirable but for the smaller user, it's cost prohibitive.
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