The Greenest Office Supply Store in the World

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....