Almost a decade after the Dot.com bubble burst, ABC Office.com is still going strong.

Kaysville, UT, July 2006 - In 1996, ABC Office president Calvin Barlow saw “the potential of the Internet” and decided to take a chance by offering his office equipment product line in a new untried medium. Ten years later, ABC Office skipped the dot-com crash, expanded their product line, and turned this mom-and-pop shop into a global distributor of office supplies.

Established in 1980 as American Binding Company, Calvin Barlow’s father, William, sold binding equipment to local print shops and copy centers out of his Bountiful, Utah, home. By the mid 80’s, the business had moved from the Barlow home into a 4800 square foot office and warehouse. William retired in 1991, turning American Binding Company (DBA ABC Office) over to his sons, Calvin and Brent.

In the late 90’s, the “new economy” on the Internet was seeing phenomenal success. Dot-com companies were popping up everywhere, stocks were rising, and fortunes were being made over night. In 1996, ABC Office formally launched http://www.ABCOffice.com. The company saw an immediate increase in sales and was reaching markets previously inaccessible. The decision was made to transition from a brick-and-mortar store to an e-commerce format.

In 2000, the Dot-bomb exploded. The “growth over profits” approach that led companies to invest millions of dollars in Web sites and cyber-ventures was losing ground. Humiliated high-profile Internet-based companies like Kozmo.com, Etoys, and Pets.com declared bankruptcy, and existing corporations suffering heavy losses cut back their Internet marketing.

While other companies were surveying the damage, and analysts were determining “what went wrong?” Calvin and Brent pushed their online-company forward. Avoiding the wild speculation that eventually doomed other Dot-coms, ABC Office applied brick-and-mortar strategies to their virtual business.

ABC Office expanded their binding equipment product line to include office equipment and supplies, office furniture, security systems and ID equipment. The move paid off. Growth, fueled by significant Web market sales, necessitated the need for expansion. The company relocated to Kaysville, Utah, and built a 27,000 square foot facility that accommodated the needs of their burgeoning e-business.

Today, ABC Office remains at its core a family business and has developed into a worldwide distributor of office equipment, serving customers in Utah, Mexico, Nicaragua, Canada, Japan, Afghanistan, Great Britain and other global markets.


For further information, please contact Morgan Cloward, Marketing Director of ABC Office, 1-800-658-8788, info@abcoffice.com


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