In honor of #tbt (Throwback Thursday), we decided to take a look back at some of our past projects and liquidations that led to some interesting situations. Whether it was the lack of a service elevator for a multi-floor project or a big snow storm during a load out, we’ve had some office furniture project challenges throughout our 13 years as a company, but we’ve always found creative ways to pull through for our customers! Check out how some of these projects threw us for a bit of a loop:
Where’s the Loading Dock?
EthoSource was asked by a large software company to empty their 75,000 square foot Minneapolis office in 5 days. Located in the Nicollet Mall area of town, the surrounding area was very busy and congested in terms of tight corners and narrow streets. This led to one pretty significant challenge: the trailers couldn’t access the loading dock. So EthoSource improvised, deciding to shuttle the furniture from the building in a straight truck before it was reloaded onto trailers for its final destination. EthoSource worked around the clock to make up for the extra time needed. In the end, the project deadline was still met and EthoSource left the building in a broom swept condition.
The Show Must Go On
A leading insurance company called on us to help them liquidate 10 offices that were at multiple locations throughout the area. This hefty project required a two year duration, as the company needed to continue business as normal as work pursued. The offices varied in sizes from 10 to 500 persons, so every location had different aspects to consider. In order to keep things running as smoothly as possible for the company, EthoSource handled the logistics and project management during evening and weekend hours to work around the company’s schedule. EthoSource coordinated the project with numerous stakeholders, including the customer, architect, furniture dealer and construction manager, to make sure the assets were handled according to everyone’s expectations.
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Everything, but the Kitchen Sink
EthoSource’s liquidation team has come across projects that required the removal of all kinds of miscellaneous items, in addition to the typical office furniture that we normally handle. Air hockey tables, refrigerators, patio furniture… you name it, we’ve helped get remove it. So when this Center City Philadelphia office asked for help removing containers of papers and manuals that all needed to be recycled, it was no problem for us. After 40 years in the same location and over 1,000 people being moved to their new location, this large insurance company had A LOT that needed to be recycled. Lucky for them, recycling products is what we do best, and we helped them get rid of everything in preparation for their move! [/wpcol_1half_end]
You Need a Permit for That
A financial company needed EthoSource to build a temporary, swing space office for employees during a big company transition for their Connecticut branch. With a quick deadline rapidly approaching, our designers and installers were already working extended hours and nights to ensure the project’s completion in the time needed. Lucky for us, construction issues and the need for specific permits only added delays to the already tight timeline. EthoSource team members on the project used some quick thinking to get the necessary approvals and work-arounds in order to finish the installation in time for employees to move into the space as planned.
Double Whammy
In Chicago, a large travel company asked EthoSource to uninstall and clear out their office of 400 stations in a timeframe of 15 days. EthoSource was more than up for the deadline, until we came across a little structural problem with the company’s building. Their loading docks were low-height, and so didn’t match up with the trailers that needed to receive the furniture. EthoSource got creative with this one and decided to let air out of the trailer tires in order to meet the necessary height to load the furniture. Problem solved. That is until a St. Patrick’s Day snow storm threw another wrench in the works, making travel in and out of the city very difficult. In the end, the EthoSource team met the deadline and more than a dozen trailers of furniture were recycled.
[wpcol_1half id=”” class=”” style=””]Going Up?
A large financial services company located in the busy streets of New York City needed EthoSource’s services to remove several floors of office furniture from their building. With over $2 trillion in assets under management, there was a lot to manage, including a number of larger inventory requiring a maintenance elevator…. which they didn’t have. Instead, our crew made use of the outside, open-air construction elevators on-site. EthoSource coordinated with building management, construction management and the outside crane operators during the decommissioning and demolition of each floor, and despite the snow and rain during the project (which did add some excitement to the exterior elevator rides), everything went smoothly and finished on time.
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If you need help with your next office furniture project, no matter what crazy challenges your location or building may present, EthoSource is your go-to, full service office furniture provider that can handle it! Contact us to see how we can help you.