Going strong

In a day of flourishing large chain office supply stores, a 95year-old family-run office products business has retained a strong presence in a single town - Greenwich.

Sure, the store still has its wooden floors and tin ceiling, but Marks Bros. Office Products has kept up with the everchanging

"We're very proactive to keep going with the needs of today's offices," said Robert Pincus, who partners with his brother, Doug, to run the company founded in 1907. Pincus has been with Marks Bros. for nearly two-dozen years (23, to be exact). His father, the recently retired owner - Erving Pincus owned the Greenwich Avenue business for 25 years. "He got us going in this business," Doug said. "He taught us the business, and has a very good business sense."

His mother, Clare, worked as an office manager and was an integral component of the company's success, he said. It's still family run, but now Doug and Robert run the show.

Horse and buggy

"I started when I was 19, driving our delivery truck when we had only four or five deliveries a day," Robert said. Now, "we can get up to about 50 (deliveries per day). We supply a lot of businesses in Fairfield County."

The store has two truck drivers for deliveries and 20 other employees ranging from bookkeepers to warehouse personnel to salesmen.

In 1907, the business started as the Marks Bros. Stationers, a retail store that relied heavily on its horse-and-buggy newspaper delivery service.

Pincus said one of the Marks brothers remained with the company when the Pincus family took it over, and taught them valuable tips for the first few years. Now, it thrives on such services as Internet orders and a catalogue that includes some 24,000 items ranging from pens to the desks they're used on.

Helpful employees

The company has dealt with changes outside the offices, as well.

"Now, you have the 'big-box' stores that are very aggressive." Pincus said. "They love to shout 'low prices' and spend lots of money convincing people that their prices are cheaper."

He said that customers, in fact, save money by shopping at his store, and that the service is more personal. It is for those reasons that Marks Bros. has lasted so long. "We'll bend over backwards - do what ever we have to - to make people happy." "We help people, which is a lost art in retail these days," Pincus said. "In the office supply industry, there are a lot of things people need to know." For example, which accessories for which computers they need, or how much memory a computer requires, he said.

Pincus calls Marks Bros. a hometown store that keeps up with today's needs. "Sure, we've been here so long we have a lot of repeat customers," but knowledgeable, helpful employees are key to keeping the company alive and well, lie said.

Pincus recalls in the 1980s when they sold 30 to 40 typewriters a month. These days, the store sells just one or two, but downgrading pertains to little else in this business. "We've had a lot of growth," Pincus said. "Every year, we have growth."

$7,000 pens

Because the store continues to sell newspapers - 300 to 400 per day - and provides school and office needs that are purchased to start the day, it is open Monday through Saturday at 6:30 a.m.

Pens range in price from 29 cents to $7,000, depending on whether the customer wants a Bic or a Mont Blonc, Pincus said. "We have a pen department that is one of the biggest in the state."

The company is promoting its birth and wedding announcement services, a growing facet to the business. "We can print everything from a simple business card to an annual report," Pincus said.

As other companies have dealt with economic changes, Marks Bros., too, has had to adjust over the years, most recently because of the slower economy.

"The high-end products are a little bit slower than your everyday products," he said. "Being that things happened in September, I had a pretty good grasp on how to be careful on what I ordered for the Christmas season."

Secret to success

The next busiest time of year to the Christmas season is the start of school because of the company's extensive selection for teachers and students, Pincus said. The store sees 200 to 500 people per day.

The longevity of Marks Bros. proves the secret to success is good service, according to Mary Ann Morrison, president and chief executive officer of the Greenwich Chamber of Commerce.

"I think what it shows is that even though you have your 'bigbox' retailers, there's still a place for the family-owned business if they are conscious of service" and of the 'big-box competition," she said.