NASHVILLE — Longevity aptly describes Coeco Office Systems and its staff.
The company celebrated its 90th anniversary last week and recognized its employees for their many years of service.
The company was founded in 1921 as a small store in Rocky Mount, selling office supplies, furniture and typewriters and offering commercial printing.
The company has grown into a diversified office products company with stores in Clinton, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Greenville, Kitty Hawk, Lumberton, New Bern, Raleigh, Wilmington, Virginia Beach, Va., Tidewater, Va., and Hampton Roads, Va. It is one of the largest independent office equipment dealers in the Southeast and a longstanding dealer of Canon, Sharp, Lexmark, Kyocera and Ricoh business systems, including digital, multifunctional color copier and printer systems.
Grover Robbins formed the company. After his death in 1943, his son, Austin Robbins, managed and directed the company during the next 50 years. His sons, Bill and Chuck Robbins, joined the company in the early 1970s.
CEO Chuck Robbins said he is proud of the growth of the company and its dedicated employees.
They were honored at a 90th anniversary ceremony for the company May 11 at Rose Hill Plantation.
Twenty-two employees were recognized for five to nine years of service; 26 were recognized for 10 to 19 years of service; 20 were recognized for 20 to 29 years of service; 11 were recognized for 30 to 39 years of service; and one was recognized for more than 50 years of service.
Q: What services or products do you provide?
A: We are a technology company, first of all, an office systems company that sells technology products, such as Canon, Sharp copy machines, fax machines. We sell computer software and network digital products. A copier in today’s world is a digital product. You can network the copier with a computer keyboard in another office, give demands to a copier to scan a document and have it faxed to 10 different locations. These products can do all these multifunctions today because of digital technology.
Our business also has a service group that is second to none. They are highly trained on sophisticated products. Timely service is important. We’ve got 80 service vehicles on the road serving accounts all over North Carolina and Virginia.
Q: Who are your key leaders?
A: CEO Chuck Robbins; Randy Humphrey, president and general manager; Chris Doerfler, secretary; and Harry McDonald, purchasing executive.
Q: How many people do you employ?
A: More than 150.
Q: When were you established?
A: 1921
Q: What’s your business philosophy?
A: The customer comes first. The thing that we promote more than anything else is we enhance office productivity with digital technology. We are a complete office solutions provider. We represent the best manufacturers in the business, such as Canon, Sharp, Ricoh, Lexmark.
Q: What makes your business unique?
A: Quality, integrity and tradition.
Q: Why did you pick Rocky Mount as a place to do business?
A: My grandfather was a banker in Rocky Mount and left the banking business to start an office supply business. It was the American dream to go out and have his own business. He was fortunate enough to be able to pull it off and have a son who was able to run it for many years.
Q: How has your company grown in the last several years?
A: The last couple of years our sales were off because of the economy. It’s affected us like other businesses. Our sales were off, but are now rebounding. Things are improving dramatically here the last six to eight months. We’ve got the right people in the right places now to make a strong recovery.
Q: What changes do you expect for your company in coming years?
A: Of course, being a technology company, there will be a lot of changes because technology changes every day. Our job is to keep up with the latest in technology products and to the sell the most technologically advanced products in the office products industry. That’s what we’ll be doing.
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AT A GLANCE
> Address: 1615 N. Church St.
> Telephone: 977-1121.
> Website: coeco.com.
> Email: info-rmt@coeco.com.
> Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
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