Is Dunder Mifflin in Falling out of Business?
Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, Inc. is a fictitious paper sales company featured in The Office, an American television series.
Originally, the company was fictional, but eventually, the brand was used to sell products at Staples and other office supply outlets.
Back in history, one of the most well-known and respected names in the world of fictional brands would have to be Dunder Mifflin. Today the company is slowly losing its name and pride.
History
The company was founded in 1949 by Robert Mifflin and Robert Dunder who met on a tour at Dartmouth College in the U.S. It was originally meant to sell brackets for use in construction.
The company is situated in New York City, with branches in smaller Northeastern cities and states like Ohio, Nashua, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Akron, and Camden.
The Presence of Dunder Mifflin in the real world
The show’s success has led to the sale of products with the Dunder Mifflin logo as reminders.
The warehouse and office of the Scranton branch were set on the production company’s office which is located in Van Nuys, California. NBC sells mugs, branded T-Shirts, calendars, and many other items at its website and also its store in New York City.
In 2006, Dunder was ranked second-best fictional brand after Duff Beer from The Simpsons by NBC’s website, 80stees.com. In November 2011, Staples Inc. announced that they were to start selling their products under Dunder Mifflin's name.
They were licensed by NBC’s parent company, Comcast. Quill.com produced and sold Dunder Mifflin products until November 2012 where the brand expanded its product line beyond manufactured paper.
Corporate Affairs
The company’s headquarters is situated in New York City. Its ownership is publicly traded on New York’s Stock Exchange and Sabre together with David Wallace.
The company’s leadership is currently under Alan Brand (Chief Executive Officer), David Wallace (Owner/ CFO /CEO), and Robert California (CEO).
Their key competitors are Staples Inc., Office Depot, Prince Paper, and Osprey Paper among others.
The Current Situation
The company has since closed 7 branches which include; Albany branch, Buffalo, Camden, Binghamton, Pittsfield, Stamford, and Yonkers.
This could only be an indication that it is slowly becoming bankrupt and will have to close down.
The company is also depicted as struggling to meet the demands of its diverse workforce. As from July 2018, Quil.com also stopped carrying their products.
Final Thoughts
From the business model alone, Dunder Mifflin made no sense at all. The business seemed to ground on the idea that a better service and a personal touch would be enough to hike up their prices as compared to Staple or Office Depot.
This is why they employed so many employees like it sells some unique and complex products like Google or Microsoft software’s but it was only paper! Despite that, they located their headquarters in Midtown Manhattan! This is home to some of the highest rents in the entire world.
In the next few years, I am afraid this once great company will be no more as the world is slowly becoming paperless while they continue to produce limitless papers.
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunder_Mifflin
https://www.buzzfeed.com/jpmoore/dunder-mifflin-is-now-a-real-paper-company