OPI TALK

Market research firm Circana tracks the office supplies category (excluding janitorial, breakroom and storage) at leading US bricks-and-mortar and online retailers.

OPI Talk spoke to Ben Arnold, Industry Advisor, Office Supplies at Circana, to find out about latest category trends – with a focus on this year’s back-to school season, which was in full swing when the interview was recorded.

Episode recorded and edited by Andy Braithwaite

In its capacity as an Official Supporter of the Paris 2024 Olympics, Lyreco France is delivering tens of thousands of items of office furniture to dozens of locations.

What has this meant in terms of organisation and logistics? What have been the main challenges? How is Lyreco France delivering on the project’s sustainability goals? What will it mean for the company once the Games are over?

Eric Avril, Managing Director of Lyreco France, answers these questions and more, just three weeks before the Games are due to begin.

Episode recorded and edited by Andy Braithwaite

In March 2024, the US General Services Administration awarded contracts for its Commercial Platforms Programme. Along with household names Amazon Business, Staples and Grainger, four small businesses were also given awards.

OPI Talk spoke with two of these: San Diego-based Pacific Ink, led by Jaime and Alex Mautz, and Glass Commerce, a Silicon Valley start-up founded by Paola Santana.

Episode recorded and edited by Andy Braithwaite

Leading consumer and business products vendor ACCO Brands recently reported its 2023 financials.

In this episode of OPI Talk, Andy Braithwaite caught up with ACCO CEO Tom Tedford to discuss the 2023 results as well as some recent developments at the company – including its divisional restructure and some category exits.

Episode recorded and produced by Andy Braithwaite

A series of interviews from the show floor at Ambiente 2024 in Frankfurt, Germany.

Mega consumer products show Ambiente took place in the German city of Frankfurt at the end of January. Following the demise of Paperworld as a standalone event in Frankfurt, this was the second year that Ambiente had included a special Working section for the traditional office products segment.

OPI News Editor Andy Braithwaite spoke to a number of exhibitors to get their impressions of Ambiente Working and for a general business update. The podcast concludes with the thoughts of Messe Frankfurt’s Julia Uherek.

The exhibitors featured are: Acme United, Novus-Dahle, Durable, Djois, Hopax, Tesa, and Edding.

Episode recorded and edited by Andy Braithwaite

OPI catches up with Mike Gentile shortly before he steps down as CEO of leading US dealer group ISG.

Earlier this year, Mike Gentile announced he would be leaving ISG after almost 20 years at the organisation, most of that time as CEO.

In this interview, recorded at ISG’s headquarters in November, Gentile reveals what his future plans are, looks back at the highlights of his tenure at the dealer group, and gives his thoughts on some of the key issues impacting the independent dealer channel in the US.

Episode recorded and edited by Andy Braithwaite

If you are an OPI subscriber, you should have seen or even received the latest issue of OPI magazine, which is our annual Green Thinking issue.

In keeping with that sustainability theme, for this podcast, News Editor Andy Braithwaite spoke with Bernhard Cantzler, the Marketing and Sales Director for Mondi’s Uncoated Fine Paper (UFP) business in the EMEA region.

While many are quick to point out the environmental benefits of paper, this podcast covers some of the thornier issues related to papermaking, including the use of recycled versus virgin fibres, processes such as de-inking and bleaching, and the use of carbon offsetting to achieve sustainability goals.

More on Mondi UFP’s sustainability initiatives can be found here.

Episode recorded and produced by Andy Braithwaite

OPI’s first chance to speak with incoming ISG CEO James Rodgers.

It’s all change at the top of ISG, the biggest business products dealer group in the US, with long-time CEO Mike Gentile set to retire in a few weeks’ time.

Succeeding him is 44-year-old James Rodgers, who joins the organisation following a successful career charging up through the ranks in both the office and facilities products distribution channels.

In a visit to the ISG head office near Chicago (IL), OPI News Editor Andy Braithwaite had the opportunity to speak to Rodgers and ask him for his early impressions of the group and his thoughts on the independent dealer channel.

Episode recorded and edited by Andy Braithwaite

OPI Talk speaks to Ken Sweder following the closing of the transaction that has brought together leading US facilities and jan/san distributors BradyIFS and Envoy Solutions.

The biggest deal this year in the jan/san distribution space is undoubtedly the one that has created a $5 billion group in the US – known, for the time being at least, as BradyIFS + Envoy Solutions.

Leading the combined companies is Ken Sweder, and OPI News Editor Andy Braithwaite had the pleasure of catching up with him on a Teams call less than two weeks after the merger had been completed to find out what his plans are.

Episode recorded and edited by Andy Braithwaite

Andy Braithwaite is joined by OPI Director Janet Bell to look at the upcoming OPI Global Forum taking place in Chicago.

It promises to be another excellent OPI Global Forum, with a packed and relevant programme awaiting delegates who will gather at the Swissotel in Chicago from 5-7 November.

In this episode of OPI Talk, OPI’s Janet Bell discusses some of the Forum’s highlights, including the hot topic of AI.

There is a discounted delegate rate for the Global Forum that expires on 6 October. To take advantage of this, head over to the event’s website for more details.

The full agenda of the Forum can be found here.

www.opi.net/gf2023

Episode recorded and edited by Andy Braithwaite