New Digs for Memphis Reprographics: “Our team bonding has increased ten-fold”

By Ed Avis

            Sometimes a business location is more than just a place to put the desks. In the case of Memphis Reprographics, a new location provided a great burst of momentum.

            “We’ve had a 33 percent increase in sales this year alone,” says Chris McNally, owner of the five-year-old firm.

            Memphis Reprographics had been in a cramped, 3,600-square-foot space since the company was founded in 2010. The low ceilings, old utilities, and compartmentalized spaces were simply uninspiring.

            “Our previous space was antiquated and not operationally efficient,” McNally says. “It was just kind of falling apart.”

            McNally also did not feel that the building’s location was ideal to serve his customer base. When he started thinking about a new space he used zip code mapping to see where his customers, and potential customers, were clustered. Using that data he determined the best general location for his office.

            He hired a commercial real estate broker to target that area and began looking at

spaces. Eventually they found a former county office in a shopping center near central Memphis and the interstate. The 5,000-plus square foot space has 12-foot ceilings and a wide-open floor plan. A week-long build-out added walls, doors, and updated electric, IT infrastructure, HVAC, and lighting. A particularly inspiring feature they added is a “testimonial wall” that features 25 to 30 customer testimonials.

            On a Friday afternoon last April McNally and his nine employees closed the old office and started packing up. Three tractor trailers and 10 movers came on Saturday to move everything, and they put the pieces together in the new office on Sunday. By Monday morning they were back in business in their new home. An open house in June introduced the new space to over 100 customers and friends.

            “This space is insanely open,” McNally says. “It has a big glass storefront, and pods going down one wall, all with windows. I can stand there and see all the sales staff and the conference room. So people can have privacy for phone calls, but at the same time see everyone and work together as a team.”

            That teamwork is what McNally most loves about the new space. “We’ve noticed that our employees are much more productive and happier than they were in the old place,” he says. “There’s better interaction among them, and morale is up. It has created a better culture and everyone is a lot happier. Team bonding has increased ten-fold because of the move.”