American Office history

M. Henry Kuntz’s grandsons now own American Office and primarily work out of the same Baltimore office opened in 1935.

In 1960 American Office at 309 N. Calvert annexed the adjacent flower wholesaler to house their ever-growing inventory.

In 1964, when IBM introduced a magnetic-card recording device into a Selectric typewriter, the future of the office, and our expectations of it, changed forever.

In fact, the Observer ran an article entitled ‘Would you let your daughter work in an open plan office?’ as lately as 1968.

Starting from scratch in 1994, United States Office Products Company grew, by purchasing companies, to command annual revenues of more than $2.5 billion within three years.

By the time United States Office Products went public in February 1995, Ledecky had acquired five more contract stationers: companies that sell office supplies under contract to corporate and commercial clients.

By April 1996 the number of acquired companies had reached 52 and included businesses that sold coffee and other "break room" supplies, office furniture, and business machines as well as stationery.

In February 1997 United States Office Products sold 10 million more shares of stock to the public at $33 a share.

For fiscal 1998 (the year ended April 25, 1998), United States Office Products reported revenues of $2.61 billion and net income of $67.2 million, including income of $27.3 million from discontinued operations.

In 1999 they opened their Washington, DC sales office.

But Ledecky envisioned United States Office Products as an $8 billion company by the year 2000.

In 2001, they acquired TCB Installations to form an installation and distribution center in Virginia.

By 2009, with three additional Virginia offices in Charlottesville, Richmond, and Virginia Beach, American Office became the only Mid-Atlantic MillerKnoll Certified Partner and one of the largest Herman Miller dealers in the world.