When I first opened Deco Designs Systems Furniture Inc. 20 years ago, I sold a lot of remanufactured office cubicles. Back then, it made better sense, was environmentally friendly and was more cost effective. We warehoused all of our products, re-painted them to the customer’s specifications and sold them new looking cubicles. The drawback with refurbished office cubicles is all of the base materials are used including the electrical. Many of these parts have been used for a long time and when buying new you are getting an improved, current version. One of the issues with remanufactured product is that the new paint usually rubs off in spots after a year showing the old paint color underneath. The old electrical can also be an issue.
Also, as for being environmentally friendly, recycled is not like buying used where all the old parts are used. New paint and fabric are used and many times so are the work surfaces. Used cubicle panels and parts are also recycled now so not much goes in the dump anymore.
Today the cost for remanufactured cubicles is almost the same as buying new ones. By the time you pay to store your core products, you pay for the raw materials (paint/fabric/labor to assemble), equipment and supplies, you can practically buy new office cubicles. And new cubicles look better, last longer and are more flexible in the design process.
The new cubicles that we sell here at Deco Designs Systems Furniture Inc. are from Friant and AIS. They have a lot of different styles and sizes of office cubicles, some clones of popular styles and some unique to their companies. For a few hundred dollars more, you can invest in your company’s future with products you know will be there when you need to grow or change.
These are the reasons that Deco Designs Furniture stopped selling exclusively remanufactured cubicles and began selling new.