Sustainable Office Solutions targets former Will & Baumer warehouse as future home

SALINA — Sustainable Office Solutions, LLC is leasing warehouse space inside the former Will & Baumer Candle Co., which is nestled on property at 100 Buckley Road in Salina.

The company eventually hopes to make the facility its permanent home.

Sustainable Office Solutions, which specializes in providing customers with pre-owned and re-manufactured office-furniture products, is currently operating a short distance away at 900 Old Liverpool Road in Salina.

The eventual plan is to move the firm’s operations into that space, says Andrew (Andy) Picco, owner and president of Sustainable Office Solutions.

“I would say it’s going to happen before year’s-end, and I’m thinking a lot sooner than that,” Picco says.

Agents Mark Hucko and Graziano Zazzara, Jr. of the Icon Companies of Syracuse, LLC brokered the lease. Hucko represented Picco in the lease negotiation, and Zazzara represented the landlord, Syracuse Gateway Holdings.

Yatish Chandra of Toronto, Ont. and two partners are the principles of Syracuse Gateway Holdings, according to Picco.

Before finding that space, Sustainable Office Solutions had been “having problems” with having enough space from which to operate.

The firm had filled up its 11,000-square-foot warehouse on Old Liverpool Road. Picco then rented a 53-foot tractor trailer that he uses as a storage trailer. He eventually had to lease an additional 1,200 square feet in the front of his building for more storage.

Besides selling pre-owned furniture, Sustainable Office Solutions also accepts used inventory and doesn’t buy from manufacturers.

“We’ve got to go through it and throw stuff away and filter, so we need swing space, which we really didn’t have,” Picco says.

Hucko suggested the former Will & Baumer Candle Co. warehouse as a possibility for additional space and had Picco tour the facility.

Picco initially had concerns about a lack of “visibility” at the location.

“It’s in the back. You can’t see it [from Buckley Road],” Picco says.

A few weeks later, Picco bought about 50 steelcase work stations from a company in Boston and needed the extra space. He notified Hucko, and Syracuse Gateway Holdings, the warehouse’s landlord, offered him about 8,200 square feet of warehouse space.

“That was the impetus [for signing a lease on the warehouse],” Picco says, noting he signed the lease Feb. 1.

The extra space also enabled Sustainable Office Solutions to secure a local project.

Onondaga Case Management Services, Inc. had to vacate its building at 220 Herald Place by the end of February for its move to 620 Erie Blvd. West.

Sustainable Office Solutions worked the final two days of the month to empty the agency’s office at the Herald Place building. Those belonging are now in the warehouse, Picco says.

Even though Picco had only signed a lease to use about a quarter of the available space, he realized he was using a facility that had a total of 38,000 square feet with 60-foot ceilings and loading docks.

Picco shared his plans with Chandra, who then told him he could have as much of the extra space inside the warehouse as he wanted “at no extra charge” on the condition that Picco would move his firm’s inventory if another tenant signed to use space.

Once Sustainable Office Solutions moved its inventory into the facility and considered other projects the company will be involved in, Picco started thinking about a long-term relationship with the facility.

“I started to run the numbers, and we need a space that big,” he says.

Picco then spoke with Chandra about his plans for growth and to see what Chandra thought about his firm filling up space in the entire warehouse.

For Picco, the bigger space meant bigger plans.

“I eliminated $650 worth of rent here [at 900 Old Liverpool Road and just swung it over there,” he says, referring to the additional space and trailer he had rented for extra space.

Picco is now working on ways of filling the warehouse with the inventory and operations of Sustainable Office Solutions.

In order for his company to move from its current location to 100 Buckley Road, it would need to build offices and a showroom within the warehouse, Picco says.

Picco has to secure pallet racking, buy a forklift, close one of the seven loading docks and create a new customer entrance.

“We still have a lot of work [to do],” he says.

Picco also wants to eventually offer local companies short-term and long-term storage space in the facility, something he believes would generate enough revenue to help pay the rent on the warehouse.

And his thoughts extend beyond storage.

“I want this to be the regional distribution center. I want product to come in from Buffalo to Albany … to come right into Syracuse,” he adds.

About the company
Sustainable Office Solutions currently operates in an 11,000-square-foot space at 900 Old Liverpool Road in the town of Salina.

The company leases its current space from Water St. Associates of Syracuse.

Sustainable Office Solutions has operated in that location since October 2011 when it moved from its original space at 1815 Lemoyne Ave. in Salina when Picco launched the firm in 2009.

Picco says his firm’s revenue fell by 10 percent in 2013 compared to 2012, but notes its profit rose by 10 percent.

He acknowledged that a health issue kept him away from the company for a few months between late 2012 and early 2013, which believes affected the firm’s revenue stream.

Business seems to be booming in 2014. Picco began the year forecasting 60 percent growth this year, but as of March 13, Sustainable Office Solutions had generated 167 percent more revenue compared to the same time in 2013, he says.

Sustainable Office Solutions has eight full-time employees and between two and seven part-time employees, Picco says.

The employees include his son, Christopher Picco, who serves as the company vice president and who will eventually succeed his father as the business owner.

“He’s my right hand guy. He is my succession plan,” Andy Picco says.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com