There are currently 1.2 million lawyers in the United States.
In the event you thought this was going to be a lawyer joke blog post, we thought we’d at least give you one.
While some have gone paperless, many still prefer hard copy legal briefs (and some are required to maintain them).
What we wonder is: what if they all chose to buy American-made indexing products?
Several things would happen:
- They would save money
- They would help the environment
- There would be more jobs in the United States
Save Money Buying US-made Goods
The belief by many is that you can save money buying things that are made in China or Mexico, right? Perhaps it should be that way since low wage workers in Mexico live so far down below the poverty line and China’s factories are often unfit for any American to work in, but what we have repeatedly found is that the indexes and file folders out of our factory are at a lower cost than our foreign-made competition.
US-made products support local jobs, and can even save you money.
In fact, one of our marketing people was in Salt Lake City, Utah visiting OP Dealer where they have an entire room just for Kleer-Fax indexes. The manager at that location said that the leading index maker has asked to also be stocked, but the answer has been “no.” To say the least, we were shocked, but not when it came down to this: “I want to give my customers the lowest price,” he said.
And it’s true. In fact, if you go to any site that sells our products, be it Amazon, Shoplet, Wayfair, WB Mason, or that of an independent office dealer in your local area, we would challenge you to do a price comparison.
After our competitors moved out of the country, it only became easier to keep prices lower because while they were saving on direct overhead, they were also shipping across foreign borders, sending products across oceans, and dealing with so many other issues. While any New York City attorney can get something couriered to them from us in the same day, our competitors must prepare for such crises a week in advance, which is literally impossible.
If low prices weren’t enough, the attorneys who use our products are part of the solution.
While many companies speculate over manufacturing in Mexico or China, they might want to consider the benefits of being in the USA.
Helping the Environment with Ethically Sourced Paper Products
Recently, our president, Lou Nigro noticed a 5-tab index set at his local grocery store. It was sold by a business in NY. Upon inspection, we noticed that this product was priced for $1.99, well over the suggested retail of our version of the same product. Additionally, it was made in China and did not appear to contain any recycled materials.
Since 2009, the FSC has helped us make sure that we are using ethically sourced materials.
Needless to say, we were very excited because we could not only help them save a lot of money, but we could make the very same product with our FSC Certified Paper! We called and left a message for the company’s purchasing person, getting his voicemail. After a second call, we decided to mail him their made in China and the Kleer-Fax (Made in USA) versions, noting our prices as well as our eagerness to make a private label version. We did not hear back from him, so we called again. And again. And again.
In fact, we have called dozens of times, leaving dozens of messages, and confirming with other people on the company’s staff that we had the correct person. While someone might figure we should just get the point that he’s not going to return our call, we sent him another piece of mail, because (1) we’re neighbors, and (2) we have about 100 families who are counting on us to make this sale. And there are many other families who will benefit through better prices and higher quality if we can make it happen.
After this blog post was written in its original version (naming the company and individual) we contacted a person higher up than him, left a voicemail, sent an email, and then sent another email. No return on either. While you deserve to know who this company is that simply refuses to even tell us why they don’t want to sell better products for a lower price while using a local factory to make it, our company president said that we’re better than that, and seeing as he is the company, he might be right.
We’ve strayed a bit here, but we are passionate about our company, and what it can do for our country.
Supporting the US Economy By Buying American-made Products
Attorneys on Court Street in Brooklyn can find locally made Kleer-Fax products at Court Street Office Supplies!
As we said in the beginning, there are 1.2 million lawyers in the United States, and they work in nearly 48,000 law firms. It would be very conservative to say that they spend at least $2,000 each year on products we make, equaling to nearly $100 million in sales for retailers who sell our products.
If we had more demand, be it for the traditional indexes, pockets or wallets, or our brand new custom products (click here for a great 8 page pdf), or even for our super-strong bundle bands, it would lead to more jobs at our factory. In fact, we could open another location to more conveniently serve our customers out west, cutting ground shipments to California from 5 days to 1 or 2!
More importantly, we think of what this would do for the economy of the town where we extend to. If Kleer-Fax could replicate would it has here on Long Island to a community such as Salt Lake City, UT, Reno, NV, or even further south, such as in West Texas or New Mexico, there would be millions of more dollars being pumped into that community by way of basic payroll every year. This would lead to better home buying (positive effect on housing market), car buying (higher revenue for dealerships), and entertainment (more tips to service staff at restaurants). Additionally, the factory would need things like basic supplies and insurance, which would be bringing even more money to more people.
To keep it simple – when an attorney (or anyone) buys a Kleer-Fax product, he or she is not only supporting the nearly 100 jobs at our factory, but also supporting the 100 or more jobs created as a result of this factory being here. If more people decided to save money by buying our products, it could double that number from 200 to 400, and possibly in their very own community. And this would all happen while using paper that was certified by the FSC!
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