When Hank Menke was the young leader of OFS, at the time, a small office furniture maker from Huntingburg, Ind., he stood in front of THE MART in Chicago during NeoCon wishing his company could someday have a place there among the industry elites. It wouldn’t take long for the company to get that permanent showroom in THE MART and OFS would go on to become one of the largest tenants in the iconic building and one of the leading companies at NeoCon.
This year, the evolution continues as OFS moves into its new Chicago showroom in Fulton Market. The company moved to Fulton Market for what it couldn’t get at THE MART, said Molly Menke Prior, senior vice president of customer experience.
“Everything feels brighter,” she said of the space at 1115 W. Fulton. “Everything is just so nice, so nice. And I mean, the reality of it is when you’re in THE MART, it’s awesome, I will always miss it. I’ll always miss it because of the energy.”
At the same time, she said you can get “lost” as a manufacturer in the building. And she said she is happy the company is in an area that is active and alive the other 362 days a year that are not NeoCon. She appreciates the light and airy OFS showroom space that is located above the Patagonia retail store and directly across the street from MillerKnoll. There is OFS signage on the building. None of that could happen at THE MART. Still, it was a bittersweet decision, especially for the Menke family, which has so much history at THE MART an as a NeoCon anchor.
“So it’s a change. I think it’s by far and away the best change we could have made. But it’s change. And so you have to embrace this new way of meeting our customers,” Prior said.
The space is spectacular, a former WeWork location on the second floor of the building at the corner of Fulton and May streets. The corner location and nearly floor to ceiling windows flood the space with light. The red brick building is much more similar to a space one of its customers might choose for its offices — allowing them to better visualize how OFS products could look in their office.
The decision to move to Fulton Market happened over the last few years. It became official last year, just before NeoCon. During NeoCon last year, OFS brought its entire team to the former WeWork location for a champagne toast that introduced them to the space. But those executives probably wouldn’t recognize the finished product from what they experienced in June 2024. Over the last year, OFS has transformed the space by knocking down walls and opening it up.
The OFS showroom in Fulton Market is at the same time much more casual than its space in THE MART while being more organized by brand and product.
Upon arrival, visitors will find a dark and moody hospitality area. It is a refined space that uses plenty of wood furniture and accents to set the mood. A reception station and hospitality bar where visitors can help themselves to coffee, cold brew and filtered water was custom built by OFS.
Since the family’s history is so important, there is an area that celebrates where OFS came from as a company and where it is going, similar to the area in the main barn at Cool Springs, the OFS corporate retreat in Velpen, Ind.
The showroom has tall ceilings and the company used drop ceilings to call out the vignettes that visitors will find throughout showcasing different product lines.
At the front of the building, facing Fulton Street, the showroom designers took two small conference rooms and opened them up into one large conference space. The conference room, which uses the latest OFS seating and wood furniture products, was intentionally placed at the front of the building — a “wow” factor for those looking up into the space from the street who immediately see the rich wood details and a new conference room chair that will be introduced during Design Days.
OFS was very intentional with its design in the new Fulton Market space. For example, in the main part of the showroom is a stage, which is used as a seating wall. When OFS has events, it can use the stage for its intended purpose and move the flexible furniture that is around it out of the way for larger parties and to entertain customers. OFS also created a design library where customers and sales reps can sit down and plan out a project — a space they didn’t have at THE MART.
The showroom also allows OFS to better highlight all its brands. The showroom is not only home to OFS, it also has ample space for its Carolina healthcare and ROOM work pod brands. Effectively, the showroom is split into two halves.
Customers of Carolina will split off to the left when they arrive and will find a modern, new healthcare showroom, complete with a hospital room fully fitted out with its furniture. Workplace customers will split off to the right, where they will find the full line of OFS furniture and its ROOM pods.
The showroom also allows OFS to show how its soft architecture products and adaptive solutions can be used to build walls and structures that are flexible and can be moved. It was impossible to show these capabilities at THE MART because the light court in the former showroom took up so much space. The spot in the showroom will also highlight the new Obee lounge collection.
There are several vignettes showing off OFS private office furniture, including its new Adler collection, which is filled with features and easy to configure.
The new space also has an area that shows off all the finishes, materials and textiles available to OFS customers. Designed by Roger Webb and Associates, the Kaleid collection will get a prototype workstation that acts as a power distribution system that will be teased during Design Days.
The OFS showroom in Fulton Market will be a working space for the dozen or so employees that work in Chicago full time as well.
And OFS isn’t just working on rebranding its showroom in Chicago. The company has been working on remodeling all of its showrooms across the country. Its Washington, D.C. and New York showrooms were recently renovated and they are preparing to remodel the Atlanta and Los Angeles showrooms as well.
When Molly Menke Prior first walked into the new Chicago showroom, she was emotional. “I’ve had to deal with the emotions of moving from THE MART over here, but I think it was more moving to see the strength of our teams and the power of what they can do to bring our products to life,” she said. “I’m just blown away by the talent and the passion of our team. That’s what sets up us apart.”