This month, Diana sits down with Ardith Mendell, owner of Compass West to discuss how their business connects furniture dealers to businesses and individuals. Compass West was one of our earliest members at Enterprise Coworking, now onto their 3rd private office in the space. Learn about the amazing company here!
TRANSCRIPT:
[00:00:04] Diana: Hello, welcome to another Enterprise Community Spotlight. This month, we’re featuring wonderful member company Compass West. They have been members of Enterprise since our start back in 2016. Ardith Mendell is the owner of Compass West. She is here with us to tell us more about their fantastic team. Hey Ardith, tell us a little bit about your company and what you guys do.
[00:00:26] Ardith: Sure. So Compass West is a multiline manufacturer’s rep group in the office furniture business and our customers are everything from designers to contract furniture dealers. And also we a lot of times get involved with end users. So companies that are looking for furniture and we connect them to dealers who can sell and service their needs.
[00:00:51] Diana: That’s so awesome, I know Enterprise has worked really well with Compas West to Furnish, connects us with the dealers and and furnish this building. And we always get compliments on all of our furniture.
[00:01:06] Ardith: Well, it’s been super fun because we’ve been able to use areas of the Enterprise building to test furniture out and see how it works in actual settings. And we’ve gotten great feedback from some of the members here about what they like and what they don’t like. And that really helps us find that right solution for other companies that are coming to us. So we definitely appreciate feedback on furniture.
[00:01:31] Diana: Yeah, you’re right. We love that relationship too. It’s a lot of fun to test out certain products and they all just happen to be really beautiful, too.
[00:01:40] Ardith: Well, thanks.
[00:01:42] Diana: So how long have you guys been in business?
[00:01:45] Ardith: So we’ve been in business since 2003. And I work with my husband. We’re business partners. We’ve been working together for about that long. And and we love being in this building because we get to be in touch with other companies that are growing and expanding. And we love hearing about what those companies are doing. And we’re just always here to help and and to help help them with simple solutions so that they can help their brand and their companies stand apart from other companies. We represent nine different brands of furniture and eight different companies. So a couple of them, one of the companies has two brands within it. But one of the products that you see behind me, this quiet earth moss, is one of the products that we that we represent. And it’s a preserved natural moss product that helps absorb sound and helps kind of muffle some of the sounds that are in a big office space. And it also brings that green from the outdoors. And so it adds that beauty. And on the back side of it, it’s a whiteboard. So it’s fully functional as well.
[00:03:02] Diana: Incredible. I love that piece so much. It’s striking. Looks like you’re in the Garden of Eden. I love it.
[00:03:08] Ardith: Yeah, well, it’s one of my favorite products, actually. It’s just it’s just so happy and cheerful and warm and it does really cozy office space.
[00:03:19] Diana: Yeah, for sure. What makes Compas West different from other companies in similar fields?
[00:03:26] Ardith: So we try to think outside the box when customers come to us looking for solutions. So we try to find solutions that are kind of different and unique. We ask a lot of questions about their company and the type of people that they’re hiring. Are they hiring and looking to attract more millennials? What what is their what is their core business and what do they do? And we try to create an environment that’s going to help set their brand apart from other companies. We also try to be really, really responsive to our customers. So we try to find solutions to them and we try to find good connections. So whereas we don’t sell anything direct to the end user, most of the time we try to find businesses, other furniture dealerships, that do connect directly to them and that are going to be a really good fit.
[00:04:22] Diana: Excellent. So going back to you, why did you guys choose Enterprise Coworking?
[00:04:32] Ardith: So we actually at the time were living in the neighborhood and we were walking past the building and we saw activity going on in here and we were like, oh, what’s going on in there? In fact, I think we were walking down to Walnut Room for dinner one night and we were really curious about what was going on in this building because it’s been in the neighborhood for a really long time. And Frank found out that it was a coworking space and that got us really interested in, hey, I wonder if we could get a space in there and have a small showroom and and and we did. And it’s worked out fantastically. It’s just such a fun community and so fun to be a part of everything and see people. And and it’s been fun watching businesses move from suite to suite. This is our third suite in this building. And we’ve seen other businesses grow and move into bigger suites and and then other businesses move on to where they’ve outgrown their wouldn’t be big enough for them. So that’s been a really fun to watch businesses grow and kind of incubate in this area.
[00:05:43] Diana: Speaking directly to our viewers, What would you like them to know about your company?
[00:05:49] Ardith: So we love getting to know other members in the building and we’re always here to help. So if there’s anything that you need, if there’s anything that you need for your home office, when you walk by and you see chairs in here, we have this many, probably three times over in our garage that are old samples. So if somebody needs a chair and they’re looking for something for their home office that’s comfortable or maybe they don’t have something at home that where they can work at a desk, we do always have stuff available. We’ve also got a cage downstairs that has some products that are available for sale. So if you need something for your office, for your suite here or for your office at home, definitely swing by and see what we’ve got and ask is what we’ve got and tell us what your needs are. And we’d love to help you if if there’s something. We always have great deals on samples, that’s for sure.
[00:06:48] Diana: Thank you so much. And thank you guys for tuning in. To learn more about Compass West, if you would like to connect with Ardith and the team, you can swing by their office any time and Enterprise Coworking. If they’re not around at that time, definitely leave a note on the door or email her at Ardith@compassgroupwest.com. You can also visit their website at CompassGroupWest.com. Thank you so much. It was so fun.