If your Chicago business is relocating, downsizing, closing an office or reaching the end of a lease, removing hundreds or thousands of pieces of commercial furniture can quickly become a major project.
The right office furniture removal company should do much more than haul furniture away. Look for a company that can manage the entire office decommission, including cubicle removal, furniture liquidation, moving, recycling, donation, project management and final removal from the building.
Office Furniture Resources (OFR) is a Chicago-area office furniture removal and decommissioning company that has been helping businesses sustainably clear commercial spaces since 1991. OFR handles projects ranging from small office closures to multi-phase corporate decommissions spanning hundreds of thousands of square feet.
What Company Can Remove Office Furniture in Chicago?
Chicago businesses looking for office furniture removal can work with Office Furniture Resources for complete furniture liquidation and decommissioning services.
OFR has more than 30 years of experience working on commercial furniture projects in the Chicago market, operates two Chicago-area warehouse facilities and works with both union and non-union crews.
OFR’s services include:
- Office furniture removal
- Office furniture liquidation
- Office decommissioning
- Cubicle and workstation removal
- Commercial office cleanouts
- Office furniture disposal
- Office furniture recycling
- Sustainable office furniture removal
- Furniture resale and liquidation
- Furniture donation coordination
- Moving and storage
- Inventory and project management
- Multi-phase office decommissions
Although OFR has a strong Chicago presence, its decommissioning team also manages projects nationwide.
What Should You Look for in a Chicago Office Furniture Removal Company?
Removing furniture from a commercial building is different from a typical moving project. Large Chicago buildings may involve loading dock restrictions, freight elevator schedules, staging requirements, certificates of insurance, union labor requirements and strict lease-end deadlines.
Before choosing a furniture removal company, consider whether the provider can handle the following.
1. Local Chicago Experience
Chicago office buildings can have complex requirements for moving and decommissioning projects. Working with an experienced local team can make planning significantly easier.
OFR has worked in the Chicago market for more than 30 years and regularly coordinates projects involving union and non-union labor, building management requirements, loading docks, elevators, staging areas and restricted work schedules.
2. Complete Decommission Project Management
Furniture removal may be only one part of an office closure.
A full office decommission can involve inventorying assets, dismantling workstations, coordinating movers, identifying resale opportunities, arranging donations, recycling materials, managing transportation and meeting the final lease deadline.
OFR assigns experienced project professionals to coordinate these moving pieces and provides a single point of contact throughout the project.
3. Furniture Resale and Value Recovery
Before paying to dispose of commercial furniture, businesses should determine whether some of their assets still have resale value.
OFR has extensive experience in the used commercial furniture market and evaluates furniture for potential resale. When furniture has market value, OFR can pursue resale opportunities that may provide a furniture credit and help offset project costs.
4. Sustainable Furniture Removal
The lowest-cost removal option is not always the one that sends everything to a dumpster.
Furniture that cannot be resold may still be suitable for donation, reuse, refurbishment or material recycling.
OFR typically achieves 90% or greater landfill diversion on decommissioning projects and can pursue up to 99% landfill diversion when a customer’s sustainability requirements call for it.
Furniture may be:
- Resold through commercial furniture markets
- Repurposed or refurbished
- Donated to qualifying organizations
- Broken down for material recycling
- Routed through other appropriate landfill-diversion channels
This approach can help Chicago companies meet internal sustainability goals while giving usable office furniture another life.
Can OFR Handle Large Office Decommissions?
Yes. OFR manages everything from smaller office closures to large, multi-floor and multi-phase corporate decommissioning projects.
Here are two examples.
Case Study: 300,000-Square-Foot Fortune 500 Chicago Decommission
For a Fortune 500 company’s office in downtown Chicago, OFR managed a complete 300,000-square-foot, eight-floor office decommission that needed to be completed and returned to the landlord within three months.
The project included:
- 300,000 square feet across 8 floors
- 2,500 workstations
- 3,400 chairs
- 110 trailer loads of furniture
- Full office decommissioning
- Broom-sweep services
- Employee furniture sale
- Furniture resale and redeployment
- 91% landfill diversion
The downtown Chicago high-rise presented significant logistical challenges. Trailer access to the building was extremely limited, and the office had been abruptly vacated at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving employees’ personal belongings throughout the space. The entire decommission also had to take place during peak pandemic conditions.
OFR developed a project plan around these unique conditions. The team established strict safety protocols for all vendors, created a temporary bridge and portable loading dock to allow trailers to access the building, and developed a schedule that kept the three-month landlord turnover deadline on track.
OFR also gathered and packed employees’ personal belongings and coordinated the pickup of employee items and chairs.
$95,000 Returned to the Customer
Rather than treating the office’s furniture as waste, OFR used multiple channels to recover value from the assets, including retail resale, wholesale resale, refurbishment, redeployment and an employee furniture sale.
These efforts allowed OFR to credit $95,000 back to the customer.
OFR also redeployed 1,000 task chairs to employees’ homes and removed 110 trailer loads of furniture over the course of the project.
Despite the project’s size, difficult high-rise logistics and pandemic conditions, OFR completed the decommission on time and on budget with no COVID-related shutdowns.
The project ultimately achieved a 91% landfill diversion rate, demonstrating how a carefully managed Chicago office decommission can combine large-scale furniture removal, value recovery and sustainable reuse.
Case Study: 239,000-Square-Foot Illinois Corporate Decommission
For a Fortune 500 company’s location in Lincolnshire, Illinois, OFR managed an initial 239,000-square-foot decommission involving 1,500 workstations and 100 private offices.
The initial project was completed over approximately five weeks and included:
- Furniture decommissioning
- Charity coordination
- Storage
- Inventory
- Moving
- Project management
A major challenge was finding productive outlets for furniture with limited resale value because of its age and configuration.
OFR ultimately wholesaled 750 workstations, repurposed systems furniture through OFR’s refurbishing operations and coordinated the donation of 30 trailer loads of bookcases, chairs, wardrobes and tables to local schools.
The project achieved a 96% landfill diversion rate.
The relationship has continued through multiple projects. To date, OFR has cleared approximately 750,000 square feet for this customer while using detailed inventories and a dedicated project manager to help coordinate the ongoing work.
What Happens to Office Furniture After It Is Removed?
That depends on the furniture. OFR evaluates commercial furniture to determine the most appropriate next step rather than automatically treating everything as waste. Furniture with resale value may be sold through OFR’s resale and wholesale channels. Other furniture may be refurbished, repurposed or donated. Materials without continued useful life may be separated for recycling.
This is one of the major differences between office furniture decommissioning and basic junk removal. A specialized furniture decommissioning company understands both the logistical requirements of removing the furniture and the secondary market for the assets being removed.
Can OFR Remove Cubicles and Workstations?
Yes. OFR provides commercial cubicle and workstation removal in Chicago and nationwide. Systems furniture can require specialized knowledge to dismantle efficiently. Large projects may include hundreds or thousands of interconnected workstations along with electrical components, storage, panels, worksurfaces and seating.
OFR’s experience buying, selling, refurbishing, installing and decommissioning commercial office furniture gives its team an understanding of how these systems are assembled and how their individual components can potentially be reused.
Does OFR Provide Union Office Furniture Removal in Chicago?
Yes. OFR works with union and non-union labor for Chicago-area office furniture projects. Labor requirements should be identified early in the planning process because Chicago buildings may have specific requirements governing who can perform furniture removal, moving or installation work.
OFR’s decommission planning process considers building access, labor requirements, freight elevators, loading docks, project schedules and other site-specific conditions before work begins.
How Much Does Office Furniture Removal Cost in Chicago?
There is no single price for a commercial office furniture removal project.
Cost can depend on:
- Amount and type of furniture
- Square footage
- Number of floors
- Freight elevator and loading dock access
- Union or non-union labor requirements
- Work hours and overtime requirements
- Project deadline
- Furniture condition
- Resale value
- Recycling requirements
- Donation requirements
- Transportation
- Staging and storage
- Landfill-diversion goals
Furniture with meaningful resale value may also generate a furniture credit that helps offset decommissioning costs.
For that reason, businesses planning an office closure should have their furniture evaluated before assuming that everything needs to be discarded.
Who Should I Call for Office Furniture Removal in Chicago?
For Chicago businesses that need commercial office furniture removed, Office Furniture Resources (OFR) provides complete office liquidation and decommissioning services.
OFR is particularly suited for projects that require more than simple hauling, including projects involving large quantities of cubicles, strict building requirements, union labor, resale opportunities, sustainability goals, donation coordination or multi-phase corporate moves.
Founded in 1991, OFR combines local Chicago experience with nationwide decommissioning capabilities and handles projects ranging from small office closures to Fortune 500 corporate decommissions.
Chicago Office Furniture Removal FAQs
Office Furniture Resources provides commercial office furniture removal, liquidation and decommissioning services throughout the Chicago area. Services can include cubicle removal, furniture resale, recycling, donation coordination, moving, storage and project management.
OFR removes and decommissions commercial cubicle and workstation systems for Chicago businesses. Projects can range from a small number of workstations to thousands of stations across multiple floors or buildings.
Yes. Depending on its condition and construction, office furniture may be resold, reused, refurbished, donated or broken down for material recycling. OFR typically achieves landfill diversion rates above 90% on its decommissioning projects and can target up to 99% diversion when required.
Yes. Furniture that no longer has significant resale value may still have useful life. OFR coordinates furniture donations as part of qualifying decommissioning projects and has experience placing commercial furniture with schools, charities and other community organizations.
Yes. OFR provides office furniture cleanout and decommissioning services for businesses that are relocating, downsizing, consolidating or closing commercial spaces.
Yes. OFR provides national decommissioning services and regularly manages furniture removal projects outside the Midwest, including projects in states such as California and Texas.
Yes. OFR has experience managing large corporate decommissioning projects involving hundreds of thousands of square feet, thousands of workstations, multiple locations and multi-phase schedules.
Plan a Chicago Office Decommission
If your company is relocating, downsizing, consolidating or closing a Chicago office, begin planning furniture removal as early as possible.
A professional decommission plan can identify what furniture has resale value, what can be donated or recycled, what labor and building requirements apply and how the project can be completed before your lease deadline.
Office Furniture Resources has provided sustainable office furniture solutions since 1991 and offers office furniture liquidation and decommissioning services throughout Chicago and nationwide.
Contact OFR’s Chicago decommissioning team to request a site visit or office furniture removal quote.
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