Essendant, one of the largest wholesale distributors in the U.S., is making a decisive break from the business that defined it for more than a century. The company, which began as United Stationers and later rebranded as Essendant in 2015, is exiting the independent office products dealer channel. The move closes a storied chapter in American distribution and underscores how technology and market disruption have permanently reshaped the industry it helped build.
In early October, Essendant notified customers that it would wind down its office products business to sharpen its focus on faster-growing markets, including janitorial and sanitation supplies, foodservice, and technology. The company described the decision as part of a long-term strategy to optimize operations, strengthen service, and concentrate resources where it sees the most opportunity. The shift will allow Essendant to deepen expertise and accelerate innovation across its remaining lines.
Restructuring and Consolidation
For independent dealers, the announcement landed hard. For decades, Essendant served as a crucial supply chain lifeline for thousands of small and midsize office product resellers. Its withdrawal leaves fewer options in a market already strained by consolidation and shifting buyer behavior. The move also highlights the structural pressures facing the office supply sector, which continues to shrink as paper-based workflows and traditional procurement systems give way to digital alternatives.
A Market in Decline
According to The Future of Office Supplies report from research firm Circana, U.S. office supplies sales across both physical and digital retail channels declined 5% from the previous year as total unit demand fell 2%. The firm projects another 2% decline in 2025 before the market stabilizes through 2027. Circana attributes the ongoing weakness to inflation, tighter household budgets, and a consumer base increasingly focused on value, discounts, and private-label products.
Ecommerce now accounts for 24% of total office supply revenue. The shift has been accelerated by Amazon’s aggressive expansion into business-to-business procurement through its Amazon Business platform, which offers vast assortments, fast delivery, and dynamic pricing. For distributors that once thrived on predictable dealer relationships and wholesale margins, Amazon’s marketplace has been both a catalyst for modernization and a source of disruption.
Building Connected Commerce
Today, Essendant’s digital evolution is taking shape through Connected Commerce, a platform that integrates its logistics, fulfillment, and digital capabilities into a single, connected system. The initiative is designed to help business customers — including resellers, retailers, and brands — manage inventory, pricing, and channel performance across multiple digital environments.
The platform connects Essendant’s network of fulfillment centers, which can deliver next day to 98% of the U.S., to most major B2B marketplaces, ecommerce platforms, and nine of the top 10 national retailers. Connected Commerce offers tools for optimized product listings, real-time inventory access, performance tracking, pricing analysis, and retailer compliance.
The company says more than half of its shipments now go directly to end users as ecommerce orders, underscoring how far Essendant’s operations have evolved beyond traditional wholesale distribution.
The Amazon Effect
Essendant’s reinvention mirrors a broader transformation across the distribution industry. For decades, wholesalers like Essendant built their businesses on serving independent dealers and regional resellers. But as those dealers lost share to online marketplaces and direct-buying platforms, traditional distribution models became harder to sustain.
Amazon’s entry into B2B distribution fundamentally changed the economics. By combining selection breadth with digital procurement tools such as dynamic pricing, spend analytics, and punchout integration, Amazon Business attracted millions of corporate buyers — from small firms to Fortune 500s — that once relied on distributors and local dealers. The result has been intense price competition, margin compression, and accelerated consolidation.
A Legacy Rewritten
United Stationers helped pioneer the modern office supply wholesale model. The company grew into distribution organization serving thousands of dealers through a nationwide network. Over time, however, digitalization, remote work, and new procurement technologies eroded the traditional office supply channel.
Even as Essendant diversified into janitorial, breakroom, and industrial categories, its core office supply segment continued to shrink. Its exit from the office products dealer market represents both an acknowledgment of that reality and a commitment to reinventing its role in a digital-first economy.
Founded in Chicago more than a century ago, the company that once filled the nation’s desks with pens, reams, and staplers is now positioning itself as a connected commerce powerhouse. In the process, Essendant is writing a new chapter — one defined not by catalogs and warehouses, but by data pipelines, digital integration, and the demands of a marketplace that never stops evolving.
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