Resource Library

January 23, 2002

RBF Interiors Announces Management Buyout; Ronnie Mitchell New Majority Owner
William Greytak Remains with Firm as Consulting Employee

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI - RBF Interiors, previously known as Remanufactured Business Furniture, has announced an employee-lead buyout of the firm. The acquisition team was lead by Ronnie and Donna Mitchell, who are now majority shareholders. RBF is a premier recycler of Steelcase, Herman Miller and Haworth Systems furniture.

The Mitchell’s formed a group called RBF Acquisition Corporation to facilitate the purchase. The sale price was not disclosed. Ronnie Mitchell also has assumed the role of president of RBF Interiors. He was formerly the Vice President of Operations. Mitchell succeeds William Greytak, who founded the company in 1985 and served as its president until the acquisition closed on December 28, 2001.

The acquisition had been in the planning stages for more than three years, according to Greytak. “We’ve been working toward this for some time,” he said. “I just felt like RBF needed some new blood and it was time for me to back away from the business so that its new owners could take it to the next level. Ronnie and his team have been working toward this eventuality for some time. I’m excited about this. I think it will lead to the company’s sustained growth. Ronnie is the right guy to take RBF forward.”

Greytak will remain a consulting employee of the company for the next two to three years. He said he has had numerous opportunities to sell the company to competitors or manufacturers but was not interested in those offers. “RBF is a part of me and I was motivated to sell the company to someone I knew and trusted-someone I knew would continue to build upon the foundation and track we have set. And Ronnie is, without question, that person.”
Mitchell said that he plans to make no immediate changes. “Nothing has changed with regards to how things are or will be managed,” he said.

“We will continue to provide outstanding service and value to our customers. We will continue to focus on the middle of the market and provide superior, cost-effective solutions that allow our customers to maximize their investment in office furniture.

“Furthermore, we’ll continue to not only lead the remanufactured industry, we will maintain focus on our original manufactured product line, which has been growing steadily since its introduction in 2000. In all likelihood, this transaction will go unnoticed by our customers,” Mitchell said.
According to Mitchell, RBF’s success lies in its ability to provide both outstanding solutions and value. “We’ve broken the code on combining price with service. Most places with outstanding service tend to be higher priced. And, conversely, those with lower prices often sacrifice service. But, at RBF Interiors, we’re able to offer both because we are, in essence, both the manufacturer and the distributor. There are no middle men and our customers appreciate that fact,” he said.

RBF Interiors offers the following products and services:
· Remanufactured business furniture
· New business furniture
· Used business furniture
· Full-service delivery & installation
· Leasing
· Repair
· Storage

In order to more accurately reflect its full line offerings, the company changed its name from Remanufactured Business Furniture to RBF Interiors in 2001. Mitchell said this was especially important, when RBF decided to manufacture its own line of business furniture and offer a wide selection of new furniture from manufacturers like Cusp, Global, United Chair, Recom, Nova, JSI Wood and Kauffman Wood Case Goods, Nevins, AIS and others.

The company also maintains a satellite showroom in Cincinnati and has a wholesale distribution division that markets seating, wood and Steelcase aftermarket parts to other dealers and refurbishers nationwide.
Dennis P Bauman, Vice President of Finance and Nancy Cripe, Vice President of Sales will continue to serve RBF in their existing capacity.

The company was founded when Greytak had an idea to provide great value to his customers by tapping into the vast amount of used furniture available across the United States. Greytak is a charter member of the Office Furniture Dealers Alliance a nationwide alliance headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. He is recognized as a pioneer and leader in the office furniture recycling industry. Many processes and equipment used in recycling Steelcase, Herman Miller and Haworth systems furniture were conceived and designed by Greytak and RBF.

Mitchell has been a integral part of RBF since 1995. During the past 6 years he restructured the manufacturing process to make RBF one of the premier remanufacturers in the United States, earning the BPIA Excellence in Innovation, Best Recycled/Remanufactured Product Award in 1997.

RBF is located at 5055 Natural Bridge in St. Louis and at 208 West 8th St. in Cincinnati.