When Marjorie Zychowski purchased Medina-based The Mail Room Inc. from its corporate parents in 1994, it was a far cry from the simple print shop it started out as in 1972.
Until 1994, The Mail Room was more of a traditional printer, direct marketer and distributor offering black-and-white and color printing and binding. In the early 1990s, its more technologically-savvy clients asked if materials could be distributed electronically.
Zychowski was one of the first printers to recognize that the Internet would become one of the most popular — if not the most popular — way of ordering and distributing business-to-business printed materials such as marketing kits, technical and user manuals, and fliers.
“In many ways, we’ve had two CEOs,” Zychowski says. “There’s me, and then there are our clients who needed the newer dissemination of information. We were always willing to take the chance to invest in technology.”
Formerly owned by a large trade show marketer, The Mail Room split off from the main corporation in 1991, with Zychowski as president. Under her leadership, the firm grew to 110 employees, with more than 100 clients ranging from small businesses to large corporations including Rockwell Automation, Philips and Sealy.
Listening to her customers and adding those digital services they requested proved to be a turning point for The Mail Room. To date, all of its sales have been generated solely through word-of-mouth.
“We have never had a sales force,” Zychowski says. “We’ve never really needed one.”
But that may change now that many of The Mail Room’s competitors are adding more digital printing services like CD-ROMs, DVDs and Internet distribution of materials.
“We’re just a very creative, nimble little company in Medina that services some major corporations,” Zychowski says. “We’re always ready to change.” How to reach: The Mail Room, (800) 325-5095 or www.themailroom.com
