Business Women Awards 2022
Achievement Honoree Phyllis Cannava, Office Direct Cannava Design Ltd.
PHYLLIS CANNAVA WILL BE the first to tell you that she’s not one to sit around – on office chairs or any other seating, for that matter.
That’s why the 78-year-old owner of Warwick-based Office Direct Cannava Design Ltd. will remain a sales representative of the company she founded in 1989 when she steps down in a couple of years. She plans to hand the reins to senior designer Meghan Robinson, who joined the company in 2005.
“That way, I will be able to play more tennis, but I’ll still be here, still doing what I love,” Cannava said.
The thought of completely leaving the company she has built for more than three decades isn’t on her radar just yet.
Office Direct is a commercial furniture dealership that offers clients better prices over competitors, as it buys directly from manufacturers. It also purchases materials such as discontinued flooring at deep discounts for clients, along with refurbished, previously owned items, such as workstations.
Cannava started the company after a divorce and after years of working in the then-male-dominated furniture sales industry when she saw what her employers in the furniture business did wrong. Not appreciating their employees was one mistake. When her final employer went into its fourth bankruptcy and her commission check was not forthcoming, it was a sign that something drastic had to be done. A new business was born.
Maintaining professional relationships and seeing opportunities to start new ones has helped the company offer the full gamut to its clients, whether it is offering services or products directly or outsourcing.
These relationships also came in handy during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cannava said. Office Direct was already in the process of providing interiors for several large buildings, she said. But far-off arrival dates with items such as refrigerators for office kitchens produced a lot of uncertainty in projects. It helped to have strong bonds with many suppliers.
“I see ‘no’ as the beginning of ‘yes.’ I would look at my options, and if one doesn’t work, I’d look at another, or another,” Cannava said. “I’ve been in business so long that the manufacturing reps are there for us and we’ve built relationships along the way.”
