When Grandpa Beattie started working at Izzard & Bixby bookstore in downtown St. Catharines, he wasn’t tall enough to ride the delivery bicycle. By the early 1900s he had bought the store, renamed it Bixby-Beattie Co., and was helping customers—everyone from students to school boards—get the job done. The company has grown and changed over almost 160 years, but Grandpa (and Grandma) Beattie’s legacy still lives on: work hard, give back and put people first. Our values may be old-fashioned, but we aren’t. We know what today’s workplace demands of its productivity partners, including environmental certification, a consultant mindset and expertise in up-to-the-minute trends in colour, style, technology, workspace design and wellness. We put relationships first. We aren’t in this to sell cheap pens. We want to provide everything for your office—advice, products and services —today, tomorrow and for years to come. That means forming strong relationships with our customers, suppliers and each other. We know our stuff. Some of our people have spent decades immersing ourselves in one area of our business. But part of being knowledgeable is knowing what we don’t know. If we don’t have the answer, we know where to find it. We invest in our people. People are what makes us great. We provide our people with the training, leadership opportunities and supportive company culture to be their best at work—so our clients can be the best at theirs. We love the little guy. We have a real soft spot for small and medium-sized businesses. After all, we are one. We understand your challenges and know how you think, because we have the same can-do, need-it-now, make-it-happen attitude as you do. We give back to the community. We Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, paint our moustaches blue for Movember, get ear infections from the office dunk tank and raise money for dozens of causes that matter, from schools to food banks, because we make it our business to give back.