Perry’s Office Supply completes facade facelift

The 102-year-old brick facade of the building that houses Perry’s Office Supply in downtown Sallisaw was recently removed and replaced. MELANIE POTTER | TIMES

Gus Perry figures his office supply building at 205 N. Oak Street in downtown Sallisaw ought to be good for the next 100 years.

After all, the building lasted 102 years before the brick facade began giving way and had to be replaced.

“Last winter, water got behind the brick and expanded and pushed brick out and separated it at the mortar joints,” Perry says of the need for the building facelift. “It scared the city, and they came and blocked off the sidewalk. It’s something we’ve been needing to do for awhile anyway. It was about time to do a little something.”

So what turned out to be a monthlong remodel began in mid-October.

Although the brick on the face of the building looked like it could fall at anytime, structures built in 1921 were built to last.

“The contractors rented a lift, so that brick wouldn’t fall on them when they were taking it off. But as it turned out, they had to take a sledge hammer to get it all down. It wasn’t quite ready to go. It wasn’t coming down anytime soon.

“The trains going through town and some of the thunder that we get that rattles the windows, that could of helped it (fall down),” Perry speculated.

Cracks in the brick and mortar above the awnings and windows of Perry’s Office Supply in downtown Sallisaw prompted a remodel of the building’s facade. LYNN ADAMS | TIMES

When the brick facade was removed, it exposed the open attic area of the building, and afforded the opportunity to ensure sufficient waterproofing.

“They put that black plastic up there, and the rains that we had, it didn’t leak a bit,” he says. “I was really afraid that it might leak water, but they got it where it’s dry.”

The exterior painting was finished last Friday, so the remodel is complete except for finishing touches. “I got to put the awnings back up. We’re gonna clean the awnings and put them back up.”

During the construction process, Perry recalls, there were instances when curious passersby would pause to watch the remodel and ask, “What are they putting in here? I remember when this was an office supply store.” It still is. It’s been 45 and a half years since Perry opened his Sallisaw store, which came after five years working for an office supply dealer in Fort Smith.

“I bought the building from the Mayos. They had an office supply in here called Times Office Products.”

And Perry’s Office Supply has been good for Perry and his wife, Margaret.

“We’ve enjoyed it. We raised three kids through here — three girls. Now I have five granddaughters and one grandson,” he says.

Like the rest of the world, Perry has witnessed a dramatic change in his industry.

“It’s changed a lot. The internet’s been a big factor competition wise,” he says, recalling that back in the 1970s, mailorder businesses were popular. It was a time when customers would receive a store catalog or flyer in the mail once a week. “Then computers came about, then internet sales came about. It’s affected our bottom line quite a bit.”

Products that used to be office supply standards — carbon paper, continuous-feed computer paper, typewriter ribbons, fountain pens, Wite-Out correction fluid and tape, floppy disks, diskettes, crank pencil sharpeners — are a rarity nowadays. “I still sell calculator ribbons and calculator ink rollers. I have a lot of inventory on inkjet cartridges and toners.”

To recount the history of office supply products, Perry has two glass display cases at the front of his store filled with memorabilia.

And just in case you’re not in the market for office supplies, Perry quips that he can make you a deal on a Hammond organ — he’s got three of those musical behemoths he’s reluctantly acquired over the years and would like to find them a new home.