Penn Jersey Paper is turning the page

By William Kenny

Times Staff Writer

They never would want to take success for granted, but executives at Penn Jersey Paper should have every reason to believe that their business is recession-proof.

That's because, whether times are good or bad, people will always eat. Likewise, folks will always clean up after themselves and seek medical care when they're ailing.

Penn Jersey serves all three of those key sectors — food service, janitorial and medical — and others with its Northeast Philadelphia-based wholesale distribution operation. Penn Jersey has similar diversity in its client base, serving mom-and-pop shops as well as multibillion-dollar corporations.

"One of the keys to my grandfather's and father's success was the ability to foresee (market conditions) and diversify," said Tom Furia III, the company's director of supply chain management.

Tom Furia Sr. is founder and chairman, and Tom Furia Jr. is its president.

For tangible evidence of Penn Jersey's economic resilience, one need look no further than 9355 Blue Grass Road, where the 48-year-old company this month will move into a newly constructed 255,336-square-foot distribution center.

PJP officials cite two primary motivations for vacating the warehouse that the company had occupied at 2801 Red Lion Road since 1982. The first reason was logistics. Simply, the Red Lion Road site was never designed for PJP's type of operation.

Even after extensive renovations in 1991, the site lacked the proper loading and staging areas, and it compromised efficiency and productivity, according to the firm's director of finance, Bill Servis.

"The second (reason) was that we were growing beyond the building. The company was growing beyond (the building's) capabilities," Servis said.

The growth trend continues, despite the harsh economy. With 325 employees, PJP recorded $127 million in sales last year, compared to $17 million in 1983. The firm recently hired three new sales representatives and has increased its work force by about 50 in the last half-dozen years.

"So we're growing our territories and our market segment," Servis said.

DP Partners, based in Reno, Nev., built the new distribution center to specs for PJP

on 30 acres just south of Northeast Philadelphia Airport. DP Partners' parent company, Dermody Properties, owns the site jointly with Great Point Investors LLC of Boston. PJP holds a 15-year lease to occupy the site.

The facility represents a stark contrast to the tiny, five-story building at Delaware Avenue and Vine Street where Tom Furia Sr. and a partner founded the company on Nov. 1, 1963. Furia bought the partner's stake in the firm years ago.

The elder Furia and the partner worked originally for a paper manufacturer. When that company planned to move its operations out of Philadelphia, the duo found jobs with a local distribution firm.

That company also decided to vacate the city. "We didn't want to move, so we started our own business with eighteen-thousand dollars and we were under-funded," Furia Sr. said.

They hired a young woman to handle office duties, but the two partners did all of the grunt work themselves. Independent supermarkets were everywhere at the time and formed their client base. PJP sold grocery bags, pulp-based trays and other paper products to stores as far away as Reading, Pa., and throughout New Jersey, as well as in the immediate Philadelphia area.

A few years later, the company moved into a larger, two-and-a-half-story building at Swanson and Wolf streets in South Philadelphia. That site lasted until the 1982 move to the Northeast.

Furia Sr., a World War II U.S. Army Air Corps veteran, settled the family in the Northeast too — just down the street from Father Judge High School. That's where Furia Jr. earned his diploma. In addition to his son, three of his four daughters work for the company.

Furia III is one of the founder's 20 grandchildren. A 21st grandchild is expected.

As independent supermarkets disappeared and were replaced by large national chain stores, PJP expanded into the restaurant and catering industry as a supplier of takeout containers, paper napkins and other disposable items.

Janitorial equipment and supplies were a next logical step. PJP offers clients cleaning products of varying grades, including those required in hospitals. The company also supplies the medical industry with disposable sanitary gloves and diapers.

In more recent times, PJP has expanded into the restaurant equipment field, offering deep fryers, grills, refrigerators and other appliances.

"We can outfit a whole kitchen from scratch," Furia Sr. said.

"We stock eight-thousand different products, and we ship, on an annual basis, forty-thousand (stocking units)," Furia III said. "Whatever a client asks us for, we'll order. If a client wants an order of toothbrushes, we'll get toothbrushes."

The firm operates a pair of retail stores, too, at 3899 Aramingo Ave. and at 537 Adams Ave. But other than those two sites, the company will be able to conduct all of its business under one roof at the new Blue Grass Road center.

The facility features 32,000 square feet of corporate office space in addition to 40 loading bays and a drive-up (and in) garage door.

In weighing their options, including a possible move outside the city, company leaders concluded that keeping the operation in the Northeast served it and its employees best, despite the city's business-tax and wage-tax structure.

"It was more important to stay central to where our employees live," Furia III said. "Sixty percent live in Philadelphia, so they're going to pay the wage tax anyway."

The company and the property owner are able to take advantage of the site's Keystone Opportunity Zone designation. They're getting a break on real estate and business taxes for 10 years.

According to Furia III, who coordinated the transition from old site to new, the distribution center uses energy-efficient systems and recycled materials wherever possible and is in the process of obtaining a LEED "silver" certification for its environmentally sound design.

"It's thirty-five percent more energy efficient than a typical building of its size," he said.

Among the amenities are two cafeterias, nine bathrooms, several conference rooms and a fully functional kitchen so that clients can test equipment on-site.

Outside, there's a patio lunch area and a vegetable garden. The produce will be distributed to employees as part of the company's health lifestyles program.

But the most impressive aspect of the building is the actual warehouse, with its towering racks and soaring ceiling.

"We want customers to come in and be impressed by the warehouse, by what we're capable of doing for them," Furia III said.

Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@bsmphilly.com