Office Furniture Brand VariDesk Has Rebranded

The maker of standing desks and risers offers more than furniture today, and the company's new name, Vari, reflects its evolution.

VariDesk, based on Coppell, TX, has announced that it is now Vari — a workspace innovation company. The name change reflects the rapid growth and evolution of the company that hit the market in 2013 with its innovative desktop riser, and the company now offers a full line of more than 200 workspace-redefining products. Since entering the sit stand desk market, the company has helped to transform traditional office environments, bringing welcome change for the employees who continue to demand a more holistic and engaging workspace.Varidesk

“We built a strong brand, leading the category of standing desks and risers,” said Vari Co-Founder and CEO Jason McCann. “That fast growth combined with an inventive culture has led us down a truly remarkable path. Today, we’re much more than a desk. We’re Vari. And we have everything a high-growth business needs to furnish its entire workspace.”

Vari is one of the fastest growing companies in Dallas.¹ The company now has 350 employees and millions of customers worldwide. Its products are found in 98% of Fortune 500 companies.

Over the last several years, the company has also embraced broader business opportunities, including its commercial real estate venture VariSpace, which offers space-as-a-service.

“The way people work is changing — and that’s pushing companies to move with speed and confidence, and to continually innovate. We continue to embrace change and push past our own boundaries, expanding beyond the product we’re synonymous with to offer companies innovative workspace solutions. And we’re broadening our name to reflect that,” McCann said.

One of the company’s recent product introductions is the Privacy Booth, designed as a retreat for focus work, personal phone calls, and other matters requiring quiet and confidentiality in the workplace.

With this news just announced this week, Facility Executive asked McCann to elaborate on the company’s evolution to date:

Vari entered the market in 2013 with a product aimed at a specific workplace issue (the desire of people to switch between sitting and standing while working). How does the company’s growth over time reflect what it’s learned about workplace trends and employee needs since that first product?

McCann: We started the company about seven years ago, with an innovative sit-stand desktop converter. We hit on a real pain point — there was a tremendous need for a simple and inexpensive height-adjustable desktop riser, and the success of that product fueled our growth. Our product line grew over the years that followed as we listened to feedback from our fans, spurring our extension into mats, lighting, and much more.

As we expanded, we realized that we were creating a solution to another pain point. We have C-Suite executives touring our office daily, and the number one concern we hear from them is about recruitment and retention. We’re in a tight labor market. By creating a place people want to come to work, businesses have an advantage in the war for talent.

There’s no doubt that space plays an important role in recruiting and retaining talent. Today’s workforce is looking to their employers for new levels of autonomy and flexibility. Forward-thinking businesses now prioritize flexibility and collaboration within their office space.

Essentially, your goal should be to foster a place where people want to come to work. A big part of that is putting the employee experience at the forefront of everything you do, including office design.

On the flip side, how has Vari’s team helped to forge developments in the design and management of workplaces in the U.S., or around the world?

McCann: Innovation is at our core. Our design philosophy is based in simplicity. We’re always focusing on raising the bar, and we’re constantly developing new products and tweaking existing products. While we have over 200 products on the market, we have over 300 products in the pipeline right now. We use our headquarters and our VariSpace locations [the company’s commercial real estate venture] as innovation labs for both new products and our space design theories — we feel that together they contribute significantly to employees’ productivity levels.

But innovation to us is about more than just creating inventive products. We’re focused on our mission “to create workspaces that elevate people.” VariSpace is great example of this.

We’ve worked with tens of thousands of companies to create workspaces, and we’re bringing that expertise to buildings and tenants to redefine the future of office space. VariSpace provides fully furnished Class A workspaces to enterprise-level companies with flexible leasing options. This venture is designed to elevate the way businesses approach the office. The space-as-as-service concept caters to fast-growing companies looking for a simple alternative to long lease terms, expensive furniture purchases, and high tenant improvement costs.