The short version
National Business Furniture is one of the largest commercial furniture catalogs in the United States. It carries thousands of products across desks, conference tables, reception furniture, and seating, with a 15-year warranty on most items and a network of warehouses across the country. NBF was founded in 1975 by George and Julie Mosher in Milwaukee, and the Moshers sold the company to TAKKT AG, a German B2B direct-marketing group, in 2006.
InStockChairs is a commercial seating specialist that ships from its own warehouse in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Modern Office, the parent company, has been family-owned and operated since 1978. InStockChairs picks and evaluates every chair in the catalog in-house and holds thousands of chairs in stock. The site does not drop-ship from a manufacturer feed, and there is a physical showroom on site that the customer service team uses every day.
If you are a facilities manager or procurement buyer comparing the two, the decision usually comes down to four questions: how broad does your purchase need to be, how fast do you need it, how do you feel about ownership and origin, and how do you want to handle bulk orders and purchase orders.
Quick comparison
|
Factor |
InStockChairs |
National Business Furniture |
|---|---|---|
|
Founded |
Modern Office in 1978; InStockChairs.com launched 2009 |
1975 by George and Julie Mosher |
|
Ownership |
Family-owned and operated, US-based |
TAKKT AG (Germany), acquired 2006 |
|
Catalog focus |
Commercial seating depth |
Broad office furniture catalog |
|
Warehouse model |
Single warehouse, in-house inventory |
Multiple US warehouses, broad supplier network |
|
Free shipping |
Free to 48 contiguous states |
Available on most items, multi-shipment routing |
|
Drop-ship |
No, every product is reviewed and stocked |
Mixed sourcing across hundreds of suppliers |
|
Showroom |
On-site, Eden Prairie, MN |
Catalog and online focused |
|
Best fit |
Buyers who need fast, focused seating orders |
Buyers furnishing a full office from one catalog |
Where National Business Furniture is strong
Buyers do not move away from NBF for no reason, and pretending the brand has no strengths is not how a procurement team will read this page. Here is where NBF is a legitimate choice.
- Catalog breadth. NBF carries one of the broadest commercial furniture assortments in the country, with thousands of products from hundreds of suppliers. If a single order needs to include a conference table, a reception desk, twenty task chairs, and a few bookcases, NBF can fill that order without sending a buyer to a second vendor.
- Warranty length. NBF offers a 15-year warranty on most products and a limited lifetime warranty on others. That is a real signal for buyers whose finance teams want long-life capital assets on the books.
- Design and setup help. NBF has a design and product-selection service that guides buyers through full-office furnishing, which is useful when no one on the buying team has done a build-out before.
- Multiple US warehouses. Items are distributed across regional warehouses, which can help freight cost on some routes.
- Brand recognition. Fifty years in market and a long catalog history mean NBF is on most procurement-approved-vendor lists already.
Where InStockChairs wins
If the order is mostly seating, and if it is a volume order, the picture changes.
Family-owned and US-based since 1978
Modern Office, the parent of InStockChairs, has been family-owned since 1978 and operates out of Eden Prairie, Minnesota. NBF was acquired in 2006 by TAKKT AG, a German B2B direct-marketing group with operations in 25 countries. Neither model is wrong, but procurement buyers in government, K-12, and US-only-supplier programs are often asked to document supplier country of ownership. With InStockChairs, that answer is clean.
Inventory in one place, not split across shipments
NBF's own shipping language says it groups items in as few shipments as possible to reduce cost, and that estimated arrival can vary based on cart contents. That is honest, and it works for full-office builds. For a 40-chair order on a hard deadline, single-warehouse fulfillment from InStockChairs takes that variability off the table. Every chair in the order ships from the same building.
Seating specialization, not generalist breadth
NBF's product team supports thousands of SKUs across every category. InStockChairs' team picks and evaluates only commercial seating. That focus shows up in category depth: airport and beam seating, big and tall and 24/7 chairs, call center seating, ergonomic task chairs, stack chairs, and breakroom seating each have purpose-built sub-catalogs at InStockChairs. NBF has examples in each category, but rarely with the same depth.
No drop-ship blind spots
InStockChairs evaluates every product before it goes on the site. The reps in Eden Prairie can sit in the chair, check the casters, and assess the upholstery. NBF works with hundreds of suppliers and curates across a wide field. For a buyer who has been burned by an online retailer that never touched the product, single-source warehousing is a different conversation.
Purchase orders accepted
InStockChairs accepts corporate and government purchase orders directly. That matters when the buyer is a city facilities team, a school district administrator, or a federal contractor working a P-Card or PO workflow. NBF also serves these segments, but PO acceptance is a baseline expectation that InStockChairs makes easy out of the gate.
A real showroom, not just a catalog
The InStockChairs customer service team works out of the same building as the warehouse and showroom. When a procurement buyer asks whether the back support on a chair is firm or soft, the answer is from someone who sat in the chair this week.
Category-by-category notes
Airport seating and beam seating
This is one of InStockChairs' deepest categories and a hard-to-shop segment online. NBF carries reception and waiting room seating, but tandem beam seating built for terminal, lobby, and dispatch use is not where the NBF catalog leads. For 911 dispatch centers, transit hubs, medical clinic waiting rooms, and corporate lobbies, this is a category where buyers should compare model selection directly.
Big and tall and 24/7 chairs
For 911 dispatch, control rooms, and call centers running multi-shift coverage, weight rating and continuous-use certification are not optional. InStockChairs carries chairs purpose-built for heavy-duty and 24/7 use across multiple weight capacities. NBF has options in this space, but depth is the differentiator.
Stack chairs and breakroom seating
Both vendors carry stack chairs. For volume training-room, cafeteria, and conference orders, InStockChairs' in-stock model means a 100-chair stack order ships from the same building when the inventory is there. NBF can fill the same order but may route from multiple warehouses.
Shipping, returns, and bulk orders
InStockChairs offers free shipping to the 48 contiguous states. For procurement buyers building total-landed-cost models, free 48-state shipping removes one variable from the comparison.
NBF offers free shipping on most items and groups orders into as few shipments as possible. Estimated arrival depends on which items are in the cart, which is honest catalog logistics for a multi-supplier network.
For bulk orders, both vendors quote large-volume pricing on request. InStockChairs leans into bulk by design: in-house inventory, single-warehouse picking, and purchase-order acceptance line up with how procurement teams buy at scale.
Who should pick which
National Business Furniture is the right call when the project is a full-office build, when the order includes desks, conference tables, and reception furniture alongside seating, or when a 15-year warranty across categories matters to finance.
InStockChairs is the right call when the order is mostly seating, when speed is the constraint, when the buyer needs a US family-owned supplier on the approved-vendor list, when bulk volume matters, or when the buyer wants to talk to a rep who has seen the chair.
Frequently asked questions
Is InStockChairs a smaller version of National Business Furniture?
No. The two operate on different models. NBF is a broad catalog mega-retailer with hundreds of suppliers and a German parent company. InStockChairs is a US family-owned seating specialist with in-house inventory and a physical showroom in Minnesota.
Can InStockChairs handle a 50 or 100-chair order?
Yes. Bulk and large-volume seating orders are a core part of the business. In-house inventory, single-warehouse picking, and PO acceptance are built around volume buyers.
Does InStockChairs accept government purchase orders?
Yes. Corporate and government POs are accepted directly. Buyers on city, county, school district, and federal contracts can submit a PO without going through a third-party reseller.
How does the warranty compare?
NBF promotes a 15-year warranty on most products. For a side-by-side comparison, ask the InStockChairs sales team about warranty on each specific model being considered.
Where to start
If a buyer is replacing or expanding a fleet of office, dispatch, call-center, or waiting-room seating, start with the InStockChairs category page that matches the use case. For orders of 25 units or more, ask a rep in Eden Prairie about bulk pricing before placing the order.