GSA Retail Stores

Overview This Sources Sought Notice is for information ONLY and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the General Services Administration. The purpose of this Sources Sought notice is to seek the availability and capability of business concerns that are interested in and capable of providing office supplies and paper products stocked in a retail store environment and through direct delivery to customers via in-store referral ordering in support of GSA's Retail Operations customers, on a vendor-owned/vendor-managed inventory basis in its GSA Retail Stores (Brick and Mortar storefronts). In an effort to support these requirements and consolidate purchasing, GSA intends to enter into a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) to provide a complete and comprehensive range of office supplies and paper products. Objective The goal of the Blanket Purchase Agreement is to: (1) to have office products stocked in three Brick & Mortar stores, via vendor-owned/vendor-managed inventory, for sale to GSA Retail Operations' customers. Two types of orders will be processed in the GSA Retail Stores: (1) Walk-In/Walk-Out (WIWO) orders for items available from in-store inventory; and (2) in-store referral orders for items not available in-store, but which can be ordered from the vendor's catalog and delivered to a customer's desktop or to another designated location. The vendor must be capable of fulfilling orders via a bill of materials (BOM). A BOM is a list of items provided to the vendor by GSA or its customer with an advance requested delivery or pick up date. If these items are carried on the shelf, the vendor will be required to "pick and pack" them (selecting or picking the items required to fill the order, and immediately packing those items) for the customer so that the entire order can easily be picked-up by the customer by the requested date. If the BOM items are not available in the storefront, the vendor must obtain them through in-store referral ordering so that the items can be picked up by the customer by the requested date or within the established referral order timeline. Through this effort, products and services provided in the Brick & Mortar store environment will be on a vendor-owned/vendor-managed, basis. As such, the Vendor will own and is responsible for products in the store until the purchase is completed by a GSA cashier for the customer at check-out. At check-out, the authorized GSA cashier will scan the item into the GSA Point of Sale (POS) computer system, which transmits a purchase order to the vendor. Upon receiving the purchase order from GSA, the vendor will be required to remit an electronic acknowledgement of the purchase, transmit a shipment notification to GSA, and send an electronic invoice to GSA for payment. GSA will pay the vendor for products purchased within 10 calendar days after electronic receipt of the invoice or, if applicable, electronic notification of shipment of in-store referral orders. The vendor may choose a Value Added Network (VAN) or Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) to conduct business with GSA, so long as the VAN or SFTP allows communication with GSA through the GSA Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Gateway with Extensible Markup Language (XML). EDI Gateway is GSA's preferred method of computer-to-computer exchange of business data in standard formats. XML is a high-powered Web language for e-business that enables the exchange of structured data. All communications between GSA and the vendor will be conducted via EDI Gateway with XML. All items provided by the vendor for sale to GSA in the storefronts must be labeled with a bar code which can be read and scanned by the Symbol LS4278 scanner. The vendor must replenish the stock as required to ensure there is a continuous supply of items on the store shelves for purchase under the BPA. The Vendor selected will be provided with physical store space, at three sites to be determined at a later date, in Washington, DC, and will be required to stock products in the stores, provide adequate shelving for those products, and have personnel (one individual) available in each of the stores during operating hours. Vendor employees will not be responsible for the sales check-out function, Government personnel with perform that function with customers. Bulk storage space for inventory will be made available separate from the retail spaces. The Vendor will be responsible for ensuring that HSPD-12 clearance is complete for any on-site staff and delivery drivers - the Government will provide for any necessary clearances above that level. The target for stand-up of the store is May 2016. The term of the BPA is anticipated to be for a period of one (1) year. GSA will retain the right to unilaterally select the items to be offered for sale from a Vendor offering its entire catalog, ensuring that the items selected for sale do not conflict with other GSA program goals relative to AbilityOne and UNICOR. Under the BPA, the Vendor will provide the customer with office supplies and paper products. Office supplies include, but may not be limited to: office products and office equipment such as pens, pencils, markers, copy paper, printer paper, binders, tape, envelopes, shredders, cassettes, diskettes, cleaning equipment and supplies; ADP supplies; toner cartridges, etc. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR TECHNICAL OR PRICE QUOTES. This is a request for potential vendors to express interest in the requirement outlined above and submit a brief Capability Statement demonstrating their ability to meet the above requirements. Interested firms responding to this Sources Sought notice must provide a Capability Statement demonstrating their experience, skills and ability to fulfill the GSA's objective described above. Capability Statements shall not exceed twenty (20) pages. Responding to this Notice The Capability Statement must be sent to Deborah Joeckel at deborah.joeckel@gsa.gov no later than 4:00 p.m. EDT on June 10, 2015. This Sources Sought notice is for INFORMATION ONLY and shall not to be construed as a commitment by the GSA, nor will the GSA pay for the information solicited. Questions regarding this requirement must be submitted in writing and directed to Deborah Joeckel, at deborah.joeckel@gsa,gov