Baird & Warner Merging Offices

Baird & Warner Merging Offices

"Very few people will lose their jobs," chief executive and president Stephen Baird said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

The company's fleet of 1,800 sales associates are independent contractors and not considered employees, Baird said. Administrative support will still be needed at the consolidated offices, he said.

In the move, the Glenbrook office at 2300 Lehigh Road will close and merge into the Evanston office, at 2926 Central St. The Buffalo Grove office will also close and merge into Arlington Heights; the Wheaton office will close and merge into Glen Ellyn; and the Park Ridge office will close and merge into Edgebrook.

Offices in Highland Park, Winnetka, Libertyville, and Lake Bluff will be among those branches remaining untouched of the company's 27 suburban locations. It also has five city branches.

The move comes as Baird & Warner positions itself for a future in which sales associates increasingly work from their laptops and cell phones in "mobile offices" without the need for a physical location with a desk, explained Jim Schiefelbein, vice president and chief marketing officer.

Real estate companies such as Baird & Warner are also increasingly relying on the Web not only to display homes, but also provide sales associates with the names of potential buyers and training tips, Schiefelbein said. The company plans to roll out a beefed up Web site (www.bairdwarner.com) at the end of February that will provide videos of homes on the market, customized for the individual search.

Baird & Warner has been able to ride out the rocky residential real estate market because of its stability, said Baird. While the entire market is down 20 percent, Baird & Waner's sales are only down 5 percent, he said.

The company's loyal sales force, along with acquisitions, have allowed Baird & Warner to keep sales from dropping quite as dramatically as others have, Baird said.

"In times like this, better companies and more stable companies get more (sales) people," he said.

Last year, Baird & Warner gained new sales associates after it assimilated five companies that had gone out of business, and Baird said he expects more acquisitions and mergers this year.

Founded in 1855 by Lucius Olmsted, and joined in 1860 by Baird's great-great grandfather, Lynman Baird, the company has had to change with the times. In the Depression era, Baird & Warner specialized in property management;, in the 1970s, in urban renewal, and more recently, it has specialized in residential real estate, mortgage insurance, and title and home services.

And how will it reposition itself to keep up with the current times?

"The area I see the growth, we just picked up a couple of contracts, is in the foreclosure area," said Baird. The company has just signed a contractor to be the primary seller for Freddie Mac, handling most of their foreclosed properties. Baird & Warner has also just signed up with Fannie Mae, he said.

Both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae provide mortgage capital to lenders. Freddie Mac has been behind one in six home sales in recent years, according to freddiemac.com.