Essendant has sold its Boardwalk, Gen, and Windsoft private-label janitorial and facility supply brands to ORS Nasco, the latest move in the Deerfield, Illinois-based distributor’s ongoing retreat from the office products and facilities supplies market.

The divestiture comes as Essendant faces a lawsuit from TD Synnex, which alleges the former stopped making payments owed under an earlier legal settlement.

In addition, Essendant has filed WARN Act notices in several states announcing layoffs that could, according to the company, be a precursor to a complete closure. Selling off the brands appears to be part of the unwind.

Kevin Short, CEO of ORS Nasco, shared his enthusiasm for the purchase.

“Boardwalk, GEN, and Windsoft are established and trusted,” he wrote in an announcement on LinkedIn. “We’re super excited to add them to our assortment and give our distributor customers an even more complete one stop shop.”

Essendant hasn’t made any public comments and did not return a message from Digital Commerce 360 seeking comment.

Essendant had been retreating from office products distribution, which was its mainstay for many years. The pullback was announced as something that would help the company focus on building up its digital commerce portfolio. However, as Digital Commerce 360 previously reported, Essendant expanded its Connected Commerce program.

That program integrated its national fulfillment network and digital infrastructure. Its goal was to help brands and resellers manage product data, inventory visibility and pricing across multiple channels.

That framing dates back to the strategy’s original rollout. More recently, however, Essendant’s public filings and WARN Act notices point less to a digital pivot and more to a company managing a potential liquidity crisis, with layoffs and asset sales now overshadowing the original growth narrative.

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