Provider opens new store, drops wheelchair from name
By Tracy Orzel
Updated Tue May 26, 2015
BUFFALO, N.Y. - What's in a name? A lot, says Jim Travis, president of Buffalo Wheelchair.
The West Seneca, N.Y.-based provider has combined its respiratory and DME businesses under a new division called Buffalo Home Medical Supply.
Founded in 1991, the provider has seven home respiratory sites in New York and Florida in addition to its West Seneca location, which offers scooters and manual and power wheelchairs.
“It didn't make sense that our name was Buffalo Wheelchair and yet more than half of our business was oxygen and CPAP,” said Travis. “We're just trying to have our name indicate what we do.”
The new division opened its first location in April at the site of a former Benson's Surgical Supply store and offers oxygen, CPAP, scooters, manual and power wheelchairs, braces, bath safety and other DME items. The provider's eight other locations will retain their original names.
Opening in Benson's former location has its perks, says Travis. For instance, the space was already designed for DME retail and has a built-in customer base.
“Even before we were open and we had a sign out, people were coming, thinking we were Benson's,” he said.
The provider is considering opening another location in Buffalo, but that depends on the results of the Round 2 re-complete. The company submitted bids for all DME categories, oxygen and CPAP.
“We're going to sit tight until we find out what happened with competitive bidding,” said Travis.
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