where did they get the name dunder mifflin
Dunder Mifflin A fourth-season episode, "Dunder Mifflin Infinity", said the company was founded in 1949 by Robert Dunder and Robert Mifflin, originally to sell brackets for use in construction. The fifth-season episode "Company Picnic" said that the co-founders met on a tour of Dartmouth College. U.S. News and World Report likens it to many real companies in its size range: "It is facing an increasingly competitive marketplace. Like many smaller players, it just can't compete with the low prices charged by big-box rivals like Staples, OfficeMax and Office Depot, and it seems to be constantly bleeding corporate customers that are focused on cutting costs themselves."[6] The show's creators share this assessment—"It's basically a Staples, just not as big", says co-producer Kent Zbornak[7]—as do some of those companies. "Since Dunder Mifflin could be considered among our competitors", says Chuck Rubin, an Office Depot executive, "I think Michael Scott is actually the perfect person to run their Scranton office."[8]