For nearly 70 years, if your business needed a Thomasville copier dealer, the answer was simple: call Rumbles. Rumble’s Office City was the name every business owner in Thomasville, Georgia knew.

Rumble’s Office City at 1319 West Jackson Street was as much a part of Thomasville as the rose gardens and the Thomas County Courthouse. Fortson Rumble built something rare — a family business that actually lasted, that knew its customers, and actually showed up when something broke. The company started with office supplies, evolved into document management, and for decades was one of the most respected Mita and Kyocera dealers in South Georgia.

That chapter is over.

What Happened to Your Thomasville Copier Dealer — Rumble’s Office City?

Kyocera Document Solutions America acquired the operational entity of Rumble’s Office City and converted it into a wholly-owned direct branch subsidiary. By 2021, the transition was complete. The location at 1319 West Jackson Street is still there. The Rumble family is not.

Leadership shifted from Fortson — a Thomasville native who graduated from Thomasville High School, served on the board of TC Bancshares, and was, by any measure, a genuine pillar of his community — to executive corporate leadership under subsidiary management appointed by Kyocera’s international parent organization.

We wish Fortson well. He built something that lasted 70 years, and that’s not nothing. But his customers are in a different situation now.

What That Means for Thomasville Businesses Today

If you’re a Thomas County business looking for a Thomasville copier dealer after this transition, here’s the honest picture. When you call what used to be Rumbles, you’re not calling Thomasville. You’re calling into a corporate support structure. Service decisions, contract terms, pricing — they run through the same channels as every other Kyocera direct branch in the country. The person who picks up doesn’t know your business, doesn’t know your machine’s history, and doesn’t live anywhere near Thomas County.

That’s not a criticism of the people working there. It’s just what happens when a regional family dealership gets absorbed into a multinational corporation.

If your equipment is Kyocera and your service contract was with Rumbles, it’s worth reviewing what you actually have now — who holds that contract, what the response time commitment is, and what your options are when that contract expires — and whether an independent Thomasville copier dealer is a better fit going forward.

There’s a Local Option

As your new Thomasville copier dealer, Advanced Business Systems has been serving Tallahassee and South Georgia since 1984 — the same era Rumbles was building its reputation in Thomas County. We’re family-owned, locally operated, and authorized dealers for Canon, Kyocera, Ricoh, and Toshiba.

Yes, Kyocera too. We sell and service the same equipment the Kyocera branch handles, but we do it as an independent authorized dealer — not a corporate subsidiary. That means you deal with us, not a call center. When your copier goes down, our technicians drive from Tallahassee. We cover Thomas, Grady, and Decatur counties, and we’ve been doing it long enough to know the territory.

The difference between an independent dealer and a direct corporate branch matters more than most people realize until something goes wrong. An independent dealer has to earn your business every time a contract comes up for renewal. A corporate branch doesn’t.

What to Look For If You’re Re-Evaluating Your Copier Situation

If you’re a Thomasville business that was a Rumbles customer — or if you’ve been with the Kyocera direct branch and you’re wondering whether there’s a better fit — here are the things worth asking any Thomasville copier dealer before you sign:

Who actually holds my service contract, and what are the response time commitments in writing? Some agreements guarantee next-business-day response. Others just say “commercially reasonable efforts.” Those aren’t the same thing.

What happens if my machine needs a part that’s on backorder? Local dealers with multiple brand lines can often cross-reference or substitute. A single-brand branch has fewer options.

Am I paying for capacity I don’t use? A lot of businesses in Thomas County are running equipment that was sized for print volumes they no longer have. A good dealer reviews your actual meter reads before recommending a machine — not after.

Will the price change at renewal? Introductory lease rates and renewal rates are often very different. Ask what the standard renewal terms look like before you sign the first one.

The Bottom Line

Thomasville had a genuine Thomasville copier dealer for nearly 70 years. The corporate version of that company is not the same thing, and it’s reasonable for local businesses to evaluate whether it still fits their needs.

If you’re in Thomasville, Cairo, Bainibridge, or anywhere in the Thomasville corridor and you want to talk to someone local about your office equipment — sales, service, leases, or just a second opinion on what you’re currently paying — we’re the Thomasville copier dealer that’s 45 minutes down the road and we pick up the phone.