Every Detail We Know About Dunder Mifflin Albany in ‘The Office’

"The people person's paper people" used to peddle their office supplies everywhere in the Northeast section of the United States. From New York, to Connecticut, to New Hampshire and beyond, the salesmen of Dunder Mifflin left no city uncovered.

One of the cities they set up shop, in fact, was Albany, New York, and here is everything we know about the "lost" branch of Dunder Mifflin from the television show, The Office.

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The Paper Company in The Office Had a "Branch" in Albany

As early as Season 1 of the hit NBC sitcom The Office, the Albany branch was a topic of conversation for Michael, Jim, Pam, Dwight and the gang. In the Season 2 episode "The Fight", Jim Halpert compares his hometown Scranton branch to Albany, saying that Albany is "working straight through lunch" in order to avoid being downsized.

Albany re-emerges in Season 2, in the episode "Valentine's Day". In this episode, we meet Craig, the Regional Manager of the Albany branch, with whom Michael Scott appears to be very friendly. Craig openly brags about ignoring direction given to him by his direct superior, Jan Levinson, and has also "been kicked out of every strip club" in Albany.

What an accomplishment, I must say.

In that same episode, Craig shows up unprepared for his presentation, with Jan claiming that his lack of preparation does not bode well for his branch. It is at this time, when Regional Manager Craig tells everyone a very sensitive secret about Jan and Michael Scott.

Albany pops up a few more times in subsequent seasons. Oscar threatens to transfer to the Albany branch in the penultimate episode of season three. Human resources representative, Toby, also brags about his company camping retreat, which included a new employee from Albany, named Jeff.

What Happened to the Albany Branch in The Office?

Following the mention of the camping trip with Jeff from Albany, there aren't many more details about the Dunder Mifflin Branch in the Capital Region.

It was not until the fourteenth episode of the fifth season of the show, in the iconic "Stress Relief" episode, that a deleted scene was discovered, revealing the fate of the Albany branch.

Here is the description, from The Office's wiki page, Dunderpedia:

"Dwight receives a text message and tells the office the Albany Branch is closing during Michael's relaxation seminar. Angrily, Michael confiscates everyone's cellphone and places them in a plastic garbage bag. Later the bag is seen placed on his desk but the vibration of the many phones causes them to fall off the desk."  - Dunderpedia

And thus, in February of 2009 (when the episode aired), directly after the Super Bowl, the Albany branch of Dunder Mifflin ceased to exist. That was until the episode, Company Picnic, when mysteriously, employees arrived wearing "Dunder Mifflin Albany"  t-shirts.

Was the branch re-opened? We may never know.