Office Depot

Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) is a supplier of office products and services. The Company's selection of brand name office supplies includes business machines, computers, computer software and office furniture, while its business services encompass copying, printing, document reproduction, mailing and shipping. An S&P 500 company, Office Depot generates revenues of over US $15 billion annually and has 52,000 employees worldwide. It is currently transitioning it's older, multiple building headquarters from Delray Beach, Florida to a new 625,000 square foot modern facility in Boca Raton, Florida.

History

Office Depot was founded in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida (near Fort Lauderdale) in 1986 by three partners: Pat Sher, Stephen Dougherty, and Jack Kopkin. Sher, the company's first CEO, died the next year from leukemia. Sher's estate donated the proceed of his life insurance policy to help the fledgling company meet its payroll. ¹ The company retained professional executive recruiters (so-called "headhunters") to find a replacement for Sher. David Fuente, formerly an executive with Sherwin-Williams, was selected as the new chairman and CEO.

Fuente immediately launched an aggressive nationwide expansion program. To finance it, he arranged for an initial public offering of stock in 1988. In 1991, Office Depot expanded to the West Coast region with the purchase of competitor Office Club. By 1993, it was operating over 350 stores in the U.S. and Canada. This acquisition moved Office Depot onto the national stage. ² Mark Begelman, founder and president of Office Club, joined Office Depot as president and chief operating officer.

Office Clubs store were slated to continued operations under the Office Club brand and operate as a subsidiary of Office Depot. This was because Office Club operated under a "Membership format" (Similar to what is employed by Costco and Sam's Club) and the company was at first reluctant to part with that. Within a year of the merger, Office Club stores dropped the membership format and became fully assimilated with Office Depot.³

The company began to run into problems in the late 1990s when many key North American markets became saturated with too many of the big three office supply chains: Office Depot, OfficeMax, and Staples.

Later expansion and acquisitions

In search of new opportunities, Office Depot began to expand overseas to many more countries. In 1998, it launched its public Web site and merged with the catalog company Viking Office Products.

In June 2003, Office Depot Inc. acquired Guilbert, formerly part of the Pinault-Printemps Redoute Group (PPR). With this strategic acquisition, Office Depot has doubled its presence in Europe to around 3 billion Euros and with this move confirms its European market leadership (Office Depot European headquarters is located in the Netherlands - Venlo).

During the dot-com collapse in late 2000, the company's sales took a dive. Over 70 stores were closed and Fuente was reportedly forced out of his job as CEO; he was replaced by the head of the company's international operations, Bruce Nelson. On October 4, 2004, Office Depot announced that Neil R. Austrian, former President of the National Football League, was succeeding Nelson as interim chairman and CEO. Succeeding Austrian was Steve Odland, formerly CEO of Autozone.

Online

Private label brands

In addition to selling many nationally recognized name brands, Office Depot sells products under several store brands, including:

Customer Incentive Programs

Ink Cartridge Recycling

Similar to other office supply chains, Office Depot has a program set up to encourage customers to recycle their used ink cartridges. Once per day, a customer has the opportunity to drop off empty cartridges for a discount on their purchase. Previously, a $2.50 discount was available towards the purchase of a new ink cartridge. Since February 12, 2006, the discount was increased to a $3.00 coupon which can be used towards any purchase over $3.00. As of July 27, 2007 you may redeem up to twenty-five cartridges a day and redeem up to 3 coupons per for any amount totaling more than the dollar amount per purchase. As of November 9th,2008 you may redeem up to twenty-five cartridges a day but instead of receiving coupons, you now get credit towards your Worklife Reward account. On Nov 16 the policy changed again now you are only able to redeem 5 cartridges per day. Updated by shweet guy

Only inkjet cartridges that contain an internal printhead qualify for the program. This includes the majority of HP and Lexmark produced cartridges as well as the Office Depot remanufactured brand version of those cartridges. It also includes a very limited number of newer Canon cartridges. Cartridges that do not contain printheads do not qualify. Some cartridges contain electrical contacts that may be confused as being a printhead, but these contacts are only to allow communication with the printer for purposes of measuring ink levels or to determine whether or not the cartridge has expired. Most toner and toner/drum units can be recycled, but not those that are simply plastic toner containers such as many fax machine ink produced by Brother Industries and Panasonic. This program excludes ink tanks, such as almost all Epson brand inks.

Office Depot Worklife Rewards

On June 1, 2006, Office Depot launched the Worklife Rewards program which combined several benefits of the former "Advantage Reward" and Star Teacher program. It offered 10% rewards on the total amount spent past $200 (excluding computers, monitors, UPS shipping and postage stamp purchases) in a three-month period, with no cap on the amount of rewards that could be earned. Office Depot brand ink qualified for a double credit 10% reward. Theoretically, if an individual spent $50,000 in a three-month period, they would earn $2,500 in rewards credits. The credits are issued on a store gift card. For Design, Print, & Ship services, 15% rewards were given on all purchases past $35.

On September 1, 2007, the Worklife Rewards program was relaunched as Worklife Rewards 10% Plus to issue a return of 10% on all ink, toner, paper and Design, Print, & Ship services, and 1% of all other qualifying purchases to members (excluding laptops, desktops, monitors, and TVs).⁴ There are no rewards granted for warranties, postage stamps, or other services. Unlike the previous payout period system, the member must exceed a payout of $10 before a gift card will be issued. The accumulation period for points is no longer three months, but rather until a member gains enough points to receive a gift card.⁵

Worklife members also receive exclusive coupons through postal mail and email as well in store savings on select items.

STAR Teacher Program

The STAR Teacher Program is specifically for educators and school administrators, and incorporates the benefits of the Office Depot Worklife Program. In addition to Worklife benefits, the STAR program also carries a 15% discount on copy center purchases in addition to the 15% reward for copy center purchases past $35. There is no longer a 5% discount on other items. There are also many events at the Office Depot stores for teachers, including bi-annual Teacher Appreciation Breakfasts that offer free breakfast and giveaways for teachers.

5% Back To Schools Program

The 5% Back To School Program contributes a portion of a purchase to a local school as a store credit that the school may use to purchase Office Depot merchandise. Schools must register with the program to receive the store credit. Some merchandise does not qualify for the program.

Sponsorships

Office Depot previously owned the naming rights to an indoor arena in Sunrise, Florida. Called Office Depot Center from 2002 to 2005, it was subsequently renamed BankAtlantic Center after the arena lost exposure because of the NHL lockout.

Office Depot is currently the primary sponsor of the NASCAR Sprint Cup #99 Ford Fusion, owned by Roush Fenway Racing and driven by Carl Edwards. After the 2008 season, when Aflac takes over full-time sponsorship, it is rumored that Office Depot will move its sponsorship to Tony Stewart after his equity partnership in Haas CNC Racing, to be renamed Stewart Haas Racing.

Activities per country

Stores owned by and operated under the Office Depot name

Stores operating with the Office Depot name under joint venture / license agreements

References

^ Jeffrey Rodengen "Taking Care of Business: the First 20 years" ISBN 193202221
^ Jeffrey Rodengen "Taking Care of Business: the First 20 years" ISBN 193202221
^ Jeffrey Rodengen "Taking Care of Business: the First 20 years" ISBN 193202221
^ Bohen, Colleen (2007-09-24). "TWICE: Office Depot Expands Rewards Program". Retrieved on 21 March 2008.
^ "Office Depot Worklife Rewards Program". Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
^ ^a ^b "Office Depot Company Information - SEC Filings" (2008-02-26). Retrieved on 2008-03-19.

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