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 $14 billion annually and has 42,000 employees worldwide. It is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. [edit] History Office Depot was founded by three partners: Pat Sher, Stephen Dougherty, and Jack Kopkin.[4] They envisioned a warehouse-style store for office products where customers could purchase items in bulk for discounted prices. This concept lead to starting Office Depot, and the company opened its first store in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida in 1986.[5] The company saw steady growth throughout the years, and opened the 1000th Office Depot North American retail store in Countryside, IL in 2005. [edit] Other events and milestones[6] - 1988 – Initial public offering of stock.
- 1991 – Expands to the West Coast of the United States by merging with Office Club.
- 1992 - Increases operations in North America by acquiring The Great Canadian Office Supplies Warehouse Chain.
- 1993 - Enters contract stationer business by acquiring Wilson Stationery & Printing Company and Eastman Office Products Corporation.[7]
- 1994 – Begins international expansion by signing joint venture agreement with Grupo Gigante in Mexico and licensing agreements with Israel, Colombia and Poland.
- 1995 – Opens 500th store in North America as well as stores in Mexico and Poland; signs joint venture agreement to open stores in France and licensing agreement to open store in Thailand; establishes Business Services Division (now Business Solutions Division).
- 1996 – Launches B-to-B e-commerce Web site.
- 1997 – Furthers international footprint by venturing into Hungary; operates 45 locations outside the United States.
- 1998 – Launches www.officedepot.com; merges with Viking Office Products, the leading direct marketer of office products in Europe and Australia.
- 1999 – Launches first international Office Depot Web site, www.viking-direct.co.uk; listed on Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
- 2000 - Enters European contract stationer market with launch of the European Business Services Division.
- 2001 – Acquires 4sure.com.[8]
- 2002 - Begins Viking Direct catalog/direct mail operations in Switzerland, Spain and Portugal; expands into Central America with new retail stores in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Costa Rica through a joint licensing agreement.
- 2003 – Doubles European business with acquisition of Guilbert, S.A.; becomes the first office supply superstore to offer fully-functional and comprehensive Spanish website.
- 2004 - Introduces “Green Book” catalog of environmentally-preferable products, as well as the first free, nationwide in-store electronics recycling program and free, in-store cell phone and rechargable battery recycling program in all stores in the U.S. and Canada.
- 2005 – Names Steve Odland Chairman and Chief Executive Officer[9]; relaunches “Taking Care of Business” tagline.
- 2006 - Celebrates its 20th anniversary; acquires Best Office Co., Ltd., Allied Office Products, Papirius s.r.o., and AsiaEc.
- 2007 – Joins US Green Building Council; opens first store in Puerto Rico and new Global Sourcing Office in Shenzhen, China.
- 2008 – Introduces “Office Depot Green” product line; unveils first "Green" store in Austin, TX and received LEED Gold Certification from USGBC; announces alliance with Netbizz Office Supplies in Singapore, AGE in Sweden, and bigboXX.com in Hong Kong.
- 2009 – Signs franchise agreement with M.H. Alshaya Co.; opens first store in Kuwait
[edit] Online The domain officedepot.com attracted at least 37 million visitors annually according to a 2008 Compete.com survey.[10] [edit] Private label brands In addition to selling many nationally recognized name brands, Office Depot sells products under several store brands, including: - Ativa, for shredders, telephones and certain computer hardware components such as LCD monitors, CDs, keyboards, and USB drives
- Break Escapes, for coffee, snacks, and other break room supplies and water
- Christopher Lowell, for office furniture, in association with the television personality
- Foray, for pens, pencils, highlighters, correction tape, and other writing instruments, as well as CD cases
- Niceday, for most standard office supplies
- Office Depot brand, for most standard office supplies and technology such as staples, binders, file folders, remanufactured ink & toner, etc.
- Office Depot Green, for environmentally preferable office products
- RealSpace, for office furniture
- TUG, for backpacks, BookSocks, and other school supplies
[edit] Customer Incentive Programs [edit] Office Depot Worklife Rewards[11] On June 1, 2006, Office Depot launched the Worklife Rewards program, which combined several benefits of the former “Advantage Reward” and Star Teacher programs. The Worklife Rewards program issues members a return of 10% on all ink, toner, paper and Copy & Print services, and 1% of all other qualifying purchases (excluding laptops, desktops, monitors, and TVs).[12] Other customer benefits include: - No limit to the amount of rewards members can earn. Rewards are paid in the form of an Office Depot Reward Card when you earn a minimum of $10.
- Reward balances that carry over to the next quarter. If Worklife Rewards members do not earn the required $10 in rewards during a calendar quarter, reward balances will carry over quarter to quarter during the calendar year.
- Online account management.
- Savings on travel, retail and service purchases through the “My Worklife Partners” program at [www.myworkliferewards.com].
- Exclusive coupons as well in-store savings on select items.
[edit] Star Teacher Program[13] The Star Teacher Program is specifically for educators and school administrators, and incorporates the benefits of the Office Depot Worklife Rewards Program. In addition to Worklife Rewards benefits, the Star Teacher program also carries a 15% discount on copy center purchases. Office Depot holds many events for teachers at its stores, including bi-annual Teacher Appreciation Breakfasts that offer free breakfast, giveaways and discounts for teachers. [edit] 5% Back To Schools Program[14] The 5% Back To Schools 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. Purchases of basic school supplies qualify for the program, some exclusions apply. [edit] Ink and Toner Recycling[15] Office Depot’s Ink and Toner Recycling program encourages customers to recycle their used ink cartridges. Members of the Office Depot Worklife Rewards or Star Teacher programs can bring in empty cartridges for recycling to an Office Depot store. Customers receive $3 back in rewards (paid in the form of an Office Depot Reward card) for each cartridge recycled, up to 5 cartridges per day. 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. In 2009, Office Depot began sponsoring the Tony Stewart owned and driven #14 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Sprint Cup stock car racing series. In previous years, Office Depot had been the primary sponsor of the #99 Ford, owned by Roush Fenway Racing and driven by Carl Edwards. Office Depot currently sponsors FreeRice, a program to fight world hunger. [edit] Activities per country Stores owned by and operated under the Office Depot name [16] Stores operating with the Office Depot name under joint venture / license agreements [17] [edit] References - ^ Yahoo! Finance, Office Depot, Inc. (ODP) Income Statement, [1], Retrieved 2009-10-26.
- ^ Yahoo! Finance, Office Depot, Inc. (ODP) Income Statement, [2], Retrieved 2009-10-26.
- ^ Yahoo! Finance, Office Depot, Inc. (ODP) Income Statement, [3], Retrieved 2009-10-26.
- ^ About.com: Retail Industry, "Office Depot Store Closing Sales, Layoffs, Locations, History, Trivia, Mission," [4], Retrieved 2009-11-05.
- ^ About.com: Retail Industry, "Office Depot Store Closing Sales, Layoffs, Locations, History, Trivia, Mission," [5], Retrieved 2009-11-05.
- ^ Idea Group Publishing, "Office Depot's E-Commerce Evolution," [6], Retrieved 2009-11-05.
- ^ CNNMoney.com, "Diversified dollars: 7 corporate programs," [7], Retrieved 2009-11-05.
- ^ internetretailer.com, "Office Depot to acquire Computers4Sure.com and Solutions4Sure.com," [8], Retrieved 2009-11-05.
- ^ BusinessWeek.com, "Steve Odland, Executive Profile and Biography" [9], Retrieved 2009-11-05.
- ^ Compete.com, Site Profile for officedepot.com, [10], Retrieved 2009-10-26.
- ^ MyWorklifeRewards.com, "Office Depot Worklife Rewards Program," [11], Retrieved 2009-11-24.
- ^ Bohen, Colleen (2007-09-24). "TWICE: Office Depot Expands Rewards Program". http://www.twice.com/article/CA6480927.html?industryid=23098. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
- ^ MyStarTeacher.com, "Office Depot Star Teacher Program," [12], Retrieved 2009-11-24.
- ^ OfficeDepot.com, "5% Back to Schools Program*," [13], Retrieved 2009-11-24.
- ^ MediaRelations.OfficeDepot.cc, "Ink and Toner Cartridge Recycling," [14], Retrieved 2009-11-24.
- ^ Office Depot - 2008 Annual Report, [15], Retrieved 2009-10-26.
- ^ Office Depot - 2008 Annual Report, [16], Retrieved 2009-10-26.
- ^ "Office Depot Company Information - SEC Filings". 2008-02-26. http://investor.officedepot.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=94746&p=irol-sec. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
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