Staples, Inc. provides office products in the United States. The company, as of February 3, 2007, operated a total of 1,884 superstores in 47 states and the District of Columbia in the United States, 11 provinces in Canada, 11 regions in the United Kingdom, 8 regions in Germany and in The Netherlands, Portugal and Belgium. It also operated 55 distribution and fulfillment centers in 20 states of the United States, 4 provinces in Canada, 2 regions in the United Kingdom, 2 regions in France, and in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Brazil, Argentina and China.
Segments
The company operates three business segments: North American Retail, North American Delivery, and International Operations. The company’s North American Retail segment consists of the U.S. and Canadian business units that operate office products stores. The North American Delivery segment consists of the U.S. and Canadian business units that sell and deliver office products and services directly to customers, and includes Staples Business Delivery, Quill and the company’s Contract operations (Staples National Advantage and Staples Business Advantage). The International Operations segment consists of operating units that operate office products stores and that sell and deliver office products and services directly to customers in 19 countries in Europe, South America and Asia.
North American Retail
The company’s North American Retail segment consists of 1,620 stores throughout the United States and Canada. Its North American retail stores are located in 47 states, the District of Columbia, and 11 Canadian provinces in major metropolitan markets and smaller markets. The company’s retail operations focus on serving the needs of small businesses and home offices. It operates different retail formats modified to the unique characteristics of the store locations, including its 20,000 square foot prototypical superstore, a 14,600 square foot format designed for rural markets, and smaller stores suited to dense, urban markets such as New York City. The company also offers its retail customers the ability to make purchases on-line through Staples.com Internet access points to acquire products that are not available in its stores. Customers can pay for these purchases at the register or through Staples.com access points for delivery to their home or business. The company operates approximately 660 Dover stores.
North American Delivery
The company’s North American Delivery segment is comprised of three business units: ‘Staples Business Delivery’, ‘Quill Corporation,’ and its Contract business, operating under the names ‘Staples National Advantage’ and ‘Staples Business Advantage.’
Staples Business Delivery: Staples Business Delivery operations combine the activities of direct mail catalog business, Staples.com web site, and Canadian Internet sites. Staples Business Delivery is primarily designed to reach small businesses and home offices, offering next business day delivery for most office supply orders in major metropolitan areas.
Quill: Quill is a direct mail catalog and Internet business with a targeted approach to servicing the business product needs of approximately one million small and medium-sized businesses in the United States. Quill also operates Medical Arts Press, a specialty internet and catalog business offering products for medical professionals.
Staples National Advantage and Staples Business Advantage: The company’s Contract operations focus primarily on serving the needs of medium-sized to large businesses. Through its Contract sales force, the company offers customized pricing, payment terms, usage reporting, the stocking of certain proprietary items, and full service account management. Its Contract operations are divided into two businesses. Staples National Advantage is a nationwide Contract business selling to large multi-regional businesses. Staples Business Advantage primarily sells to medium-sized and large regional companies. StaplesLink.com, which offers a level of procurement functionality available on its web sites, meets the online procurement needs of Contract customers.
International Operations
The company’s International Operations consist of retail stores, catalog and Internet businesses operating under various names in 19 countries in Europe, South America, and Asia. As of February 3, 2007, the company operated retail stores in Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. In addition, it operates catalog and Internet businesses in Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Merchandising
The company sells a variety of office supplies and services, business machines and related products, computers and related products, and office furniture. It has approximately 8,000 SKUs stocked in each of its North American retail stores and approximately 15,000 SKUs stocked in North American Delivery fulfillment centers. The company’s product offering includes Staples, Quill, and other proprietary branded products. It offers approximately 2,000 own brand products. The company provides a range of installation, upgrade, and repair services, as well as data protection, privacy, and security services through ‘EasyTech’ program.
Competition
The company’s competitors include Office Depot, OfficeMax, Wal-Mart, Costco, Best Buy, FedEx Kinko’s, and Dell.
History
Staples, Inc. was founded in 1985.
