Office Depot Grows With Acquisition Of Small Office E-tailer
Staff -- TWICE, 6/11/2001
DELRAY BEACH, FLA. — Office Depot acquired in late May small office e-tailer officesupplies.com, its first e-commerce purchase, for an undisclosed amount.
Officesupplies.com's site will remain operational during a 90-day transition period, at which time current customers will be contacted and given the option to transfer account information for future Office Depot promotions.
The deal will give the online customers a broader selection and greater cost savings, said Peter Walts, CEO of officesupplies.com.
Office Depot, which placed No. 9 in the TWICE 2001 Retail Registry, has 824 superstores across the United States and Canada as well as its own Web site, www.officedepot.com. "Looking ahead, we do see the potential for other online business combinations," said Office Depot CEO Bruce Nelson. "Our focus is on companies that target the business customer and are committed to fanatical customer service."
Officesupplies.com will continue its operations through July. After Aug. 1, Office Depot will honor officesupplies.com's return policy when possible, according to the company.
In related news, Office Depot reported comp-store sales in North America during April, the first month of its second quarter, were worse than the first quarter numbers. However, May sales showed improvement over the previous quarter.
