supposedly they're talking about merger to compete against Staples

Our local Office Depot downsized to about a 1/10th of a normal OD. There's hardly anyone ever in the
place, not sure how they stay in business.

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Grateful11

Our local OD closed a while back - Staples is going strong.

The nearest Staples is 90 min away. Office Depot and office Max are both in town but so inconvenient to get to that I never go to either.

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Nothing to see here, move along.

FWIW... Office Max (a Cleveland corporation) was eaten by Boise Cascade in 2003. I work with a few ex-Office Max people. This is the next logical step. Think of it as consolidation, not in competition with Staples, but in competition with the Big Kahuna.

Amazon.

I don't think I've seen an Office Max//Office Depot in 10 years. Staples stores are all over the place in my area. There are 3 of them within 5 miles of my house.

In the Midwest, for the longest time, you would be hard-pressed to find a Staples anywhere (in 200-300 miles from each other), but OM/OD's are all over the place.

Staples, though, have opened up new stores in the Midwest over the last few years so they are definitely getting into these markets quick.

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Office Depot + Office Max = Max's Office Depot

I like Office Depot, but they're always so low-key; every one I've been in over the last five years looks like it's in desperate need of an update. The local Staples is just more pleasant to shop in -- and it's not a knock on the people at my local Office Depot.

Ditto the comment re/Amazon. I buy most of my supplies via Amazon, and go to Staples or Office Depot when I'm fighting the clock for something or want to do some side-by-side.

I also always buy paper from Staples or Office Depot; I've never gotten a paper order from Amazon that wasn't damaged in some way, so I gave up.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/19/2013 11:03AM by Zoidberg.

I like the mini-Office Max in my neighborhood, it's called Ink Paper Scissors or something like that - very convenient when you don't won't to trek to Staples.