# Can anyone tell the difference between Office Depot and Office Max? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 2, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-the-difference-between-office-depot-and-office-max/534735 "2010-04-02T15:17:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-the-difference-between-office-depot-and-office-max/534735/21 "2010-04-06T02:18:02Z")
Office Depot has a lot of blue, and exists here in town, while Office Max does not. We don’t even have a Staples, I don’t think. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-the-difference-between-office-depot-and-office-max/534735/22 "2010-04-06T13:33:58Z")
> [@wellanuff](#): > > Office Max is the one that made getting a rebate a huge hassle that was not resolved until I sent a letter to my state’s Attorney General. Actually, two years ago, OfficeMax did away with mail-in rebates altogether and made them all instant. The $15 off $50 coupon is pretty standard in the industry but should only exclude the _really_ low margin items that we take a bath on even before discounts. The biggest differences have been noted here already - different private label brands (my chain has upwards of 50 brands that are owned by our company), store designs, marketing tactics and the like. It’s hard to judge based on logos as it varies from location to location (a problem in and of itself) - in some places the logos are red, some places blue, some places yellow. Depends on what year the store opened. My chain has also worked hard to target a particular consumer in the past year or so - the recession hasn’t been helping at all so hopefully over time we might be able to see some positive results from that. But, as noted above, it’s hard to get people to notice the difference because most people just don’t care. If it sells supplies, good enough. I was the same before I worked here so I can’t really complain. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-the-difference-between-office-depot-and-office-max/534735/23 "2010-04-06T13:45:17Z")
I got my laptop from Staples, so I remember them, but no, I can’t tell OD and OM apart at all. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-the-difference-between-office-depot-and-office-max/534735/24 "2010-04-06T14:15:44Z")
Office Depot is in Canada; Office Max is not. Clear? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-the-difference-between-office-depot-and-office-max/534735/25 "2010-04-06T14:29:48Z")
> [@luv2draw](#): > > We only have Office Depot around here. The Office Maxes closed a few years ago. Staples is across the highway from the Office Depot I go to and more expensive. Found that out when I went to Staples after OD once didn’t have all the inks for my stupid printer which takes 6 color cartridges. We only have Office Max around here. The Office Depots closed a few years ago. However, all the office supplies we order through our corporate ordering are shipped from Office Depot. So in my mind, one has stores and the other has only a catalog. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-the-difference-between-office-depot-and-office-max/534735/26 "2010-04-06T14:46:37Z")
I could tell you the exact locations of the closest dozen office supply stores. But there’s no way I could tell you which ones were Depot vs. Max vs. Staples. ---
**Author:** ![mbetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/53a042/32.png) [@mbetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbetter)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-the-difference-between-office-depot-and-office-max/534735/27 "2010-04-06T15:45:36Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > My chain has also worked hard to target a particular consumer in the past year or so - the recession hasn’t been helping at all so hopefully over time we might be able to see some positive results from that. What’s his name? ---
**Author:** ![Dolly\_Madison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3be4f8/32.png) [@Dolly\_Madison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dolly_Madison)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-the-difference-between-office-depot-and-office-max/534735/28 "2010-04-06T18:01:10Z")
Its kind of like the situation with the soft-goods home supplies stores. I could never tell the difference between bed bath and beyond/linens n things/strouds,etc. I just called them “Sheets n Shit” and went with whatever was having the sales coupons in the Sunday newspaper that week… ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-the-difference-between-office-depot-and-office-max/534735/29 "2010-04-06T23:11:06Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > We only have Office Max around here. The Office Depots closed a few years ago. However, all the office supplies we order through our corporate ordering are shipped from Office Depot. So in my mind, one has stores and the other has only a catalog. All three (Depot, Max, and Staples) have catalog businesses. Staples bought out Corporate Express a couple of years back. > [@Sunspace](#): > > Office Depot is in Canada; Office Max is not. Clear? 🙂 Yes, they are, they’re called Grand & Toy up there 🙂 > [@mbetter](#): > > What’s his name? I can’t say, but I can tell you that we do have a first name for this target consumer. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-the-difference-between-office-depot-and-office-max/534735/30 "2010-04-07T08:14:59Z")
Tony Stewart drives the Number 14 Office Depot Chevrolet. Remember in NASCAR, it’s not if you win or finish 43rd, it’s how often you can plug the sponsor when being interviewed, ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-the-difference-between-office-depot-and-office-max/534735/31 "2010-04-07T14:10:05Z")
Holy crap, I can honestly say that until this thread, I never realized that they were two different stores. It just never clicked for some reason. I think I only got as far as the “Office” part of the name and never bothered registering the rest. Wow. The next Sherlock Holmes I clearly am not. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-the-difference-between-office-depot-and-office-max/534735/32 "2010-04-07T16:46:57Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > Yes, they are, they’re called Grand & Toy up there 🙂 :: reads G&T site :: Apparently both Office Max in the US and Grand and Toy in Canada are owned by Boise Cascade. I did not know this. > [@audiobottle](#): > > Holy crap, I can honestly say that until this thread, I never realized that they were two different stores. It just never clicked for some reason. I think I only got as far as the “Office” part of the name and never bothered registering the rest. Wow. The next Sherlock Holmes I clearly am not. It’s worse for me. I often get “Office Depot” and “Home Depot” confused, especially when considering a home office. ---
**Author:** ![President\_Johnny\_Gentle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@President\_Johnny\_Gentle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/President_Johnny_Gentle)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-the-difference-between-office-depot-and-office-max/534735/33 "2010-04-07T17:23:16Z")
And to add to the fun is the thought that Staples reached a deal to buy Office Depot in the 1990s, but the FTC rejected the proposed merger. The combined company would have been called “Staples the Office Depot”, opening up all sorts of room for comedians. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-the-difference-between-office-depot-and-office-max/534735/34 "2010-04-08T02:31:36Z")
So, after following this discussion for a few days, I am told by my fiancée that we need to go to Office Max to pick up wedding invitations. We hop in the car, drive the 10-15 minutes from the apartment to the Office Max we go to all the time, and as we near it, I ask her… “Honey?” “Yeah?” “Were those invitations that you wanted at Office Max or Office Depot?😕” “… Office Max. Why?:dubious:” “The Office Max we always go to is an Office Depot.:smack:” “Oh. Let’s go in anyways.” ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-the-difference-between-office-depot-and-office-max/534735/35 "2010-04-08T03:47:32Z")
In my experience, the employees of Office Depot are helpful reasonable people. I stopped shopping at Office Max after finding their employees to be lying lazy jerks one too many times. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-the-difference-between-office-depot-and-office-max/534735/36 "2010-04-08T15:09:59Z")
We used to have one of each, across the street from one another. One closed. I have no idea which. Oh, and one sold me a pretty good flat screen TV at a great price and one sold me a shitty office chair that had to be “repaired” with duct tape maybe 15 months after purchase because the leather was already coming apart from normal use. ---
**Author:** ![silk1976](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@silk1976](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silk1976)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-the-difference-between-office-depot-and-office-max/534735/37 "2010-04-08T15:54:53Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > Oh, and no, it’s not intentional to confuse customers. We really do try to differentiate ourselves, but it’s a lot harder than it sounds. People just don’t pay attention. While this may be true, I could easily say that the creators of the 2nd one to exist weren’t paying attention, picking a store name so similar to one that was already around. Apparently someone came up with a way to[tell the two apart](http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/difference-between-officemax-office-depot-detected-with-sensitive-device/Content?oid=1194235). ---
**Author:** ![This\_Just\_In\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@This\_Just\_In\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/This_Just_In_2)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-the-difference-between-office-depot-and-office-max/534735/38 "2010-04-08T17:18:40Z")
> [@President\_Johnny\_Gentle](#): > > And to add to the fun is the thought that Staples reached a deal to buy Office Depot in the 1990s, but the FTC rejected the proposed merger. The combined company would have been called “Staples the Office Depot”, opening up all sorts of room for comedians. If Staples was going to rename Office Depot I would have imagined they’d choose the name ‘Staplers’. ---
**Author:** ![Condescending\_Robot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a183cd/32.png) [@Condescending\_Robot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Condescending_Robot)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-the-difference-between-office-depot-and-office-max/534735/39 "2010-04-11T05:11:46Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > All three (Depot, Max, and Staples) have catalog businesses. Staples bought out Corporate Express a couple of years back. Corporate Express being mostly focused on the international market, Staples does most of its U.S. catalog business through Quill, a super-scummy front corporation that sends poor kids recruited through pyramid schemes to show up unannounced at businesses and try to pitch office supplies. I can only imagine a world where the OfficeWhatevers finally merge their businesses and take down the big shitbags at Staples and their strategy of drumming up accounts by breaking employment and solicitation laws. ---
**Author:** ![luxiia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8baadc/32.png) [@luxiia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luxiia)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-the-difference-between-office-depot-and-office-max/534735/40 "2010-04-11T23:52:05Z")
A few years ago, I worked in a retail store behind which a huge Office Max store was built. It closed in a fairly short amount of time, most likely due to the fact that there’s a long-standing Staples across the street. A friend of mine from work was outside one day when a guy drove up and asked her what used to occupy the Office Max space. She told him, and he told her that he was from Office Depot, scouting locations. She commented on how it probably wasn’t ideal, as Max had recently gone out of business there. Guess what was put in and closed down again within a year…:rolleyes: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-tell-the-difference-between-office-depot-and-office-max/534735.md?page=1)