According to this analyst,
“Staples is easily the healthiest, and while Office Depot is struggling, OfficeMax looks worse”
Why, for us students of business, is Staples doing well – and Office Depot and Max worse? I can’t tell the difference between the office superstores myself, but I’m no expert.
Anyone offer analysis here?
It is basically for the same reasons that Wal-Mart is a lot healthier than K-Mart. Staples was founded with the goal of global aggressive growth as a top priority. Superior logistics, information technology and business intelligence systems were something they invested in early on. I know and worked with a lot of their former top people including one of their first presidents. Their business strategy is cut-throat. Just because the competitors stores look similar, that doesn’t mean that things are the same behind the scenes.
And that has paid off at least as far as getting my company’s business. I am absolutely loyal to Staples because their website is a dream. I put in a search term and it actually pulls the item I’m looking for. I don’t have to spend all this time trying to come up with some word that describes the thing I need, when I don’t have that kind of time. Make it easy for me and I’ll reward you with my business.
Not that number of stores is necessarily an indication of corporate health these days, but Staples is everywhere. Even in the little economically depressed burg near my cabin. In that regard it is like Walmart, which is across highway. Somehow they manage to stay in business. I half-expect to see it closed whenever I go up there but it’s hanging on. It’s nice to have up there. I couldn’t tell you where any Office Depot or -Max is.
Sorry, not an “analysis”, but my two cents.
Staples has a major advertising deal with The Office, which is the greatest show to ever air on cable television. I certainly wouldn’t attribute this as a sole factor for their success, but it probably has at least a small degree of influence or they wouldn’t be paying all that money.
How much do they pay for this and how often are they guaranteed a mention?
Their motto is, “That was easy.”
And they’re right! It was easy.
Speaking as a bargain hunter Staples does not seem to run as many proift bleeding, low margin “door busters” on high ticket technology items as competing stores. They do sell technology merchandise but they focus far more heavily on high profit stuff and the basics of office supply.
Good question. Some digging around turned up that:
The shredder thing was their big debut on The Office, a 2-episode deal where it was used as a prominent plot device in the story. In the second episode Dwight gets a job at Staples. They also featured a normal 30-second commercial spot for Staples.
Since those two episodes Staples references have been dropped in many other episodes, noting them as Dunder-Mifflin’s biggest competitor.
Advertisement is a priority of theirs. The are much easier to deal with and they are very timely.
Around here every staples delivery truck is red with staples written all over it. The Office Max’s of the area deliver in plain white trucks.
Also, Staples has adopted Walmart’s site to store practice for many items. Whereas Office Depot requires $50 minium for free next day delivery.
OfficeMax for a number of years was owned, and bled dry, by K-Mart. When K-Mart really started heading for the crapper in the mid-90s, they spun-off OfficeMax, which was in a pretty weakened state at that point.
Sometime after that, Staples and Office Depot planned to merge, but before the deal got finalized, the Feds quashed it. I wouldn’t be surprised if the brightest folks from Office Depot got snapped up by Staples. (Staples has always struck me as a pretty innovative company. Their TV commercials are brilliant.)
Go into a Staples. Now walk into a Office Max or Depo.
World. Of. Difference.
Staples, even with the garish red, is soothing, with items packed in. It has damn near everything you could want aside from a couple rarer items. Office Max/Depo… don’t. You’re more likely to find a bargain there, but much less likely to find what you want.
I am a former Staples employee (worked in every department during high school), so I may be biased, but I have always enjoyed shopping at Staples more than at Office Depot or OfficeMax. The experience has just been more enjoyable for me. The staff at our store was incredibly knowledgeable and our training was actually useful. We were often encouraged to learn as much about the product as possible. When I was appointed Queen of the Copy Center (my manager had a sense of humor), I was expected to learn damn near everything I could about every kind of paper we had and every service we provided. I ruled over my territory with competence and was always courteous, understanding, and expeditious. Customers said this was why they chose us over other stores, and, having been to a few other Staples stores and treated the same way, I agree with them. We were worried when a WalMart Supercenter opened across the street from us, but, despite their lower prices, people still chose Staples for our service and selection.
Of course, there are some lousy Staples stores and lousy employees, just as much as there are really good Office Depots and brilliant Office Depot employees, but, overall, I’ve had more hits with Staples than misses.
Except, like many chains, the Buffalo area. No Staples stores to be found, even though they’re in Rochester and Erie.
Staples is likewise very new to the Denver area (maybe just a year or so) and I have not had very much chance to shop there. So, without much experience there, my preferences have always been OfficeMax then Office Depot, except that Office Depot seems to have a better selection of printer cartridges.
Bob
There are no Staples stores near where I live (Tuscaloosa, Alabama), either, although I do get their advertisements.
Valete,
Vox Imperatoris
I like to think of Staples as the Target of the office products world, with Office Max or Office Depot being like Walmart. Staples seems to be the cleaner, brighter, better stocked store (and with better store-brand products and prices) of the trio. But then again, maybe it’s just all in my head. 
I don’t really care to pore through quarterly/annual reports from all 3 to confirm, but I suspect Staples has a good lock on corporate business that the other two don’t.
Speaking of their stock, I’m reminded of an amusing anecdote. Once I went into a Staples to actually buy staples. This particular location was having some sort of major building renovation done and I don’t think they were quite operating at full capacity. I couldn’t find them so I asked a clerk, and she informed me that they were out. Yes, Staples was out of staples.
For the most part they seem like a good enough store but I’ll never forget that incident. 