Office Depot

December 11, 2006
Office Depot, Inc. is an office supply retail company headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, United States. The company has combined annual sales of approximately $11 billion, and employs about 38,000 associates with businesses in the United States. The company operates 945 retail stores, e-commerce sites and a business-to-business sales organization.
It was announced February 20, 2013, that Office Depot and OfficeMax will combine in an all-stock deal, which will create the largest U.S. office-supplies chain. On November 5, 2013, the merger was completed.
The combined company has combined annual sales of approximately $17 billion, employs about 66,000 associates, and serves consumers and businesses in 59 countries with more than 2,200 retail stores, e-commerce sites and a business-to-business sales organization. The company’s portfolio of leading brands includes Office Depot, OfficeMax, OfficeMax Grand & Toy, Viking, Ativa, TUL, Foray, Realspace, and DiVOGA.
== History ==
Office Depot was founded in October 1986 by F. Patrick Sher, Stephen Doughtery, and Jack Kopkin, who became the company's chairman and chief executive officer, the president, and executive vice president respectively.
All three were formerly associated with Mr. HOW Warehouse, a home improvement company that Sher sold to Service Merchandise in 1983. The first store, located at the Lakes Mall in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, opened in October 1986. The company announced its initial public offering of stock, and went public in December 1988.
In April 1991, it merged with Office Club, which provided an expansion to the West Coast. Office Depot entered the European and Australian direct mail market, after acquiring Viking Direct in May 1998.
In December 2001, Viking Direct expanded to Central America with new retail stores in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Costa Rica through a joint licensing agreement. Office Depot sold Office Depot Europe (Viking Direct's parent) to an investment firm in September 2017.
== See also ==
* OfficeMax
Category:Retailers by type
Category:Retailers
Category:Discount stores
Category:Department stores
Category:Office Stores
Category:Companies
Category:Franchises
Category:Brands