Staples Office Supplies for Business. *** YOU FOUND STAPLES

About Us
Web Site Summary
URL: staples.com
Year Launched: 1998
Category: office supplies
Merchant Type: retail chain
Ranking: #2

Staples, Inc.
Type: Public (NASDAQ: SPLS)
Founded: 1986
Headquarters: Framingham, Massachusetts
Industry: Retail
Products: Office Stores

Staples, Inc. NASDAQ: SPLS is the world's largest office supply retail store chain, with over 1,600 stores worldwide, including stores in the United States, Belgium, Canada (as Staples Business Depot or Bureau en Gros in Quebec),China, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The company's first store was opened in Brighton, Massachusetts in 1986. The company is headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts. It also does business via the Internet, through its Web site.

Staples Advertising
Throughout most of the company's history, Staples employed, in its American commercials and advertising promotions, the slogan "Yeah, we've got that.", signifying their wide selection of products. This slogan was retired in 2003, to be replaced with "That was easy." Expanding on that theme, 2005 ads featured a large red push button marked "easy". Plastic replicas of the "Easy Button" were distributed at Staples stores. In the UK, Staples uses the slogan "You want it. We've got it."'

The Easy Button is currently being manufactured as an attempt to profit from the popularity it has incited by television advertising. It was programmed to repeat the company slogan, "That Was Easy". These easy buttons were shipped to stores in the fall of 2005. The first $1 Million in proceeds from the easy buttons were donated to the national Boys and Girls clubs of the United States. However, to date over one million units have been sold; at $4.99 each, this represents a substantial profit.

Typical Staples storeThe Staples Snowbot was an advertising character that appeared in the United States, in television and print advertising during the 2000 and 2001 Christmas seasons.

The Snowbot was a robot shaped like a snowman who refuses to let go of the inkjet printer he has fallen in love with. After the printer is wrestled from his grasp, the robot utters a monotone "Weeping. Weeping." He is consoled by a Staples employee who offers him a surge protector or a computer mouse (depending on the ad) instead.

The robot's "Weeping. Weeping." catchphrase briefly became a popular meme on the internet, and the ad itself was parodied in an American 2002 Christmas ad for Dell Computers, in which a robot hassles a shopper (including striking him with a candy cane) when he attempts to purchase a PC at an unnamed office supplies retailer.

Staples goal is to open at least 100 new stores in the United States yearly, putting Staples in areas of the country that are currently dominated by competition.

Another well known ad style is for their back-to-school sales which has the Christmas song, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" where the parents joyously shop for school supplies for their children.

Business Ventures
In March 2005, Staples, Inc., Stop & Shop Supermarket Co., and Giant Food LLC announced a joint collaboration in which all Stop & Shop Supermarkets and Giant Food stores throughout the Northeast will have a Staples branded store-within-store section that will sell traditional school and home office products in addition to copy and photo paper, ink cartridges, and technology products. The Staples store-within-store section was set to debut in July 2005.

In 1996, Staples Inc. proposed to merge with its rival Office Depot. Although both companies were ready for the merger, the Federal Trade Commission decided that the superpower would unfairly increase office supply prices despite competition from the third-in-line OfficeMax, which did not have stores in many of the local markets that the merger would affect. A U.S. Court agreed. (Dalkir and Warren-Boulton, 2003.) It is not known if the merger will be attempted again, but the company is growing boundlessly without Office Depot's help.

In 2004 Staples purchased British rival Office World from the Globus group. Rebranding of these stores to the Staples brand took place in 2005. This lead to Staples branching out into a new country - Scotland. Its first store was in Finnieston, Glasgow in April 2005

Copy & Print Center
Besides office supplies and business machines, Staples also offers a Copy and Print Center for faxing, custom business cards, custom stamps and engraved products as well as photocopying services and a UPS shipping center, which is open during store hours. Every copy and print center has a team of trained associates which have extensive knowledge in the operation of the department. Recently, Staples has spent over $92 million in upgrades on all Staples Copy & Print Centers on contracts with Danka office imaging and Xerox. The Copy center manager, or the Copy Center Specialist acts much like a business manager. They are responsible for the operation, training, supplies, etc. for the department. The copy center is often referred to as a "store inside a store". They have a higher margin than other department.

Easy Mobile Tech
Select stores also feature Easy Mobile Tech, an in-store and on-site solution for PC repair, PC upgrades, home and office networking setup, and PC tutorials.

Starting in November 2005, Staples began "Heavy Up" primarily using stores in New York state to experiment with the expansion of the offerings by the Staples Tech Center. A subesquent test known as "Double Up" is planned for an unspecified test market and is scheduled to begin the first half of 2006. The tests are being run to promote competition with Best Buy's Geek Squad.

Beginning in early 2006, Staples also launched the "Easy Resident Tech" program, installing 1 to 2 resident computer repair technicians to do in-store repair during normal business hours. On-site work is still available through the Easy Mobile Tech program.

Community
The company started their foundation, Staples Foundation for Learning in 2002, which supports youth groups and education. It also is a partner of Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

In August 2005, Staples introduced the "Easy Button", a popular novelty item for offices which is advertised as a fun way of relieving stress. The first USD$1 million of all profits from the Easy Buttons were donated to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. It is currently for sale for USD$4.99 in all US and Canadian stores (where profits go to Special Olympics in Canada) and on the company's website.

Staples was featured during Season 3 of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, where they furnished the office of Sadie Holmes' charity (see episode details in the list of episodes).

source: wikipedia.com
updated: 9/23/06

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