is one of the world's largest
Office Supply retail store chains, with over 1,600 stores worldwide, including stores in the
United States ,
Belgium ,
Canada (
Staples Business Depot or
Bureau En Gros in
Quebec ),
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 .
The ''L'' in the logo is a stylized
Staple .
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 customed to match their new slogan, "That Was Easy". These easy buttons were shipped to stores in the fall of 2005. All proceeds from the easy buttons will benefit the national
Boys And Girls Clubs of the United States.
The 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 is currently working with its new pet project: Northern Illinois. This is a big venture for the office supply giant primarially because both Office Max and Office Depot have a firm hold on the area. Staples has stolen customers away from the two companies with their new policies and sales. For example; Staples is offering free shipping in Chicagoland on any order placed in store, online, or in the catalog, no matter the price of the product. Another tactic is the sales going on in Staples Copy and Print Center, most notibly the 39¢ color copy.
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 U.S. government (the
Federal Trade Commission ) decided that the superpower would increase office supplies' prices profitably despite competition from the third-in-line
Office Max , 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
Staples offers a "Staples Rewards card" for customers and a special version of this card for teachers. The card is used to track purchases and members get rebates (in the form of an in-store coupon) quarterly, of either 2% or 5% of their purchases, if they meet the minimum quarterly purchase requirements.
In Q3 of 2005 Staples revamped its "Ink and Toner Guarantee" to include an incentive in the form of a $3 coupon for every ink cartridge recycled at the store.
Besides office supplies and business machines, Staples also offers a Copy and Print Center for
Fax ing, custom
Business Card s, custom
Stamps and engraved products as well as
Photocopying services and a
UPS shipping center, which is open during all store hours.
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.
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 will offer a fun way of relieving stress... all profits from the "easy button" will be donated to the
Boys & Girls Clubs Of America . It is currently for sale in all US and Canadian stores (profits from the latter set of stores go to
Special Olympics 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 on the Extreme Makeover entry).
Staples, Inc. is one of the corporate sponsors of
STAPLES Center , a multi-purpose indoor sports and entertainment arena located in
Los Angeles, California , that serves as the home to several professional sports teams. It was built in 1999.
- Dalkir, S. and F. Warren-Boulton. 2003. “Market Definition and the Price Effects of Mergers: Staples-Office Depot (1997),” in ''The Antitrust Revolution: Economics, Competition and Policy.'' (John E. Kwoka and Lawrence J. White, eds.) Oxford University Press, 4th edition
