If you’re going to be involved in a massive, nationwide retail theft scheme, you might as well have a good nickname — like “Baby Arm Johnson” or the “Field Marshall” — for when you get caught. [More]
office depot
Staples And Office Depot Circling Each Other Again With Merger In Their Eyes
By 7.31.17
From 2015 to 2016, retail-watchers carefully tracked the proposed merger of Staples and Office Depot, which itself had recently acquired OfficeMax. The Federal Trade Commission ultimately didn’t bless the deal, but the two chains have come back with a new idea: What if Office Depot were to acquire just the retail portion of Staples? [More]
12 Indicted In Massive Organized Retail Theft Ring That Spanned 28 States, 20 Years
By 3.15.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
When someone mentions the takedown of an organized crime ring, the first thing to come to mind is probably something along the lines of The Sopranos. But in New York today, the Attorney General’s office announced the indictment of 12 organized crime members accused of stealing over $12 million in high-end electronics and ink cartridges from national retailers in 28 states. [More]
Senator Calls For Investigation Into Office Depot’s Alleged Computer Scanning Scheme
By 11.18.16
Following a whistleblower report that some Office Depot staffers are allegedly falsely telling customers their computers are infected with viruses in order to sell them on unnecessary repair services, one lawmaker is calling on federal regulators to investigate. [More]
Office Depot Allegedly Diagnosing Computers With Nonexistent Viruses To Meet Sales Goals
By 11.16.16
Retailers upselling customers on services they don’t need is nothing new, but a new report claims that some Office Depot employees are falsely claiming computers are infected with viruses in order to meet sales goals. [More]
Office Depot Rewarding College Students Who Resist Their Smartphones During Class
By 9.9.16
While no one on the Consumerist staff has been in college in, uh, some time, we can imagine it must be tough to focus on education when you’ve got a smartphone in your pocket, just begging you to play KandyKaboozle or text your friend a few seats away. There are some out there who can resist, however, and for those strong-willed folks, Office Depot has a new rewards program that lets students earn points toward discounts. [More]
Office Depot CEO Roland Smith Stepping Down After Failed Staples Merger
By 8.22.16
The failed marriage of Office Depot and Staples has claimed another CEO. Nearly three months after Staples chief Ron Sargent made his sad exit, the Depot’s top exec Roland Smith announced his departure. [More]
Office Depot To Close 300 More Stores, Expand “Store Of The Future” Pilot
By 8.3.16
There will be 300 fewer Office Depot stores in the U.S. by the end of 2019 as part of the office supply chain’s attempt to cut costs and move on from its failed billion-dollar merger with Staples. [More]
This Is Probably Office Depot’s Top-Secret ‘Store Of The Future’
By 5.24.16
After the United States government stood in their way and disrupted their union, Staples and Office Depot broke their year-long engagement earlier this month, deciding not to merge. Now they need to figure out how to go forward and move on as two separate office-supply companies. In Florida, a newly remodeled store offers a hint about Office Depot’s future. [More]
The FTC Has Called Off Its Administrative Trial Of Staples-Office Depot Merger
By 5.19.16
Last week, Staples and Office Depot called off their proposed merger, which would have brought together the biggest and second-biggest office supply retailer into a single paperclip-selling Voltron. Instead, a federal judge granted a temporary injunction, and the companies called off the merger. Now the Federal Trade Commission is officially closing the case. [More]
Staples And Office Depot Will Move On As Strong, Confident, Single Office Supply Stores
By 5.11.16
Plans for other things at Staples and Office Depot have been on hold for months now, as the two companies waited to find out whether the Federal Trade Commission would allow their proposed merger to go through. Yesterday, the FTC was granted a preliminary injunction to stop the merger, and the two companies called off their engagement. What will they do now? They’ll make it on their own. Somehow. [More]
Staples & Office Depot Ask Judge To Toss Antitrust Lawsuit Without Defending Merger
By 4.5.16
Two weeks after the beginning of a federal court hearing on the proposed mega-merger between Office Depot and Staples, the office supply chains’ lawyers have decided not to present a defense against the Federal Trade Commission’s claim that the deal is bad for consumers and businesses. [More]
Judge Scolds FTC For Maybe Telling Amazon Exec What To Say In Staples-Office Depot Hearing
By 3.24.16
Is Amazon a valid competitor to Staples and Office Depot for the business of corporate office supply customers? In a hearing in the federal lawsuit that the Federal Trade Commission has filed against the two retailers, the government argues that it isn’t yet, and the two stores argue that it is, or soon will be. Yesterday, an attorney for Staples accused the FTC of telling an Amazon executive what to say in his testimony about his company’s plans for office supply domination, earning criticism from the judge. [More]
Amazon Executive: Actually, We Don’t Have Any Big Corporate Office Supply Contracts Yet
By 3.23.16
Staples and Office Depot want to pledge their future and their fortunes together in corporate matrimony, and the Federal Trade Commission objects to their union. The companies and the Federal Trade Commission are making their cases before a federal judge, and the key question in this merger seems to be whether large corporations plan to buy their office supplies from Amazon in the future. An Amazon executive testified that they haven’t signed any major companies, and aren’t really pursuing big corporate contracts. Yet. [More]
Staples, Office Depot: FTC’s Opposition To Billion-Dollar Merger Is “Flawed,” “Wrong”
By 3.18.16
Three months after federal regulators filed a lawsuit to stop the nightmare dream formation of the $6.3 billion StaplesMaxDepot Voltron , the CEOs of the mega-office supply chains are fed up, and they’re taking that frustration to the customers by airing their true thoughts on the Federal Trade Commission’s attempt to stop the deal. [More]
This Office Depot Won’t Price-Match Its Own Website
By 3.4.16
Mara was shopping online at OfficeMax Depot (not the company’s actual post-merger name) when she found a package of the labels she needed at a great price. She headed to her local Office Depot store, believing that she would find the same labels at the same price at the store. Wouldn’t that make sense? Yes, it would make a lot of sense. Instead, the labels cost $28.80 more in the store, and employees wouldn’t price-match.. [More]
Staples To Close 50 Stores In Preparation For Life With Or Without Office Depot
By 3.4.16
As it awaits the final verdict from regulators on its pending billion-dollar purchase of rival office supply chain Office Depot, Staples is preparing to go it alone by announcing plans to shutter at least 50 of its own stores in order to slow declining sales. [More]
Essendant Agrees To Buy Commercial Business From Staples And Office Depot If FTC Approves Merger
By 2.17.16
Staples and Office Depot want to merge and form one mega-chain of office supply stores that you mostly visit to drop off UPS packages. The Federal Trade Commission doesn’t approve of this union, because both sell supplies and serve as wholesalers to smaller office suppliers. The companies announced late yesterday that they’ve reached an agreement with Essendant, a smaller national supplier, to take over some of that business if the merger goes through. [More]
