Office Depot

U.S. antitrust officials examining Staples Inc.’s planned takeover of Office Depot Inc. are zeroing in on the sale of office supplies to large corporate customers, according to three people familiar with the matter. While consumers can pick up paper and pens anywhere, there are fewer suppliers that can serve companies that buy products in large quantities…

Office Depot Inc. said its shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favor of the $6.3 billion buyout offer from larger rival Staples Inc., in a deal that would combine the two largest U.S. office suppliers. Office Depot said 99.5 percent of the votes cast were in favor of the deal at a shareholder meeting on Friday. The…

LD Product, an online retailer of ink and toner cartridges, needed help growing awareness and sales of its office supply products, a new category for the company.

To win, retailers have to accept that the online channel has transformed offline retail. By collecting valuable data from customers across multiple channels, retailers are given numerous opportunities to drive purchasing decisions wherever the customer prefers shopping. To obtain and use big data, retailers need to do the following:

Staples announced Wednesday that it will acquire Office Depot for $6.3 billion, a move that merges the two largest chain stores selling office supplies. The deal comes as the retailers are seeing massive upheaval in their industry. Demand for paper-based office supplies is dwindling as more business functions move online, and a diverse array of competitors, including Amazon.com and Wal-Mart, are competing to sell these kinds of goods. Together, the brands would have about $39 billion in annual sales and about 4,000 stores. Staples CEO Ron Sargent said that a merger would help the brands compete more effectively.

Office-supply chains Staples and Office Depot are in advanced talks to merge, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The price and structure of the proposed deal couldn't be learned and there's no guarantee a deal will be reached, the newspaper reported. Staples has a market value of about $11 billion, while Office Depot has a market value of about $4.1 billion. Last month, activist investor Starboard Value LP called for the two companies to merge, saying a combined entity would lead to greater savings.

● Office Depot launched an augmented reality/mobile campaign earlier this year with rock band R5 that targets millennial back-to-school shoppers with the hopes of bringing them into its stores.

GNC Holdings has appointed former Dick's Sporting Goods executive Jeffrey R. Hennion as executive vice president, chief marketing and e-commerce officer, and former Office Depot executive Daisy Vanderlinde as chief human resource officer. Additionally, Carl Seletz, GNC's senior vice president of international business development, will assume the additional responsibility of leading the company's domestic and international franchise operations.

Staples will shut about 140 locations this year, part of a store-closing plan announced earlier, as the world's largest office-supply chain responds to online competition. Staples shut 80 outlets in North America in the fiscal second quarter. Net income in the three months ended Aug. 2 dropped 20 percent to $82 million, as $101 million was spent on closing locations, the Framingham, Mass.-based company said in a statement today. Expansion by web-based rivals such as Amazon.com has spurred reorganizations across the retail industry, including the merger of stationery suppliers Office Depot with OfficeMax. 

Office Depot has amped up its military hiring efforts by teaming with Military.com to provide job opportunities to veterans. By partnering with the nation's largest military and veteran membership organization, Office Depot has made thousands of employment opportunities — including openings in supply chain, sales, e-commerce, IT, human resources, marketing and retail — available to military veterans. The jobs are now posted to Military.com's Veteran Employment Center, where active and retired service personnel can view and apply.