Office Depot

The field of players offering same-day delivery of orders placed online is getting increasingly crowded. But only a handful are likely to succeed in wringing a profit from this high-cost service. Many of the biggest names in e-commerce have already launched some form of same-day or expedited delivery, including Amazon Fresh, eBay Now, Uber Rush and Google Shopping Express. In addition, a number of smaller entities are trying to squeeze into service niches that will allow them to survive among the giants. 

Office Depot said it would close at least 400 stores in the United States as shoppers shift their office supply purchases to online retailers, mass-market chains and drugstores. The company operated about 2,200 stores as of December, employing 66,000 associates and bringing in about $17 billion in revenue. By the end of March, the company said it had 1,900 U.S. stores. Office Depot, which also reported a quarterly net loss, said it expects to close 150 stores this year. The store closures will start adding to profit in 2015, the company said.

Weighing the revenue generated by subscriptions against the cost of shipping, Amazon.com has clearly lost money on Prime. And let's be honest: Prime isn't about the Kindle lending library or the on-demand videos; it's about the fast, "free" delivery. So it's no surprise that Amazon's recent announcement of a price increase for Prime was welcomed by investors, who foresee improved margins in the coming years. Retailers should treat the announcement as good news too. Why?

eBay Now is a same-day delivery service, but not for items offered on eBay.com by its millions of sellers — at least not yet. Instead, the eBay Now service is exclusively for local brick-and-mortar retailers in certain cities: San Francisco and the Peninsula, San Jose, parts of New York City, Chicago, and Dallas. While Best Buy, AutoZone and Toys"R"Us were among the first retailers to participate in eBay Now, the list of retailers now participating include the following featured stores: Home Depot; Office Depot; Walgreens; GNC; Radio Shack; Macys; Microsoft; Guitar Center; Bloomingdale's; and Urban Outfitters.

Despite our nation's climb out of the deepest of its economic troubles, many Americans are still struggling to meet their monthly obligations. If you've created a personal budget, are paying down your debts and keeping your bills in check, but still having difficulties, you may want to think about generating additional income in your spare time. One of the most intriguing ways to do this is with an internet reselling business. If you work hard and approach it intelligently, online reselling can evolve into a solid and consistent stream of income. Here's how to get started:

Staples on Thursday joined its smaller rival, newly combined Office Depot Inc. and OfficeMax, in reporting disappointing sales and bottom-line earnings, adding to worries about the the future of the office supplies industry. Despite hope that the company may be able to pick up some market share from the merger disruption of its rivals, Staples’ results showed that the headwinds thrown the industry are simply too big to offset any edge it may have over its direct rival. 

L.L.Bean is No. 1 in online customer experience, according to the e-tailing group's 2013 Customer Experience Index, which is based on a mystery shopping study conducted during the fourth quarter of 2013. L.L.Bean received a top score of 88.75, followed by HSN at 87.25. Other retailers scoring higher than 80 included Office Depot, Overstock.com, Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, Sears, Abt, Target and Dick's Sporting Goods. The average score in 2013 was 71.06, up from 69.3 in 2012. Repeat winners from 2012 included Amazon and Office Depot.

The first computer I ever bought was a Tandy TRS-80 I got at RadioShack in the mid-1980s. There was no floppy drive, no operating system, no internet connection and no hard drive. I used a tape recorder to save data, but I still felt pretty cutting edge, even if it was largely an expensive paperweight, since I had no programming skills and used it like a big calculator. While those were also the halcyon days of RadioShack, the electronics retailer would like 2014 to be the start of a new golden age.

No. 2 U.S. office supply retailer Office Depot Inc. named Roland Smith, the former head of the U.S. unit of supermarkets operator Delhaize Group, as its new chief executive on Tuesday, hoping to tap his expertise in integrating and turning around businesses. Smith orchestrated the successful integration of the major supermarket chains owned by Delhaize, and improved profits by arranging the sale of three of them. Smith also played a key role in combining restaurant chain Wendy's with Arby's. 

The top job at a combined Office Depot and OfficeMax won't belong to Neil Austrian or Ravi Saligram, but neither office-supply company chief executive will go away empty-handed. If the merger closes as expected, each will collect millions as they exit their respective companies and a new CEO is appointed. Austrian, who is retiring from Office Depot, will get $15 million to $16 million in a "golden parachute," depending on the stock price at closing. OfficeMax's Saligram is expected to reap about $13.5 million, said Aaron Boyd, director of governance research at Equilar, an executive compensation data firm.