Staples

Staples has awarded five small businesses $50,000 in free advertising and cash as part of its “Give Your Small Business the Push It Needs” contest. Selected from hundreds of video entries submitted on Staples’ Facebook page, each of the five small businesses will receive a total of $50,000 in local cable television advertising and cash in their home market.

Cheery yellow bedspreads, snow-flaked artificial Christmas trees, shiny bathroom faucets, dog bowls  — Martha Stewart has her name on all of them. And with the launch of her new home office line at Staples earlier this month, Stewart can add filing cabinets, sticky notes and even her own form of rubber bands to her growing list of eponymous merchandise.

Electric delivery trucks can cost up to 12 percent less to operate than their diesel counterparts, according to a MIT study that used data from Staples and ISO New England, the nonprofit firm that runs New England's electric power grid.

Staples will debut a tablet-optimized e-commerce website this week that emphasizes visual navigation and minimizes the need to type on a touchscreen keyboard. Consumer tablet users will be automatically routed to the tablet site at t.staples.com, according to published reports.

Staples announced the appointment of Mike Edwards to executive vice president, U.S. retail merchandising. Edwards previously served as president and CEO of Borders Group and had also served as the company's chief merchant.

For Office Depot, the problem wasn't attracting shoppers but converting them to buyers. A year ago, the retailer set out to address what it viewed as a core issue: shoppers in its stores had difficulty finding everything they needed and lacked a clear understanding of the breadth of products available. 

Staples Canada is implementing an in-store solution for printing shelf signs and labels in its 320-plus stores. The AccessVia Web dSignShop allows the office products retailer to produce signs in both English and French, and offers a French-language interface for stores with Francophone employees.

The American Family Association has published a "Naughty or Nice" list to identify retailers that were "for" or "against" Christmas. The organization wants its members and those who support its cause to spend money with those retailers who are "for" Christmas.

Staples has launched a new iPhone app that allows consumers to access product information and reviews while in-store, locate a store that has a product they need, and receive special deals via its check-in feature.

Fans of NBC hit comedy "The Office" are already familiar with fictional paper company Dunder Mifflin. Now, Staples-owned Quill.com will use the Dunder Mifflin brand name for copy paper under a licensing agreement with NBC Universal.