As the digital age takes over our everyday culture, it forces both small and corporate businesses to make adjustments to fit the needs of consumers. To instead meet business necessities, officials from office-supply giant Staples Inc. recently announced that the company will downsize.
By the time 2015 rolls around, Staples Inc. will have closed 225 of its locations and implemented a $500 million gross cost reduction program, according to a news release, even though the business made $23.1 billion in sales in 2013.
According to the release, Staples sales were down 10.6 percent at the end of the fourth quarter of 2013, when total sales reached $5.9 billion.
“As customers shift online, we are taking aggressive action to right-size our retail footprint,” Senior Public Relations Manager Mark Cautela said in an email. “We are committed to providing great service and every product businesses need, whether it’s in store, online or through mobile.”
He declined to add specific details regarding which locations will be shutting down and did not say roughly how many employees would lose their jobs.
Last year, the company closed 34 stores in the U.S., opened two stores in the U.S. and closed eight stores in Canada. There are currently 1,846 locations in North America, according to the release, which means that approximately 12 percent of Staples locations will close their doors for good next year.
The manager of the Athens Staples location, 973 E. State St., referred all comments to corporate officials and declined to provide his name.
Even though Staples will be closing some of its locations, the corporation announced in a news release that Staples will expand the line of products offered to its customers.
The company will add about 1,600 products, including office supplies and other items, and will remove about 1,000 items to create “an assortment of office supply essentials,” though the release did not further specify which products will be new to the shelves.
They will also offer kiosks for customers to access additional products at Staples.com.
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