Office Depot is going to close at least 400 of its stores by the end of 2016 due to an abundance of retail locations, as a result of merging with OfficeMax.
The company suffered a loss of $79 million during the first quarter of the year and a stockholder share loss of 0.21 per each share. The store closures are expected to save Office Depot OfficeMax Inc. about $75 million annually.
According to USA Today “One of our 2014 critical priorities is to improve our store footprint in North America to best meet customer demand, ensure we are appropriately positioned in the markets we serve, and align with our unique selling proposition which we are developing this year," Smith said in a statement released by the company.
Along with increased revenue, jobs will also be affected by the store closures. Office Depot plans on helping those employees out.
AsABC News noted, Office Depot is unsure at this time the extent of the impact the store closures will have on employees and their jobs. However, the company plans to give its best employees new positions.
The company has already closed 14 of its stores and plans to close 150 by the end of the year. The rest of the stores will be closed gradually by 2016. Office Depot Chairman and CEO Roland Smith stated that the closures will begin to bring earnings to the company starting next year.
Office Depot has yet to calculate the total capital savings and costs from the store closings.