Business & Tech

Office Depot Selects Florida Over Naperville for Headquarters

Office Depot has selected Florida as its new headquarters after the company's recent merger with Naperville-based OfficeMax earlier this year, Wall Street Journal reports.

The merger between the two office supply companies was made official in November, but the fate of the Naperville OfficeMax headquarters, 263 Shuman Blvd., was uncertain - until now. 

According to the Wall Street Journal, the location of the headquarters "depended in part on whether Illinois lawmakers agreed to give the company a generous package of tax breaks, worth an estimated $53 million over 15 years."

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"We appreciate the significant efforts from legislators in Illinois and the generous support we have received from the state of Florida, Palm Beach County, and city of Boca Raton," Office Depot Chairman and Chief Executive Roland Smith said in a press release Tuesday.

The two office supply retailers announced in November that the combined company will use the name Office Depot, Inc. as part of the $1.2 billion all-stock deal, according to Office Depot.

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While it's not certain how many employees will be relocating, the Florida headquarters will "accommodate" employees relocating from Naperville, according to Office Depot.  

OfficeMax, based in Naperville, has roughly $7 billion in annual sales, 29,000 employees and about 900 stores in the US and Mexico. Office Depot, based in Boca Raton, Florida, has 1,675 stores world-wide, annual sales of some $11.5 billion and about 39,000 employees.

OfficeMax has one store location in the city at 790 Royal St. George Dr. Office Depot also has one locations in Naperville at 1363 Ridgeland Ave.

Office Depot CEO Neil Austrian and OfficeMax CEO Ravi Saligram will serve together as co-CEOs until a new CEO is selected, according to Office Depot.

Read more at Wall Street Journal


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