the savi ranch center in yorba linda california united states type public traded as nasdaq spls s & p 500 component industry retail founded may 1 1986 ; 30 years ago 1986 05 01 brighton massachusetts united states founder leo kahn thomas g. stemberg headquarters framingham massachusetts united states number of locations 3 856 stores 125 warehouses fulfillment centers 2010 1 area served worldwide key people shira goodman chairman & ceo joseph g. doody vice chairman christine komola cfo products office supplies facility & janitorial supplies office furnishing it consulting office and data center technology hardware sourcing industry specific supplies health and beauty electronics furniture snacks revenue us 22.492 billion 2014 net income us 134.5 million 2014 total assets us 10.313 billion 2014 number of employees 79 075 2015 divisions staples argentina staples canada subsidiaries staples office centre mondoffice staples advantage website staples.com staples inc. is a large united states office supply chain store with over 3 000 stores worldwide in 26 countries . headquartered in framingham massachusetts the company has retail stores serving customers under its original name in australia austria brazil china france germany india italy norway portugal the united kingdom and the united states while operating subsidiaries in argentina as officenet staples in netherlands as staples office centre in canada as staples canada bureau en gros in quebec and in italy as mondoffice . staples also does business exclusively with enterprises in the united states canada and multiple european countries as staples advantage . 2 staples sells supplies which include staples office machines promotional products technology and business services both in stores and online . the company opened its first store in brighton massachusetts on may 1 1986 . contents 1 history 2 advertising 3 acquisitions 4 environmental record 5 recycling 6 customer relations 7 security breaches 8 community 9 store layout 9.1 printing & marketing solutions 9.2 easytech 10 see also 11 notes 12 references history staples was co founded by leo kahn and thomas g. stemberg who were former rivals in the new england retail supermarket industry . 3 4 5 staples store rt. 1 saugus massachusetts the idea for staples originated in 1985 while stemberg was working on a proposal for a different business . he needed a ribbon for his printer but was unable to obtain one because his local dealer was closed for the independence day holiday . a frustration with the reliance on small stores for critical supplies combined with stemberg s background in the grocery business led to a vision for an office supply superstore . 6 the first store was opened in the brighton neighborhood of boston in 1986 . staples started with backing from private equity firms including bain capital ; bain co founder mitt romney served on the company s board of directors for the next 15 years helping shape their business model . 7 a staples business depot located in a heritage building in vancouver british columbia . in 1991 staples founded its canadian subsidiary the business depot and began opening stores under that name 8 though over a decade later all stores were renamed as staples . the first store opened in vaughan ontario canada north of toronto . the following year staples began expanding into europe and opened its first store in swansea united kingdom . during its 10th anniversary in 1996 staples became a member of the fortune 500 companies as sales surpassed 3 billion . on september 4 1996 staples and office depot announced plans to merge . 9 the federal trade commission decided that the superpower would unfairly increase office supply prices despite competition from officemax because officemax did not have stores in many of the local markets that the merger would affect . 10 staples ultimately argued that chains such as wal mart and circuit city stores represented significant competition but this argument did little to sway the ftc . following the denial of the merger by the ftc a rivalry has formed between the two companies . staples acquired the naming rights for the staples center in los angeles during its construction in 1998 . citation needed staples also acquired quill corporation for about 685 million in cash and stock and launched staples.com . between 1999 and 2001 unsuccessful attempts to enter the telecommunications business were made as staples created staples communications after the purchase of canada based company claricom from an investment group . the company was later sold to platinum equities and renamed nextiraone . by 2001 staples integrated its e commerce website to all of its subsidiaries across the world . in 2002 staples launched staples foundation for learning and acquired medical arts press which became a subsidiary of quill corporation . by 2004 staples expanded to austria and denmark and in 2007 staples opened its first store in india . in 2008 staples acquired dutch office supplies company corporate express one of the largest office supply wholesalers in the world . 11 staples also launched 11 concept stores in the new england area featuring a large focus on small business and technology related services . in march 2005 staples and ahold announced a plan to include a staples branded store within store section in all stop & shop supermarkets and giant food stores throughout the northeast . 12 in august 2006 ahold announced the addition of the staples section to all tops friendly markets locations as well . 13 on march 6 2014 staples announced it would close up to 225 stores in north america by the end of 2015 in order to cut 500 million in costs annually . 14 on february 4 2015 staples announced a plan to once again acquire office depot which itself had recently acquired officemax in a bid to compete against staples . it was reported that the deal could face antitrust scrutiny for its monopolization of the office supply market unless growing competition against online retailers is considered a factor as well . 15 on december 7 2015 the ftc filed a lawsuit to halt the merger arguing that the merger would harm competition in the commercial office supply market . staples intends to challenge the complaint 16 and as of january 2016 the ftc has not changed its stance . 17 on may 10 2016 the united states district court for the district of columbia granted the ftc a preliminary injunction against the merger . after the ruling office depot and staples announced termination of their proposed merger . 18 in late january 2016 it was announced to employees that staples would be laying off hundreds of workers at their headquarters location . the layoffs are seen by some analysts as a preemptive tactic in case the proposed merger with rival office depot did not receive regulatory approval from the federal trade commission . 19 in may 2016 the ftc denied the merger of office depot and staples sending stocks of both companies tumbling . 20 advertising the easy button . staples that was easy 2 seconds problems playing this file see media help . throughout most of the company s history staples employed in its american commercials and advertising promotions the slogan yeah we ve got that . signifying their wide selection of products . this slogan was retired in 2003 to be replaced with that was easy . expanding on that theme 2005 ads featured a large red push button marked easy . in the uk staples had used the slogan you want it . we ve got it ; they have now changed it to that was easy . originally the easy button was only intended to be a fictitious button with magical properties featured in their television ad campaign . however when the ads appeared customers began contacting the company to inquire how they could buy one . 21 the company responded by making the easy button a real product available in english easy french simple spanish f cil and german einfach easy . these buttons were shipped to stores in the us canada and germany starting in the fall of 2005 . sales of the buttons reached 1.5 million by the end of 2006 . 22 the button has been referred to as a marketer s dream effectively turning millions of staples customers into advertisers resulting in greatly increased brand recognition . the typical design for more recently built locations . this location is located in ontario california . the staples snowbot was an advertising character that appeared in the united states in television and print advertising during the 2000 and 2001 christmas seasons . the snowbot was a robot shaped like a snowman who refuses to let go of the inkjet printer he has fallen in love with . after the printer is wrestled from his grasp the robot utters a monotone weeping . weeping . he is consoled by a staples employee who offers him a surge protector or a computer mouse depending on the ad instead . the robot s weeping . weeping . catchphrase briefly became a popular meme on the internet citation needed and the ad itself was parodied in a 2002 christmas ad for dell computers in which a robot hassles a shopper including striking him with a candy cane when he attempts to purchase a pc at an unnamed office supplies retailer . another ad style is used during its annual back to school campaign in which the christmas song it s the most wonderful time of the year is played while parents joyously shop for school supplies for their children used for several years beginning in 1994 . 23 later alice cooper appeared in a back to school campaign from 2004 . within the ad a hand is seen selecting various supplies while a girl looks on unhappily . she finally says i thought you said school s out forever . alice is shown behind the cart saying the song goes school s out for summer . nice try though . the hit song then plays as supplies are shown . the tagline that was easy is heard playing over the company logo formed to resemble a stapler . 24 during the 2008 holiday season staples advertising for the first time engaged facebook twitter youtube and other social media platforms . the company created a character named coach tom to promote its gift it for free sweepstakes in which 10 000 staples customers won up to 5 000 in merchandise . 25 26 the staples tagline again changed in january 2014 to make more happen . 27 acquisitions a staples outlet in campbell street hobart australia . these former corporate express stores distribution centers were rebranded in early 2013 however some still retain that company s corporate colors . 28 1991 officeland inc under great controversy staples purchased officeland s 23 stores . 1998 quill corporation the largest mail order office supply retailer in the united states . headquartered in lincolnshire illinois quill offers products including school and office supplies office machines furniture technology cleaning and break room as well as custom printed and promotional products . 2002 medical arts press a u.s. supplier of front office and exam room products for healthcare facilities . 2004 uk based chain office world owned by globus group . 29 30 2006 chiswick distributes industrial and retail packaging shipping and warehouse products to thousands of small and mid sized manufacturers distributors and retailers throughout the us and canada . the company offers over 7 500 industrial and retail packaging and shipping products and their product line includes a wide variety of polyethylene bags corrugated boxes tape labels protective packaging mailers retail shopping bags and related packaging supplies . sales channels include catalog direct mail the internet and outside sales . it is now branded as staples industrial . 2007 thrive networks an it services company that provides it support to small and mid level businesses . 2007 american identity one of the largest global distributors of corporate