NEW YORK — Office Depot, the office supply giant long viewed as an Amazon rival, continues its long slide into contraction, announcing plans to shutter dozens more stores in 2025 as part of a broader effort to streamline operations and boost margins.
The latest wave of closures—about 24 retail locations and three distribution facilities in the second quarter alone—builds on a decade of downsizing that has seen the company eliminate over 1,000 stores since its 2013 merger with OfficeMax, slashing its footprint by roughly 55%.
The moves come as Office Depot grapples with a challenging retail landscape, where e-commerce dominance and shifting consumer habits have eroded brick-and-mortar viability.
CEO Gerry Smith highlighted the strategy during the company’s final earnings call as a public entity, before its recent acquisition by private equity firm Atlas Holdings.
“We continue to make meaningful progress this quarter, further optimizing both our retail store operations and supply chain infrastructure to better serve customers and drive greater efficiency,” Smith said. “Under the plan, we closed about 2 dozen retail stores and 3 distribution facilities in Q2. While there is more work ahead, we are on pace, and we’re confident that these efforts will lead to a more efficient operating model and drive margin improvement in the future.”
Office Depot’s Financials
Financially, the company showed signs of stabilization in Q2 2025, posting breakeven net income from continuing operations and diluted earnings per share, a rebound from a $4 million net loss the prior year.
Yet the closures reflect ongoing struggles that trace back to a pivotal 2016 setback: the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) block of Office Depot’s proposed merger with Staples.
The FTC argued the deal would eliminate key competition in office supplies, dismissing Amazon Business as an inadequate alternative at the time.
“Amazon Business currently faces a multitude of challenges that prevent it from being on equal footing to the offerings of Staples and Office Depot,” the agency stated in court documents — hinting at potential antitrust law challenges.
That decision, which the FTC justified by noting limited competition restoration from online players, has haunted Office Depot’s trajectory.
Without the merger, the company has steadily shrunk, closing stores year after year to adapt to declining foot traffic and e-commerce pressures.
Moving Forward
The 2025 plans, outlined before the private sale, aim for around 60 total location closures, focusing on underperforming sites to refine the network.
For employees and communities, the cuts sting amid broader retail woes.
While specific layoff numbers weren’t detailed, the shuttering of retail outlets and facilities signals job losses in an industry already battered by online shifts.
Atlas Holdings’ takeover could bring fresh capital and strategy, but the immediate focus remains on efficiency over expansion.
Office Depot’s saga mirrors the fate of many traditional retailers caught in Amazon’s shadow, where physical stores once thrived on convenience but now fight for relevance.
As the company transitions to private ownership, these closures mark another chapter in a story of adaptation—or contraction—in a digital-first world.
Will this economic and business trend continue to grow?
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