OfficeMax Reprieve

OfficeMax Inc. (Shaker Heights, Ohio) has announced that because of improved performance in the last quarter of fiscal 2001, it will close only 29 stores this year, not the 40 it originally had been planning for.

The company said its same-store sales are expected to be down approximately 3 percent, an improvement over its third quarter levels of -8 percent.

“Since Thanksgiving, the company experienced a significant improvement in same-store sales and narrowed the negative trend by 60 percent from our third quarter levels,” said chairman and ceo Michael Feuer. “This was primarily due to major gains in the number of comparable-store customer transactions.”

After its annual evaluation of its U.S. superstore real estate portfolio, OfficeMax said it has begun the closing process for the 29 under-performing stores. Almost half of those stores are located in single-store markets. Any stores closing in multi-store markets “may eventually be replaced by new, better real estate locations.” The retailer said it is not exiting any major markets.

The 29 superstores, deemed “no longer strategically or economically viable for a variety of reasons,” are in a variety of locations: Anderson, S.C.; Antioch, Tenn.; Baton Rouge, La.; Bay City, Mich.; Beaverton, Ore.; Branson, Mo.; Cincinnati; Cleveland, Tenn.; Conshohocken, Pa.; Delray Beach, Fla.; Fayetteville, Ga.; Fort Smith, Ark.; Frederick, Md.; Harlingen, Texas; Knoxville, Tenn.; Longview, Texas; Macon, Ga.; Orange, Calif.; Paramus, N.J.; Philadelphia; Rome, N.Y.; St. Ann, Mo.; St. Clairsville, Ohio; San Francisco; San Jose, Calif.; Staten Island, N.Y.; Tulsa, Okla.; Warwick, R.I.; and York, Pa.

OfficeMax is the third-largest office supply superstore chain (behind Office Depot and Staples), operating nearly 1000 stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, as well as joint-ventures in Brazil and Mexico.