OfficeMin

OfficeMax Inc. (Itasca, Ill.) said it will close 110 stores in the first quarter of 2006 to improve the company's performance.

The office-supplies retailer said it will also cease operations at the its wood-polymer building materials facility and other restructuring activities.

“Today's announcement of store closings marks a difficult but necessary step toward improving our company's overall performance,” said chairman and ceo Sam Duncan. “In 2005, we completed a comprehensive review of our real estate portfolio, assessing each of our individual stores based on performance and growth potential. As a result, we identified 110 stores that we intend to close by the end of the first quarter.”

Duncan was quick to emphasize that “the store consolidation plan does not change our optimistic outlook with regard to new store development, and we continue to expect that we will open up to 70 new OfficeMax stores in 2006, using primarily our new Advantage store prototype format, to strengthen our position in key areas of the country.”