Closing 400 stores could save Office Depot $75 million a year.
According to a company press release, the office supply chain will close the doors to 150 locations this year.
Office Depot's chairman said the company wants to focus on customer service in particular.
"One of our 2014 critical priorities is to improve our store footprint in North America to best meet customer demand, ensure we are appropriately positioned in the markets we serve, and align with our unique selling proposition which we are developing this year," Roland Smith said. "We anticipate the total store closures will generate annual run-rate synergies of at least $75 million by the end of 2016 and will begin to be accretive to earnings in 2015."
Office Depot bought Office Max on Nov. 5, whereupon the former company announced its plans to move headquarters from Naperville, Ill., to a new 625,000 square-foot property in Boca Raton, Fla. The new company currently employs 66,000 workers across the globe.
Smith also stated that the collaboration allows the two office supply retailers to zero in on improving the company's investments.
"The overlapping retail footprint resulting from the merger provides us with a unique opportunity to consolidate and optimize our store portfolio, while maintaining the retail presence necessary to serve our customers," Smith said in the statement.
OfficeMax has 900 locations in the United States and Mexico - Office Depot has1,675 worldwide. These stores brought the company $11.5 billion in annual revenue. Approximately 39,000 people also worked at the businesses.
Naperville's mayor told Crain's the municipality would miss a big economic contributor when the two office supply stores chose to switch locations.
"The whole city of Naperville is saddened by the fact that OfficeMax and Office Depot have decided to move to Boca Raton," George Pradel said at the time. "In addition to being Naperville's sixth-largest employer, they do all kinds of community work for our schools."
