OFFICE
DEPOT
NEWS RELEASE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact: Eileen H. Dunn
Vice President, Investor Relations/Public Relations
561/438-4930
[email protected]
OFFICE DEPOT REVISES FOURTH QUARTER OUTLOOK
SETS EARLY JANUARY RELEASE OF RESULTS OF BUSINESS REVIEW
REORGANIZES CALL CENTER OPERATIONS
o Company Expects Fourth Quarter Comparable Retail Store Sales to
be Negative
o Company Plans to Release Results of Extensive Business Review in
early January 2001
o Completion of Call Center Operations Review Results in Plans to
Consolidate and Upgrade Customer Service Organization
----------------------
(DELRAY BEACH, FL) November 6, 2000 -- OFFICE DEPOT, INC. (NYSE:ODP - news), the
world's largest seller of office products, made three announcements today
related to (1) its sales and earnings outlook for the fourth quarter of 2000,
(2) the status of its ongoing business review and (3) results of its review of
call center operations, resulting in plans to reorganize and rationalize its
call centers. Further details on the call center reorganization are provided in
a separate release.
FOURTH QUARTER PERFORMANCE OUTLOOK
The Company announced today that sales performance in its North American Retail
Division during the month of October and in early November has continued to
trend downward. The Company currently expects comparable store sales in its 782
North American stores that have been open for more than one year to be negative
for the fourth quarter. If current trends continue, Office Depot believes that
its comparable store sales for the fourth quarter could be in the negative mid
single digit range. This is down from expectations discussed by former
management on Office Depot's second quarter conference call in July 2000. At
that time, the Company stated that it expected flat comparable store sales in
the fourth quarter.
<PAGE>
Bruce Nelson, Office Depot's Chief Executive Officer stated: "While we are
seeing some softness in many categories, comparable sales performance in our
North American retail stores continues to be impacted by weakness in desktops,
laptops, monitors and printers and the related "market basket" of higher margin
goods historically linked to purchases of these items. In addition to the
softness in these categories, we continue to see higher warehouse costs as
compared to our plans earlier in the year. Negative currency translation
compared to last year is also contributing to lower results as reported in U.S.
dollars. In summary, while it is still early in the quarter, if these trends
continue, combined with the anticipated highly competitive environment for
technology products during the upcoming Holiday season, we would expect to see
further pressure on earnings from ongoing operations."
Nelson continued: "As we have noted previously, our primary difficulties are
centered in North American retail stores, and the balance of our business
continues to be quite strong. Our Business Services Group and International
results continue to track in line with our earlier expectations of mid to high
teens sales growth."
BUSINESS REVIEW UPDATE
The Company today announced that it plans to report the results of its extensive
business review in early January 2001. The exact time of the conference call and
simultaneous Webcast available to all investors will be announced closer to the
date and the time of the Company's press release.
CALL CENTER UPGRADES, REORGANIZATION AND
CONSOLIDATION OF FACILITIES
The Company also announced today that, while its overall business review
continues, it has completed the review of its Office Depot U.S. call center
operations. As a result of this review, the Company believes that there is
considerable opportunity to enhance the customer service experience by more
efficiently using existing resources, upgrading technology and consolidating 24
existing Office Depot call center operations into seven expanded customer
service centers.
Call center customer service at Office Depot is currently provided by call
centers comprising 1,400 representatives, located at 24 domestic facilities,
plus 630 representatives at five Viking locations. Under the plan announced
today, the total number of customer service call center representatives will
remain about the same, but certain key locations will be expanded while others
are scaled back or closed. The net result will rationalize the current 24 call
center locations into 7 expanded Office Depot facilities. None of the five U.S.
Viking call center operations will be affected by this consolidation, although
existing office space and call center capacity in the Viking headquarters in
Torrance, CA will now be used as the location for one of the seven upgraded
Office Depot facilities.
As a result of the call center reorganization, the Company will record a $2
million fourth quarter charge for severance and asset disposal costs. Beginning
in the fourth quarter, the Company will also incur expenses totaling $4 million
over the next twelve months, primarily to cover employee transition-related
activities. Upgrading the technology
<PAGE>
capabilities of the expanded Office Depot facilities will require a $22 million
capital investment, focused on computer-telephony systems (CTI). When completed,
the Company will have the ability to provide improved customer service without
increasing its annual operating costs. Moreover, the Company expects to drive
sales and further leverage its cost structure by enabling the call center to
handle outbound sales activity.
Further details on the call center reorganization are contained in a separate
release to follow this press release.
A pre-recorded message from Bruce Nelson will be available after 11:00 am (ET)
today through midnight on Friday, November 10. To access, domestic callers
should dial 800/633-8284, enter Reservation no.16855225 and international
callers should dial 858/812-6440, enter Reservation no.16855225.
ABOUT OFFICE DEPOT
As of September 23, 2000, the Company operated 863 office supply superstores in
the United States and Canada, in addition to a national business-to-business
delivery network supported by 29 delivery centers, more than 60 local sales
offices and seven regional call centers. Furthermore, the Company owned and
operated 28 office supply stores in France and seven stores in Japan; had mail
order and delivery operations in 14 countries outside of the United States and
Canada; and under joint venture and licensing agreements, had 91 additional
stores operating under the Office Depot name in six other foreign countries. The
Company also operates an award-winning U.S. Office Depot brand Internet Web site
at www.officedepot.com where customers can access Office Depot's low competitive
prices seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day, and it operates
www.officedepot.co.jp in Japan as well as Viking brand Web sites at
www.vikingop.com in the United States, www.viking-direct.co.uk in the United
Kingdom, www.viking.de in Germany, www.vikingdirect.nl in The Netherlands,
www.vikingop.it in Italy, www.vikingop.com.au in Australia, www.vikingop.co.jp
in Japan and www.vikingdirect.fr in France. Office Depot's common stock is
traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP and is included in
the S&P 500 Index.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: Except for historical
information, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995, as amended. Forward-looking statements, including projections and
anticipated levels of performance, involve risks and uncertainties which may
cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed herein. These
risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time by Office Depot in its
filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including
without limitation its most recent filing on Form 10-K, filed in March, 2000 and
subsequent 10-Q filings, including our most recent 10-Q, filed on October 31,
2000. You are strongly urged to review such filings for a more detailed
discussion of such risks and uncertainties. The Company's SEC filings are
readily obtainable at no charge at www.sec.gov, www.10kwizard.com and at
www.freeEDGAR.com as well as on a number of other commercial Web sites.
###
