OFFICE
DEPOT(R)
NEWS RELEASE
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CONTACT: EILEEN H. DUNN
VICE PRESIDENT, INVESTOR RELATIONS/PUBLIC RELATIONS
561/438-4930
[email protected]
OFFICE DEPOT NAMES BRUCE NELSON CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
NEW LEADER BRINGS STRONG LEADERSHIP RECORD
IN OFFICE PRODUCTS INDUSTRY TO OFFICE DEPOT'S TOP POSITION
NELSON OUTLINES KEY PRIORITIES FOR THE COMPANY
(DELRAY BEACH, FL) JULY 18, 2000 -- OFFICE DEPOT, INC. (NYSE: ODP), the world's
largest seller of office products, today announced that Bruce Nelson has been
named Chief Executive Officer of the Company. He replaces David Fuente, who will
remain as non-executive Chairman of the Company's Board of Directors.
Nelson, 55, who has served as President of Office Depot International and
President and CEO of the Company's Viking Office Products subsidiary since the
merger between Office Depot and Viking Office Products, Inc. in 1998, was
formerly President and Chief Executive Officer of Viking. Prior to joining
Viking in 1990, he was President and CEO of BT Office Products USA. Nelson also
spent over 20 years in various leadership positions at Boise Cascade Office
Products.
"Bruce brings a combination of strong leadership skills, solid operating
know-how, financial acumen and expertise in international operations -- one of
our key growth engines going forward," said James L. Heskett, outside director
and Chairman of the Office Depot Governance Committee. "While he clearly knows
the Company well, he has been an advocate for change and we are confident that
he is the right person to guide the company to improved performance for our
shareholders."
Heskett continued, "We have the greatest appreciation and respect for David
Fuente's contributions over 13 years of dedicated service, during which he
helped build the company into an industry leader. However, the company today
faces new challenges, and we agreed with David that it was appropriate for him
to take a more advisory role. We look forward to his continued counsel as we
work to reinvigorate the company and take advantage of new opportunities."
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Bruce Nelson stated, "Ours is a great company, but our financial performance has
been so disappointing that our stock value has plummeted, and many in the
financial community have lost confidence in our ability to grow and succeed. We
intend to fix that. I passionately believe that Office Depot is poised to regain
the leadership position we once enjoyed in our industry."
Nelson continued: "My top priorities going forward will be
o WORLD-CLASS MANAGEMENT TEAM - Great companies exist when they have
great leadership and great people. We have a number of outstanding
executives in our organization. My focus going forward will be to
further strengthen our management team and to ensure that we
function as a cohesive and coordinated leadership organization.
o EARNING OUR CUSTOMERS' LOYALTY - We will make our
"customer-centric" focus more than just a slogan. Each of our
efforts will focus on impressing our customers so much that they
will WANT to buy from us again. Doing ordinary things in
extraordinary ways! This means that in our retail stores, over the
Internet, in our contract business and in our direct marketing
businesses we will serve our customers the way they want to be
served. Taking care of our customers' business and impressing them
with Fanatical Service across all channels and brands - Office
Depot and Viking.
o GROWING OUR BUSINESS AND INCREASING SHAREHOLDER VALUE. We are the
global leader in selling office supplies and services to
businesses of all sizes. We intend to build on that global
leadership by strengthening and growing our business on the
Internet, the delivery business and our retail stores. I see
tremendous opportunities to grow across all channels, improve our
return on assets and grow shareholder value.
o BEING ACCESSIBLE TO INVESTORS AND ANALYSTS. I pledge to keep in
close contact with the Investment Community, providing consistent
and meaningful guidance to them."
Nelson continued: "To accomplish these priorities and at the same time provide
appropriate returns to our shareholders, we will focus our attention on several
areas:
o Top Line Growth - Our highest priority will be to accelerate the
growth of all our businesses. We have enjoyed impressive growth in
our Internet and International businesses, and we will revitalize
our North American retail stores to make them greater contributors
to our success.
o Warehousing and Distribution - We will accelerate our work in
integrating our Viking and Office Depot facilities, as we know
that we must be more efficient and cost-effective in this key
aspect of our business without ever sacrificing customer service
levels.
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o International Expansion - We intend to capitalize on our strengths
in the international arena, and will look to rapidly expand our
business in geographical areas in which we already have a
presence, while looking for new geographical areas into which we
can expand. We will be acquisition-minded as we do this in order
to more rapidly achieve our objectives.
o Real Estate - We are already taking a critical look at some of the
decisions we have made in the recent past, and this aspect of our
business will get an even more thorough review.
o SG&A - We are dissatisfied with our current levels of cost
relative to our top-line performance. We will find ways to bring
our costs into line and to better leverage our cost structure."
Nelson continued, "I want to emphasize that I will take a fresh look at all
aspects of our business. In a sense `everything is on the table.' I will never
invoke change for its own sake, but I will not hesitate to act quickly and
decisively in addressing the issues that have caused our business to be less
dynamic, growth-oriented and profitable than I know it can and will be."
Nelson, a native of Utah, graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Business from
Idaho State University and is also a graduate of the Stanford University
Executive Program.
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OFFICE DEPOT WILL HOLD A CONFERENCE CALL FOR ANALYSTS AND INVESTORS AT 10:30
A.M. (EDT) TODAY. (312) 470-7331. THE PASS CODE IS ODP 718.
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ABOUT OFFICE DEPOT
As of June 24, 2000, the Company operated 855 office supply superstores in the
United States and Canada, in addition to a national business-to-business
delivery network supported by 30 delivery centers, more than 60 local sales
offices and seven regional call centers. Furthermore, the Company owned and
operated 27 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 89 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 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 and www.vikingop.it in Italy. Office Depot's
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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. 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 and at
www.freeEDGAR.com as well as on a number of other commercial Web sites.
