ToNeTo Atlanta has learned that at least two additional Atlanta area Office Depot stores will soon close. The two new closures - Snellville and Stone Mountain - follow news we reported March 19 that the Boca Raton-based company is also closing stores in East Cobb, Sandy Springs and Hiram. All affected stores are currently offering 5-30% off in-stock merchandise ahead of planned May closures.
Office Depot has closed several Atlanta area stores in recent years including those in Toco Hills, Northlake and Roswell. The company, officially The ODP Corporation, has also closed several of its OfficeMax branded stores in metro Atlanta including those in Brookhaven, Duluth and Suwanee, among others.
In January, rival office supply store Staples made an unsolicited offer to acquire Office Depot (ODP) in a deal valued at $2.1 billion. The offer was rejected by the ODP board, the third time the two companies had been near a deal in the past 25 years.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) successfully won a federal court ruling blocking the two companies' planned $4 billion merger in 1997. A planned $6.3 billion merger in 2016 was called off by the two companies after it, too, was challenged by the FTC.
After peaking at more than $420 per share in May 2006, Office Depot stock has not eclipsed $100 per share in recent years. That said, the company has come back significantly from its 52 week low of $15.10 reached on March 30, 2020, to close at $43.29 on March 31, 2021.
What would you like to see open in place of the two soon-to-close Office Depot stores? Do you think Staples and Office Depot should merge? Did you know that OfficeMax was once a subsidiary of Kmart?
Please share your thoughts below.