Staples has announced overnight that it is changing the name of recently acquired Corporate Express operations around the world to Staples. Staples is well known in the US as a consumer brand as well as a business supply brand. I would expect the re-branding here in Australia to be followed by a consumer positioning offer. This may be through a retail network or online. Either way, the Staples brand is consumer friendly and its arrival here represents a further challenge to stationery retailers including newsagents.
In our town the corporate express store is like a ghost store, with no stock to speak of. It starting thinning out lines about 6 months ago and has never resupplied. It employs about 20 people and I thought was doing a good trade but maybe not enough for the big boys, I’ll wait and see if it closes soon.