Staples Inc.

Staples Inc. is an American office supply retail company headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts.

Founded by Leo Kahn and Thomas G. Stemberg, the company opened its first store in Brighton, Massachusetts, on May 1, 1986. By 1996, it reached the Fortune 500, and it later acquired the office supplies company Quill Corporation. In 2014, in the wake of increasing competition from e-commerce market, Staples began to close some locations. In 2015, Staples announced its intent to acquire Office Depot and OfficeMax. However, the purchase was blocked under antitrust grounds due to the consolidation that would result.

After the failed acquisition, Staples refocused its operations to downplay its brick-and-mortar outlets and place more prominence on business-to-business (B2B) services. In 2017, after its sale to Sycamore Partners, the company was effectively split into three "independently managed and capitalized" entities sharing the Staples name, separating its U.S. retail operations, and Canadian retail operations, from the B2B business.

Staples was founded by Leo Kahn and Thomas G. Stemberg, who were former rivals in the New England retail supermarket industry, and Myra Hart.

The idea for Staples originated in 1985, while Stemberg was working on a proposal for a different business. He needed a ribbon for his printer, but could not obtain one because his local dealer was closed for the Independence Day holiday. A frustration with the reliance on small stores for critical supplies combined with Stemberg's background in the grocery business led to a vision for an office supply superstore.

The first store was opened in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston in 1986. Staples started with backing from private equity firms including Bain Capital; Bain co-founder Mitt Romney served on the company's board of directors for the next fifteen years, helping shape their business model.

In 1991, Staples founded its Canadian subsidiary, the Business Depot, and began opening stores under that name, though over a decade later, all stores were renamed as "Staples". The first store opened in Vaughan, Ontario, north of Toronto. The following year, Staples began expanding into Europe, and opened its first British store in Swansea.

On September 4, 1996, Staples and Office Depot announced plans to merge. The Federal Trade Commission determined that the merged company would unfairly increase office supply prices despite competition from OfficeMax, because OfficeMax had no stores in many local markets the merger would affect. Staples argued that chains such as Walmart and Circuit City represented significant competition, but this argument did little to sway the FTC. Following the denial of the merger by the FTC, a rivalry formed between the two companies.