Staples Plans On Smaller Stores; Adds Cell Phones

  • June 24, 2011
Staples, a bit of a pioneer in the "Big Box stores go on a diet" category, says it's planning to shrink itself again. "Our store size has been coming down over the last few years," Demos Parneros, president of the chain's U.S. retail division, told investors attending a Jefferies & Co. conference, "from 24,000 square feet to 20,000 to 18,000. And we are just about to announce another reduction in our prototype, taking it down another 15% or so to 15,000 to 16,000 square feet. This is not a new thing for us. We determined five years ago that we needed multiple formats and that one size does not fit all."

In the presentation, which was also webcast, he says that the Framingham, Mass.-based chain is doing well with its readers and tablet businesses and will expand those businesses, "and that we are very excited about its new mobile, store-within-a-store format." Staples last experimented with mobile phone sales a decade ago.

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