Staples Case Study
Staples Inc. The idea of Staples started off with a very easy problem to fix. Thomas Stemberg was trying to print off a business plan when his printer ribbon all of a sudden broke on the Fourth of July holiday (About Staples). " It was the Fourth of July weekend, 1985, and Tom's regular supplier, a local stationery store, was closed for the holiday" (About Staples). After driving around for hours trying to find a store that carried his printer ribbon and trying to find a store that was open Stemberg knew he could create something big.
Thomas Stemberg was an expert in the supermarket industry before being fired from his executive position in 1985. After being fired Stemberg searched for a new market to indulge in. Stemberg then initiated the idea of a store that would sell office supplies to smaller businesses. Stemberg wanted to provide everything a small business would need with the ease of convenience and low prices. Stemberg found out threw customer research, that most small business owners didn't keep track of how much they spend on office supplies for their business. Stemberg found that small businesses were paying "40% more then large corporations" were on office supplies (Bowman, 2001). To try and spread this message to the general public Stemberg knew that he would have to invest in marketing.
Staples official opened its first store in Brighton, Massachusetts in 1986. Staples has more then "1,700 stores in the US, Canada, and five other countries" (Bramhall). Staples has been expanding very rapidly by either building new staples stores or accruing stores by buying them out. Staples has stores in France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, China, United Kingdom, Denmark, Austria, US, and Canada (Bramhall). Staples employed 65,078 employees in 2005 (Bramhall). Staples is projected to make 16 billion dollars in sales in 2006 (Bramhall).
In the future Staples has plans on to expanding further into more of Europe, and Asia. They want to expand more
Thomas Stemberg was an expert in the supermarket industry before being fired from his executive position in 1985. After being fired Stemberg searched for a new market to indulge in. Stemberg then initiated the idea of a store that would sell office supplies to smaller businesses. Stemberg wanted to provide everything a small business would need with the ease of convenience and low prices. Stemberg found out threw customer research, that most small business owners didn't keep track of how much they spend on office supplies for their business. Stemberg found that small businesses were paying "40% more then large corporations" were on office supplies (Bowman, 2001). To try and spread this message to the general public Stemberg knew that he would have to invest in marketing.
Staples official opened its first store in Brighton, Massachusetts in 1986. Staples has more then "1,700 stores in the US, Canada, and five other countries" (Bramhall). Staples has been expanding very rapidly by either building new staples stores or accruing stores by buying them out. Staples has stores in France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, China, United Kingdom, Denmark, Austria, US, and Canada (Bramhall). Staples employed 65,078 employees in 2005 (Bramhall). Staples is projected to make 16 billion dollars in sales in 2006 (Bramhall).
In the future Staples has plans on to expanding further into more of Europe, and Asia. They want to expand more
Bibliography: Bowman, R. (2001). Increased European sales for staples? yeah, we 've got that. Retrieved Mar. 20, 2006, from Supply Chain Brain Web site: http://www.glscs.com/archives/2.01.staples.htm?adcode=5. Bramhall, J. (n.d.). Overview of staples. Retrieved Mar. 20, 2006, from http://premium.hoovers.com/subscribe/co/overview.xhtml?ID=14790. Out of the box. Retrieved Mar. 21, 2006, from American Executive Web site: http://www.redcoatpublishing.com/features/f_05_04_Cover.asp. Sivy, M. (2006). Steady demand for staples. Retrieved Mar. 20, 2006, from CNN Money Web site: http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/07/commentary/mkcommentary/sivy/. Staples, (n.d.). About Staples. Retrieved Mar. 20, 2006, from www.staples.com. Staples, (n.d.). Encyclopedia. Retrieved Mar. 20, 2006, from Information on Staples Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staples,_Inc.. Staples, (n.d.). Retrieved Mar. 20, 2006, from Staples Customer Concerns Web site: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=2&did=774564761&SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1142899215&clientId=8905. Staples seeks diverse techies in it and engineering. (2006). Retrieved Mar. 20, 2006, from Diversity Careers Web site: http://www.diversitycareers.com/articles/pro/06-febmar/dia_staples.htm.