A Brief History of Office Supply Stores

For many decades, office supplies have often been sold in local bookstores across the country and in other parts of the world. Today, there are several different stores such as Office Depot and Staples that specialize in providing business establishments with various office supplies and equipment. From paper products to office furniture and accessories, these office supply stores have become the one-stop-shop for many entrepreneurs, regardless of company size.

How it all began

Most popular office supply stores got their start in the late 1980s. Staples and Office Depot were the first to establish themselves in 1986. Two years later, Office Max opened its first store. Today, these three office supply retail stores are the three most popular chains with locations all over the United States and even in other parts of the world.

The main reason for the establishment of a specialty office supply store arose as a result of a need. The founders of Staples and Office Depot have begun to notice that while bookstores provide many of the office supplies any business establishment needs, they are often sold at retail. As such, many business establishments, especially those just starting their own small business or home office, make do with whatever supplies are available. Another problem they noticed is that budding entrepreneurs would have to travel from one store to another to purchase everything they would need for their business. For example, if they needed office furniture and accessories, they would have to go to a furniture store. For your computer and electronic equipment needs, you would have to go to a home appliance or computer store for this.

The solution

Based on this, the founders of Staples, Home Depot, and Office Max devised a solution. That is, to provide business entrepreneurs with a one stop shop where everything they would need for their business would be available. In addition to providing all the supplies, equipment, and furniture you may need, these specialty office supply stores sell both retail and wholesale items.

Evolution of Services

Office supply stores today also now offer a number of different services that you will need for your business. For example, in addition to providing office supplies, equipment, and furniture, Staples now has a business center in every store. Here, customers can avail services such as fax transmission, creation of business materials, binding, lamination, and the like. They also provide a service center for computers, printers, and laptops. Office Depot now also offers ink refill services to its customers by refilling empty printer ink cartridges, saving them money.

Reach your customers

Another advantage of office supply stores is that they offer great discounts and deals on products like photo paper, printers, ink cartridges, etc. And they do it not only with budding entrepreneurs. These offers and discounts are meant to attract teachers, students and anyone who needs to make use of any of their products and services. Such is the case of Office Depot with its STAR Teacher Program. Through this program, a teacher receives deep discounts on selected services and products, such as copy services and supplies that they would need.