Office Depot is closing 300 retail stores in an attempt to save its overall business. The closing of those retail locations shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, since the whole retail office supply industry has been struggling to keep up with online retailers like Amazon for years.
But while closing hundreds of stores might not seem like the sign of a business moving forward, in this case Office Depot is actually using this opportunity to build a better shopping experience for modern consumers. Instead of using all of its resources trying to maintain retail locations, the company is reallocating those resources onto things like mobile apps and online stores, while maintaining a smaller brick and mortar retail presence.
The industry is still in a state of flux, like many other markets that have been impacted by the changing online business landscape. But these store closures could potentially lead to a better outlook for Office Depot, if the company is able to cut costs enough to compete with Amazon and similar retailers.
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Office Depot Photo via Shutterstock
