Fort Lauderdale, Florida - 1986
Our HistoryAldair Haseth2021-12-10T13:41:47+00:00
1986: Simple beginnings
Office Depot, Inc. was founded in 1986 and opened its first store in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Office Depot went public with a listing on the NASDAQ in 1988. By the end of 1990 Office Depot hadgrown to almost 200 stores with sales topping $626million. That same year, Office Depot announced its merger with The Office Club, Inc., becoming the largest office products retailer in North America.
1990 – 1998: Rapid growth
Office Depot Inc continued to grow in the following years with acquisitions of various brands includingH.Q. Office International, Inc., which included the Great Canadian Office Supplies Warehouse chain in western Canada, Wilson Stationery & Printing Company and Eastman Office Products Corporation.
With 500 retail stores in the United Statesand annual sales of $5bn, the company began a global growth strategy and between 1990 and 1998, Office Depotstores were opened in Israel, Colombia, Poland, Hungary,Thailand, Mexico, Japan and France.
European Headquarters, Venlo, Netherlands
1998: Mergers go digital
In 1998, Office Depot merged with Viking Office Products, a public company based in The Netherlands and the world’s leading direct mail marketer of office supplies – making the company the leading provider ofoffice products and serviceson the planet.
Office Depotalsolaunchedits firstwebsites,www.officedepot.com, which established the company as the industry’s technology leader, expanded its domestic e-commerce capabilities, andextended the range of products and servicesit offered.The following year, the company launched its first European eCommerce site,www.viking-direct.co.uk, in the United Kingdom.
2011: Merging giants
Office Depot continued to expand through acquisitions, mergers and partnerships in Europe, the Middle East and the Asia Pacific regionin subsequent years.
And in 2006 Office Depot celebrated its 20th anniversary, employing more than 50,000 people, with sales hitting the $15billion mark.
In 2011,Office Depotand OfficeMaxmergedto createOffice DepotInc.;an even stronger, more efficient provider of business products, services and solutions for every kind of workplace.
2017: The Aurelius Era
In 2016,afteranunsuccessfulmerger with Staples,Office DepotInc.reached an agreement with the AURELIUS Group for them to acquire the European operations ofOffice Depot. This transaction closed on 1 January 2017.
2021: The merge of Office Depot Europe into Viking and a new owner
2021 was the year, where we decided to bring all our clients together and unite them under one brand: Viking. Additionally, the company was acquired by RAJA Group which is the new owner of Viking Europe.
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