Office Depot to Resume Expansion Plan

Office Depot Inc. said it will resume an aggressive expansion and renovation plan this year and next after a slowdown connected with last year’s failed merger with Staples Inc. Delray Beach, Fla.-based Office Depot will add 80 to 100 stores this year and every year after 1998, Chief Executive David Fuente said at the Robinson-Humphrey Co. investment conference in Atlanta. It will renovate 200 stores this year and all 612 of its current sites by the end of 2000. The retailer had 602 stores at the end of last year. The moves show that Office Depot plans to compete more directly with Staples and OfficeMax Inc., although the expansion plans don’t yet include any stores in New England, where Staples is the dominant player, Fuente said. He said the company’s strategy is to add stores in existing markets and expand into secondary markets, which he declined to name. The only two large metropolitan markets where Office Depot doesn’t have a presence are Philadelphia and Boston. Office Depot shares fell 50 cents to close at $30.13 on the NYSE.