Is Staples' Services Strategy Enough to Save the Office Supply Giant? | Fast Five Shorts

Summary

Podcast Summary: Omni Talk Retail – "Is Staples' Services Strategy Enough to Save the Office Supply Giant? | Fast Five Shorts"

Release Date: July 11, 2025
Host/Authors: Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga

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Introduction

In the episode titled "Is Staples' Services Strategy Enough to Save the Office Supply Giant? | Fast Five Shorts," Omni Talk Retail delves into Staples' recent strategic pivot from traditional office supplies to a services-oriented business model. Hosts Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga analyze whether this shift can revitalize Staples amidst declining sales and stiff competition from e-commerce giants.

Staples' Strategic Shift

Chris Walton: Staples has been actively rebranding itself by integrating various services alongside its conventional office supply offerings. As highlighted by Modern Retail, Staples now draws significant customer traffic through services such as printing, shipping, and passport processing (00:00).

Key Services Introduced:

• Printing Services: Remains a core component, leveraging partnerships like Canva for design services, allowing customers to print from digital platforms directly.
• Passport and TSA PreCheck Services: In 2022, Staples launched same-day passport photo and processing services, alongside TSA PreCheck enrollment available in about 200 stores, resulting in approximately 1 million approvals annually.
• Verizon Partnership: Recently, Staples initiated a pilot program in collaboration with Verizon to sell phones and devices in-store, along with offering business-specific internet and phone plans. President of Staples US Retail, Marshall Warkinton, announced the expansion of this partnership from five to 30 stores within the summer (00:00).

Challenges Facing Staples

Despite these initiatives, Staples faces significant hurdles:

Chris Walton: Staples' attempt to acquire Office Depot and OfficeMax in 2015 was thwarted by antitrust concerns, leading to its acquisition by Sycamore Partners in 2017. As a private entity, Staples no longer discloses revenue or profit figures, placing greater emphasis on its ability to provide sustainable business services (00:00).

Anne Mezzenga: The core business of printing is described as "a dying business" (01:48). She criticizes Staples' service offerings—passport photos, TSA PreCheck, and mobile phone activations—as isolated services that do not complement the declining printing sector. Mezzenga argues that these services face intense competition, leading to higher customer acquisition costs for Staples compared to specialized competitors (01:48).

Comparative Analysis: Office Depot and OfficeMax

Anne reflects on a conversation with Kevin Moffett, President of Office Depot, highlighting the differences in strategic approaches between the two companies:

• Office Depot's Value Proposition: Despite evolving business needs, Office Depot maintains relevance by offering the fastest in-store pickup services globally, available within 20 minutes or less (02:44).
• Geographical Advantage: With approximately 945 locations covering 90% of the US population within a five-mile radius, Office Depot continues to serve small businesses effectively by being a one-stop-shop for various business needs, including printing and shipping (02:44).

Future Outlook and Long-term Viability

Both hosts express skepticism about Staples' long-term strategy:

Anne Mezzenga: While acknowledging the current value offered by Staples' services, she anticipates that traditional services like mass printing will eventually diminish. She suggests that new, innovative methods will replace existing services, indicating uncertainty about Staples' ability to sustain its current trajectory (02:44).

Chris Walton: Agrees that while Staples is making strategic moves, the reliance on declining core services coupled with fragmented service offerings poses a challenge for long-term sustainability (03:35).

Industry Implications and Opportunities

The discussion extends to broader retail implications:

Chris Walton: Observes that other retailers, such as Costco or Sam's Club, could potentially adopt similar service-based strategies. He questions why more retailers aren't integrating services like TSA PreCheck applications into their offerings, suggesting a missed opportunity for broader market engagement (04:35).

Anne Mezzenga: Highlights that while services like passport processing are beneficial, they may not drive significant margins compared to high-ticket items like office chairs, which customers are more likely to purchase online for better prices. This underscores the challenge of balancing service offerings with profitable product sales (05:08).

Conclusion

The episode concludes with a consensus that Staples' shift towards a services-oriented model presents both opportunities and significant challenges. While services can drive foot traffic and offer additional revenue streams, the declining core business of office supplies and the competitive nature of these services raise questions about the sustainability of Staples' strategy. Hosts suggest that while Staples may experience a "slow burn" in adapting to the new market demands, its long-term success remains uncertain in a rapidly evolving retail landscape.

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Notable Quotes:

• Anne Mezzenga (01:48): "If your core business, as the article says, is still printing, that's a dying business... the services you’re offering... are helping you."

• Chris Walton (02:44): "I think we're in a slow phase out of the mass printing like we used to see..."

• Anne Mezzenga (04:49): "If I'm a retailer listening, I'm like, why aren’t I doing that too?"

• Chris Walton (05:35): "Yeah, 100% agree."

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Key Takeaways

• Staples' Adaptation: Transitioning from traditional office supplies to a service-centric model is a strategic attempt to regain relevance.

• Service Offerings: While innovative, Staples' services such as printing, passport processing, and mobile device sales face significant competition and may not compensate for the declining core business.

• Competitive Landscape: Other retailers have the potential to adopt similar service strategies, posing a threat to Staples if they fail to differentiate themselves.

• Long-term Viability: The sustainability of Staples' strategy is questionable given the inherent challenges in balancing declining traditional sales with fragmented service offerings.

• Industry Evolution: The office supply sector is witnessing a transformation, with a gradual shift away from mass printing towards integrated service solutions, though the long-term landscape remains uncertain.

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This episode provides a critical examination of Staples' strategic direction, offering valuable insights for retail professionals and stakeholders interested in the evolving dynamics of the office supply and service industry.

Transcript

[A]

Staples appears to be angling for new relevance with services on top of office supplies, according to modern retail other than pens and computer paper, business retailer Staples says these days they derive traffic from services like printing, shipping and passports. Chris Most recently this includes a pilot with Verizon to sell phones and devices in store, plus business specific services like Internet and phone plans. President of Staples US Retail Marshall Warkinton said that the company introduced the partnership with Verizon in five stores earlier this year and will expand it to 30 more stores later this summer. Once a mainstay of the Fortune 500 list, Staples lost ground in the office supply sales during the mid 2010s amid competition from e commerce players. An attempt to acquire Office Depot and Office Max in 2015 failed on antitrust grounds and the company then pivoted to a B2B strategy and was bought by Sycamore Partners in 2017. As a private company, Staples doesn't share revenue or profit figures, but its future relies on its ability to provide business services. Out of about 945 locations that are within roughly five miles of the 90% of the US population, printing is still the main driver for the they can print from the design service Canva, which allows users to pick up items store. In 2022, it introduced same day passport photos and processing services, and about 200 stores also offer TSA PreCheck enrollment, yielding about 1 million approvals a year. Chris that was a lot of information. Are you buying the services salvation story at staples?

[B]

Absolutely not. 100%? No, I'm not buying it one iota. And, and the reason for that is pretty simple for me. Like if your core business, as the article says, is still printing, that's a dying business. Like at the end of the day, there's no two bones about it. It's a dying business and the services that you're offering that you're purporting are helping you. Passport photos, TSA precheck and mobile phone activations particularly those are the three that were called out the most. They're all one offs and have nothing to do with printing. Absolutely zero to do with printing. So long term there are many competitors in all of those spaces and other options, which means the customer acquisition costs for these services will be relatively higher for Staples than it will be for other people while your printing business is still dwindling. So no, I'm selling this. It sounds like a completely crafted narrative to make Staples sound better than it potentially is. That's, that's my take, and I hate to be blunt but that's what I feel.

[A]

Luckily no one is holding stock in this company right now, so they don't have to be too worried about just the private investors. The private investors. Um, but so I, when I read this story, it reminded me of a conversation that I had with the president of Office Depot, Kevin Moffett, back at Etail. We were talking about, you know, I asked him this question point blank and I was like, what, why are you still relevant? Like what's, what is, what needs are the Office Maxes and Office Depots of the world still serving? And while I agree with you that there will be burnout and he, he agreed that like their businesses is evolving quite a bit, he still sold me on the value that they're providing small businesses. I do think that we're in, we're in a slow phase out of the mass printing like we used to see the, you know, the copying paper and all the things like that. But I do, when he explained to me like they have the fastest in store pickup, buy online pickup in store of anyone in the world, he said, so within 20 minutes or less, you can go to an Office Depot, you can get the things that you need. And to be within five miles of 90% of the country, like there is still some value there. For a lot of the small businesses that do depend on them as their one stop shop, it's their printer, it's their, you know, shipping location, it's, it's a place that they can go and do all the things in one place. But I do agree that eventually we will find new ways of doing this. The menu example, printing off new menus every day like that will likely go by the wayside some, something will change there. So I don't, I don't think I'd be putting my money on this one for the long term, but I do think it's going to be a bit more of a slow burn than, than most of us would expect.

[B]

Yeah, it's, I mean it's a smart, it's a smart pitch and a smart way to try to get extra business like get TSA PreCheck applications going through your store.

[A]

And they do get a lot like Office Depot and Office Max do that too. And he said it's crazy like the amount of volume that they get.

[B]

But I'd rather go there than the airport for 100%. You know, I mean, if I'm a retailer listening, I'm like, why are not, why not, why not? Why aren't I doing that too? Like if I'm Costco or Sam's Club or whatever. Like, why aren't I doing that? Why am I letting this business go to go to the go to Staples? Like, people are in my store more often. Why aren't I setting up these things?

[A]

Right.

[B]

I don't know.

[A]

But are people are people buying the, you know, $500 office chair while they're there? Probably not. And that's the thing that you have to look at, like, how much that's the that's the business that you're making the real margins on. Are you going to see people do that behavior? Probably. You know, they're probably looking online for that stuff to find the best price. And I don't know that Office, Office Max Depot or Staples are are going to be that for them.

[B]

Yeah, 100% agree.