Staples shifts into high gear to make tracks in Detroit - opens six stores on August 19, 1995, in Michigan city

Discount Store News, August 21, 1995 by Teresa Andreoli

DETROIT -- In a one-day grand opening extravaganza, Aug. 19, Staples planned to blanket the Motor City with six new stores. Four more stores, in Ann Arbor, Chesterfield, Jackson and Battlecreek, will open before fall.

"We've been serious about gaining entry into the Detroit market for quite a while, but we knew we needed quality sites," said Staples chairman and ceo Tom Stemberg. Staples first hit Detroit at the end of 1994, and since then six other units have opened in other parts of the state. This month marks Staples' renewed commitment to the city.

"Our seven other Michigan stores have been inordinately successful for us. The Michigan public is ready to shop at Staples," the chairman said.

Detroit's small business demographics appealed particularly to Staples, said spokeswoman Susan Grieb, since the chain categorizes its retail division as catering to offices with staffs of 10 or less.

In addition, the general consumer (as pitched to last fall with the humorous, family-oriented "Most Wonderful Time of the Year" TV commercial campaign) is a growing segment of the business, Grieb added. The plan to open six Detroit stores is probably a means to catch families shopping for Back-to-School needs.

"Even though our competitors are there, the market is underdeveloped and presents a great deal of growth and opportunity," she said.

OfficeMax, which entered the market about six years ago, has a firm presence with about 30 stores. An upbeat OfficeMax store manager said that although Staples' expansion makes me upset, I think it will provide for interesting business. We carry the same products as they do, but we're priced better."

Office Depot moved in more than two years ago, and has an area store count of about seven. One Office Depot store manager had seen television advertisements pushing the six grand openings, but was slightly surprised about the aggressive move.

Staples has mapped out an expansion plan that stretches until the end of '96. By yearend, the chain intends to operate 26 stores statewide, rising to 30 by the end of next year, the company said.

Staples has invested more than $10 million in facilities alone, and real estate and personal property taxes have cost the company $550,000.

Separately, another move that helped pave the way into Michigan was Staples' acquisition of Macauley's Business Resources, a Canton, Mich.-based regional distributor of office products, this past May. The 126-year-old company, with revenues of about $40 million, will be renamed Staples Business and will aid the chain in serving the needs of medium to large corporate accounts.

In addition to operations news, Staples has announced new vice president, divisional merchandise manager promotions.

Wayne Eckstein has taken over the business machines category as vp, gmm. Eckstein joined Staples in 1989 and has escalated from buyer to dmm, business machines.

Betsy Peet, a former buyer for Office Depot, Marshalls and Lechmere, began at Staples in 1993 as a product manager of furniture and luggage. Now, as vp, dmm office supplies, Peet manages the buyers and merchandisers responsible for all sales and promotional activity for the supply side of the business.

Laurie Clark has been named vp, dmm of office supplies, responsible for all sales and promotional activity for paper and paper-related categories. She joined Staples in November 1994 as senior product manager.

Philo Pappas, vp, dmm of computers and furniture, has served the chain since the fall of 1994 after an eight-year career at Lechmere.

Staples, the No. 2 office supplies chain, currently operates 384 units in 100 markets across the United States and Canada.