Staples to Close 70 Stores in U.S. and Canada as it Focuses on ‘Business Services’

Fortune reports that  office-supply store Staples said last week that it will close another 70 stores in North America “amid sharp sales declines in its top market and a continued pivot to business services and away from brick-and-mortar.” Staples closed 48 stores last year, and some 242 stores in the two years previous to that, according to Fortune.

Staples’s sales were down 7 percent in the fourth quarter in the United States and Canada.

According to Fortune, since U.S. regulators stopped the proposed Staples-Office Depot merger plan about a year ago, Staples “has been trying to win more business contracts and further beef up its e-commerce, already a leader in drive-by pick up and delivery, and rely less on traditional retail to everyday consumers, a long dwindling business.”

Staples has also been seeking to purchase business-to-business service providers beyond office supplies, and has sought to move away from Fortune 1000 companies to smaller companies as customers.

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