Staples to open 2 stores in first quarter of 2000

by Karen E. Culp

SBJ Staff

Two new office supply stores are set to open in Springfield during the first quarter of 2000. Staples Inc. announced the two stores it is building will be open to the public sometime after the first of the year.

The stores are at either end of town: one is at 2636 N. Kansas Expwy. and the other is at 2135 S. Independence in the James River Towne Center. Christina Erridge, spokeswoman for Staples, said the stores will be 24,000 square feet and employ 35 to 40 full- and part-time employees each.

"Hiring for stores usually begins about a month or two before the open date, so we probably won't be hiring anyone for those stores until later in the year," Erridge said.

Staples, a Boston-based, publicly traded company, has 1,028 stores nationwide, the largest number of stores for any of the big-box office retailers, Erridge said. Staples started in 1986 in Boston.

Staples stores are now in all but four states in the United States, and in the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada, Erridge said.

The store focuses on serving small business and home-office customers, Erridge said.

"Small business is an area that is always changing. We look to that sector to make the changes in our stores and our products. We intend to be the destination for small-business people when they need to get things done, whether that be preparing reports or simply stocking up on supplies," Erridge said.

The stores cater to businesses with two to 20 employees, Erridge said, and that includes home offices.

"By the end of the year, 50 percent of homes in the country will have some type of office equipment, whether that be a computer, a fax machine or other technology," Erridge said. "We try to focus on that customer, as well, and on what they need to keep their home office running efficiently."

Staples has a full line of office supplies, "from paper to Post-its," Erridge said, and also has a copy center and computer upgrade center.

"We try to look toward the future and what is on the horizon. Wireless, for example, was at one time a very small portion of our store, but now it has expanded dramatically in response to the interest in that technology over the past few years," Erridge said.

Staples is expanding aggressively in Missouri, Erridge said, having opened stores in Rolla and Sedalia in June.

Staples has been a publicly traded company for 10 years. It is traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol SPLS.

The architect for the Springfield stores is Butler, Rosenbury & Partners, and the general contractor is Dock Brothers.