Office Depot To Buy CompuCom For $1 Billion

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Office Depot is buying CompuCom in a $1 billion deal after the retailer's shares suffered the worst decline in two months. The company described the acquisition as the first step toward becoming a seller of business services and technology -- rather than a traditional retailer of paper, pens and staplers, which are less in demand as offices go digital.

One must wonder if this will be enough to pull Office Depot out of the red going forward. I honestly had no idea what CompuCom was. Thanks to HardForum member termite I have learned it's a hardware and software support company, that currently works with business clients only, however Office Depot states that it is planning to put CompuCom kiosks in all of its 1,400 stores.

CEO Gerry Smith said "We’re not looking quarter to quarter -- we’re looking where are we going to win long term," Smith said. "We’re very optimistic we’re going to change the value of the company with this acquisition."
 
Looks like they bit off more than they could chew when they bought out Staples?? Hard to imagine a BIG 2 (OD and OfficeMax) in an industry cannot turn a decent profit.
 
Danny Dawg said:
Looks like they bit off more than they could chew when they bought out Staples?? Hard to imagine a BIG 2 (OD and OfficeMax) in an industry cannot turn a decent profit.
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When was the last time you went to either of those stores?

I went 4 years ago and bought a staples office chair. Its cushioning failed in a year resulting in a bolt sticking into my rear. Never went back.
 
Staples tried to buy out Office Depot/Max - it didn't happen though. Office Depot/Office Max merged several years ago
 
Yeah our OfficeMax office depot store closed about a year ago. There was never a reason to go there. Everything was insanely overpriced and had very little selection.

Only people that went there were old people who would take their virus infested machine to be worked on.
 
CompuCom? lol omg that is the worst company ever. They pay their techs shit and the techs themselves are shit (I suppose that's fair then). The last several companies I have worked for use CompuCom for additional IT assistance for IT grunt work like moving equipment between cubicles, picking up hardware, setting up new hardware, swapping out devices when the leases run out, etc. Every once in a while I find a decent tech but for the most part they are very incompetent and lazy and that isn't just my opinion, but that of the many IT staff I work with across the country. This is your PSA, don't send your friends and family into Office Depot for computer/device repair work where a CompuCom tech will fuck up everything! Keep anything electronic well out of reach of any CC tech or you'll be sorry. The term "knows just enough to be dangerous" comes to mind.

I'm constantly having to bitch at the couple of techs they assign to my site due to one screw up or another. They irritate me so bad, but at the same time it allows me to focus on my real work and allows me to work from home so I don't have to do the grunt work in the office. Catch-22.
 
unab0mb said:
CompuCom? lol omg that is the worst company ever. They pay their techs shit and the techs themselves are shit (I suppose that's fair then). The last several companies I have worked for use CompuCom for additional IT assistance for IT grunt work like moving equipment between cubicles, picking up hardware, setting up new hardware, swapping out devices when the leases run out, etc. Every once in a while I find a decent tech but for the most part they are very incompetent and lazy and that isn't just my opinion, but that of the many IT staff I work with across the country. This is your PSA, don't send your friends and family into Office Depot for computer/device repair work where a CompuCom tech will fuck up everything! Keep anything electronic well out of reach of any CC tech or you'll be sorry. The term "knows just enough to be dangerous" comes to mind.

I'm constantly having to bitch at the couple of techs they assign to my site due to one screw up or another. They irritate me so bad, but at the same time it allows me to focus on my real work and allows me to work from home so I don't have to do the grunt work in the office. Catch-22.
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QFT! I work for a corporate bank in NYC and they use Compucom for their workstation setups and level 1 support. It's a complete shit show! The majority of the techs are either right out of high school or immigrants straight off the boat.
 
Hilarious. I worked in one of CompuCom's service centers and the management was so bad. They would waste all their money on the worst possible crap and then lay everyone off when shit didn't go their way. That was many years ago, since then I've gotten numerous calls to come back and work there.. it usually goes *laugh* *Hangup*
 
I have no idea how office supply stores stay in business. Amazon, Target, and Walmart sell the same pens and paper and that kind of crap for lower prices. Amazon and Newegg are better for computer stuff. The office furniture at office supply stores is total garbage, especially the chairs, and overpriced. Ikea is the same or better quality for less money. I'm trying to remember the last time I set foot in Office Depot/Max or Staples. It's been a long time.
 
You can sense their desperation. Upper mgmt at OD/OM thinking "oh shit, they're eating our lunch"

OD OM are not even competitive. They sell shit office furniture, shit computers, at shit prices.
They're quickly becoming obsolete. No one wants to buy shit from them.

delaying the inevitable.... the next Circus Shitty.


Even Staples is questionable. Most people aren't like me, but I only go to Staples to get the free paper.
OD OM doesn't even compete with Staples on paper.
 
In our neck of the wood Staples closed somewhere around spring. . . .who the hell is Compucon?
 
We used CompuCon at my old company. GOD the techs were bad. Like the worst I ever dealt with in my 25 years. Either old ass men looking for that last paycheck before retirement, or snot nosed kids playing Pokemon all day.
 
Aireoth said:
When was the last time you went to either of those stores?

I went 4 years ago and bought a staples office chair. Its cushioning failed in a year resulting in a bolt sticking into my rear. Never went back.
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Not so much me as a walk in customer but these Big 2 usually have a lot of corporate accounts for office supplies- especially paper.

I was there about 2 weeks ago. The ability to send a package (USPS or FED EX) after normal business hours and on Saturday/Sunday is very helpful.
 
Cmdrmonkey said:
I have no idea how office supply stores stay in business. Amazon, Target, and Walmart sell the same pens and paper and that kind of crap for lower prices. Amazon and Newegg are better for computer stuff. The office furniture at office supply stores is total garbage, especially the chairs, and overpriced. Ikea is the same or better quality for less money. I'm trying to remember the last time I set foot in Office Depot/Max or Staples. It's been a long time.
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Most employees do not care about saving money for their company. They also value their time more than the companies. So see if they are going to go buy office stuff or get office services they know they can go to one place, which will work with their corporate accounts and take care of the money and be done. Plus I am sure that corporate accounts get a discount.

You can go to amazon for anything but you cant get it right now today when you need it.
You can go to Walmart for a lot of stuff but the selection is very slim, maybe 2 office chairs etc.....
Ikea is very very spread out in the USA so a ton of businesses do not have one anywhere near them, plus they don't have all the other office stuff.
A lot of times as an employee you can just get everything you need right in one trip from an office supply store.
 
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unab0mb said:
I'm constantly having to bitch at the couple of techs they assign to my site due to one screw up or another. They irritate me so bad, but at the same time it allows me to focus on my real work and allows me to work from home so I don't have to do the grunt work in the office. Catch-22.
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Sounds like a good trade off to me :D
 
I still go to Staples occasionally, but haven't been in an office max or office depot in years.

We have a company account at Staples, but I get irritated that the sales pricing in their ads never translates over to the "business" pricing.

A couple years ago they where blowing out some of the older model HP color printers. The "business" price was still retail, so I had to buy them through the regular web site with the company credit card. Liked the printer so much we ended up buying several over the next few months.

I also like the $2 per empty toner/ink cartridge. Only problem is you have to buy toner from them every 6 months to keep it active. Occasionally they send me a coupon, or we have a new printer I don't want to put generic toners in yet, so I'll usually buy a toner once or twice a year. Then I take in the empties I've been saving and use the rewards they give me to buy something I need on sale.
 
Danny Dawg said:
Looks like they bit off more than they could chew when they bought out Staples?? Hard to imagine a BIG 2 (OD and OfficeMax) in an industry cannot turn a decent profit.
Click to expand...

I thought Office Depot only bought OfficeMax. Staples being their only real direct competitor. My corporate discounts work at the two former and not Staples.
 
fuzzylogik said:
Staples tried to buy out Office Depot/Max - it didn't happen though. Office Depot/Office Max merged several years ago
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My company subcontracts for those companies. The merger was blocked by the FTC because it would have given Staples a monopoly in direct to business sales.
 
craigdt said:
Yeah our OfficeMax office depot store closed about a year ago. There was never a reason to go there. Everything was insanely overpriced and had very little selection.

Only people that went there were old people who would take their virus infested machine to be worked on.
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It seems like every store that specializes in what they sell, Office Depot, Staples, Petco, Petsmart, whatever, has the highest prices for that stuff. Just buy the stuff in Walmart/Dollar Stores or on Amazon because it is the same stuff made in China.
 
CompuCom recently was brought in as a tech contractor for my company as they laid off all the internal tech support dudes.

I will say they've performed better than those that got laid off. But what's interesting is that all those that were laid off are now back as employees for compucom....
 
I buy my staples at Staples. Other than that, I don't get much at the stores. I like to browse, but the prices on most stuff is so high, I can't consider buying there. If OD thinks adding a computer services company to their portfolio will save them, it's like BB always blaming Amazon for why they were doing bad - not looking at the real problem.
 
I had no idea CompuCom still existed. I've met several that used to work there and let's just say their skills were less than excellent.
 
jardows said:
I buy my staples at Staples. Other than that, I don't get much at the stores. I like to browse, but the prices on most stuff is so high, I can't consider buying there. If OD thinks adding a computer services company to their portfolio will save them, it's like BB always blaming Amazon for why they were doing bad - not looking at the real problem.
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Yeah, the market for these type stores has fundamentally changed. Most retail sales stores are taking a beating from companies like Amazon. If you can get the same item at half the price in a couple days and you don't have to get up out of your chair for any of it; that is a win on many levels.
 
Dr. Righteous said:
Yeah, the market for these type stores has fundamentally changed. Most retail sales stores are taking a beating from companies like Amazon. If you can get the same item at half the price in a couple days and you don't have to get up out of your chair for any of it; that is a win on many levels.
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It is an ancient business maxim - adapt or die. The era of the large specialty retail store is ending. These Mega stores came on strong starting in the late 80's, as their size could give them product offerings and prices unavailable at the local retailer. Now that same model is working against them, as these stores simply sell the same cheap and cheaply made stuff you can buy online or at the general discount stores (Wal-Mart, Target, etc.).

Being more competitive on price would help, but won't be a good long-term solution. They will need to emphasize value more, such as better service (Office Depot and Staples stores around here seem very empty of sales associates), unique products, and higher quality products. That's my quick thoughts.
 
Well, at least if OD goes down the tubes, then so will CompuCom. Two birds with one stone?
 
Within the last year or so I have had great experiences with Office Depot. Their rewards deals are awesome. Where else can you buy stuff like two packs of AAA batteries for the cost of tax plus 2 cents after an automatic rebate(no application or form to fill out) that comes back in three months?
 
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