Office Depot, Inc. provides various office products and services worldwide. The company sells an assortment of merchandise, including brand name and private brand office supplies, business machines and computers, computer software, office furniture, and other business-related products and services through its chain of office supply stores. It also offers graphic design, printing, reproduction, mailing, shipping, and other services through the design, print, and ship centers operated in its stores. In addition, Office Depot resells other manufacturer’s branded items, such as ink, toner, paper, and technology products. The company sells its products and services to customers in 42 countries through office supply stores, direct mail catalogs, contract sales force, Internet sites, and retail stores through a mix of company owned operations, joint ventures, licensing and franchise agreements, alliances, and other arrangements. As of December 30, 2006, it had 1,158 retail stores in North America, and another 348 company-owned, licensed, or franchised stores in other parts of the world. Office Depot was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Delray Beach, Florida.

Discretionary Industry Analysis

WikiWealth.com Industry Description: the consumer discretionary industry refers to products and services bought with discretionary (normal expenses) income. The Consumer discretionary sector encompasses industries that tend to be the most sensitive to economic cycles and stock market swings. Its manufacturing segment includes automotive, household durable goods, textiles & apparel and leisure equipment. The services segment includes hotels, restaurants and other leisure facilities, media production and services and consumer retailing. Read More. Also see the Industry Analysis Home Page.

WikiWealth.com Industry Analysis: During economic recessions, consumers tend to cut back on discretionary expenses to save money during those tough economic times. Less spending by consumers eventually decreases business revenue and stock prices. During economic recoveries, consumers have more discretionary income, so spending quickly increases. Higher spending increases business revenue and eventually increases stock prices. During long economic expansions, discretionary income increase, but at a slower pace than during the initial economic recovery stage.

¹ Investment potential (margin of safety) is a weighted average of the discounted cash flow analysis (DCF), the enterprise value (EV) market multiple analysis, and the Warren Buffett investment analysis. WikiWealth obtains 80% of their quantitative investment potential from fundamental investment analysis.
² The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) analysis for the industry is a broad representation of the WACC for each individual company. A sub-industry WACC analysis offers both stability and accuracy for each individual company.

WikiWealth.com Industry Profit Analysis: The best way to profit from discretionary stock investments is to find the most undervalued investments (Wall Street and Main Street buy ratings) during economic recessions. Those investments should be undervalued (see Wall Street Analysis on left side), and have high Main Street Common Sense investment ratings (see Main Street Analysis on right side). When an economic recovery occurs, discretionary stocks tend to outperform the general stock market, because consumers quickly resume spending on items they wanted, but resisted buying during tougher economic times. Eventually those investments become overvalued, because profits and stock prices increase past their fair values. In other words, the margin of safety becomes low or negative. During the last stages of an economic business cycle, just before a recession, it is best to sell discretionary stocks, because they are likely to decrease in price the fastest. Selling an stock investment is difficult do properly. Expensive (overvalued) stocks with low Main Street Common Sense ratings should be sold at any time to invest in better stocks. Two buys ratings are the best and two sell ratings are the worst possible stock investments. As a general rule, the larger the investment potential (margin of safety), the safer the investment. For more information on stock research ratings click here.

Investment Moats

Investment Moats are fundamental investing theories developed by Warren Buffett and adapted to the SWOT analysis. Investment moats are general characteristics that separate great investments from average stock investments. The wider the investment moat the better. Read more: Investment Moats. For company-specific investment moats: SWOT Analysis.

SWOT Strengths Increase Investor Moats: Below is a list of relevant industry investment characteristics, if any exist

SWOT Weaknesses Decrease Investor Moats: Below is a list of relevant industry investment characteristics, if any exist

Stock Price Triggers

Stock Price Triggers were developed by WikiWealth.com to predict changes in stock price direction, which depend on events outside of the control of the company. In general, if SWOT opportunities are greater than SWOT threats, the stock price should raise; the opposite is also true. For more precise measures, examine each SWOT opportunity and threat, then rank them according to importance and timing. The more important the investment characteristic, the greater the impact on stock direction. The sooner a investment trigger may occur, the more influence it will have on stock price direction. Read more: Stock Price Triggers. For company-specific stock price triggers: SWOT Analysis.

SWOT Opportunities are Positive Stock Price Triggers: Below is a list of relevant industry investment characteristics, if any exist.

SWOT Threats are Negative Stock Price Triggers: Below is a list of relevant industry investment characteristics, if any exist.

Long Company Description (help)

Office Depot, Inc. is a global supplier of office products and services. The company was incorporated in 1986 with the opening of our first retail store in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In fiscal year 2007, we sold $15.5 billion of products and services to consumers and businesses of all sizes through our three business segments: North American Retail Division, North American Business Solutions Division and International Division. Sales are processed through multiple channels, consisting of office supply stores, a contract sales force, an outbound telephone account management sales force, internet sites, direct marketing catalogs and call centers, all supported by our network of crossdocks, warehouses and delivery operations.

Office Depot Today

Every day, Office Depot is Taking Care of Business for millions of customers around the globe. For the local corner store as well as Fortune 500 companies, Office Depot provides products and services to its customers through 1,680 worldwide retail stores, a dedicated sales force, top-rated catalogs and a $5.0 billion e-commerce operation. Office Depot has annual sales of approximately $15.4 billion, and employs about 49,000 associates around the world. The Company provides more office products and services to more customers in more countries than any other company, and currently sells to customers directly or through affiliates in 44 countries.

Dramatic Growth Over 20 Years

While Office Depot is clearly a powerful organization today, the Company's beginnings were quite modest. Office Depot was founded in 1986 and opened its first store in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In late 1987, David I. Fuente assumed the post of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the fledging company, and took Office Depot public in 1988. The Executive Team immediately began to execute an ambitious plan to expand the Company's footprint in key U.S. markets. The results were dramatic: By the end of 1990 Office Depot had 173 stores in 27 states. That same year, Office Depot announced its merger with The Office Club, Inc., becoming the largest office products retailer in North America.

Domestic growth, however, was only one aspect of Office Depot's expansion in the Company's early years; the management team had its sights set on penetrating international markets as well. Early 1992 marked the Company's acquisition of H.Q. Office International, Inc., which included the Great Canadian Office Supplies Warehouse chain in western Canada. Growing steadily, the Company also subsequently opened new retail stores in Israel and Colombia under international licensing agreements.

As Office Depot expanded geographically, the Company also began to extend beyond its traditional markets. In 1993, Office Depot entered the rapidly consolidating contract stationer business by acquiring two market leaders: Wilson Stationary & Printing Company and Eastman Office Products Corporation. The merger of six additional contract stationers followed these purchases during 1994. These moves positioned Office Depot to take advantage of industry trends that would come to play a central role in the Company's success.

In the meantime, Office Depot continued its steady international growth. Between 1995 and 1998, the Company opened stores in Poland, Hungary and Thailand under international licensing agreements and in Mexico, France and Japan under joint venture agreements. Later, the Company acquired the interests of its joint venture partners in both France and Japan.

In 1998, Office Depot merged with Viking Office Products, a public company and the world's leading direct mail marketer of office products. The addition of Viking to the Office Depot organization not only vastly expanded Office Depot's international presence, but also made the Company the leading provider of office products and services in the world.

That same year, Office Depot began to leverage the Internet aggressively, launching the first of a number of new Web sites, www.officedepot.com. The award-winning site established Office Depot as the industry's technology leader, expanded its domestic e-commerce capabilities, and ultimately extended the range of products and services the Company could offer its customers. The following year, the Company launched its first European e-commerce site, www.viking-direct.co.uk, in the U.K. By 2005, the Company had over 30 international Web sites. Worldwide e-commerce sales in 2004 totaled $3.1 billion.

As Office Depot grew larger and more complex, its management leadership needs changed. In 2000, David Fuente stepped aside, and Bruce Nelson was appointed Chief Executive Officer. The executive team's charge was challenging: To guide Office Depot at an exciting and defining time in the Company's evolution. The Company immediately undertook several new management initiatives geared to make Office Depot a more compelling place to work, shop and invest. With a careful focus on invigorating the Company's U.S. retail operations, expanding its international business, growing its best-in-class e-commerce business, and building a world-class warehouse and distribution network, the executive team gradually took Office Depot to the next level.

New Leadership Opens Exciting New Chapter in Company History

In 2004, Neil R. Austrian assumed the role of Interim Chairman and CEO. During that period, the Company restated its commitment to continue Office Depot's strategic direction to grow the business and improve financial performance. The Company proceeded to benefit from two consecutive positive quarters.

In early 2005 Office Depot launched a strategic marketing campaign which consisted of new advertising, brand positioning and the reintroduction of the Company's famous Taking Care of Business tagline. Office Depot next announced its multi-year agreement with NASCAR to become the sport's first-ever Official Office Products Partner, and the Company's sponsorship of Roush Racing's No. 99 Office Depot Ford Taurus driven by Carl Edwards in the 2005 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race season.

Steve Odland was then named Chairman and CEO of Office Depot in March of 2005. Odland's significant retail experience and strong track record of improving operating performance were sited as defining reasons in his hiring. The executive team is now focused on driving profitable growth by exceeding the expectations of its customers, and building shareholder value by making Office Depot an industry leader in efficiency and productivity.

SWOT Analysis

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