Staples

Sit down, Coco, sit down, good dog. In this episode, we will take a look at Staples. Staples was founded 39 years ago in 1986, in Brighton, Massachusetts, by Thomas Thenberg, Leo Kahn and Mira Hart. The idea of creating a national chain of large office material stores occurred to Thomas Thenberg in 1985, when he was working on a project for another business and needed a printer tape, but he did not find any local distributor open because it was on July 4. Since he opened the first Staples store in 1986 in Brighton, Massachusetts, they have grown to have 860 stores in the United States with 40 stores and logistics centers. They also have a presence in Canada, but it took me a lot to calculate exactly how many stores they have in Canada. Staples began with the support of some private capital companies, including Vayne Capital, and the co-founder of Vayne Capital, Meet Romney. In fact, he was part of the company's direct group for 15 years. Throughout the years, Staples has acquired other smaller companies related to office material, but I think my favorite acquisition attempt by them is Office Depot. Staples has tried to acquire Office Depot several times. The first time was in 1996, and during that acquisition attempt, the Federal Commission of Commerce intervened and said, no, you will not do it. That will create a monopoly on what concerns office material stores. Then they tried to acquire Office Depot again in 2015 and, again, the Federal Commission of Commerce said no, they could not do it. A few years after that second failed acquisition office Depot, Seekamore Partners bought Staples in 2017 for $ 6,900 million. 1. 6% of that amount was financed as capital, but the rest, a little more than $ 5,000 million, were re-cowded as debt. Also, during that purchase, Seekamore Partners took the company Staples and divided it into three management entities and capitalized independently. That would be the business-to-business business, the minority stores Staples in EE, UU and the minority stores Staples in Canada. And the three entities share the name Staples. The 2017 Palankada purchase is, in fact, one of the reasons why I would decide to make a video about Staples, because it is another example of a great national minority that is forced to ass Another reason why I When I entered this Staples store a few weeks ago, it was the first time I went to a office material store for several years. And the first thing that caught my attention, well, not so much the sight, but the nose, was the unique smell that only seems to have the office material stores. It is a scent of paper and ink, perhaps a touch of ozone from the laser printers and photocopiers from the shopping mall. It is a scent that is definitely exclusive to the stores of MaTODAS they all have that smell. If you take a store office material with your eyes closed and do not tell you what kind of store it is, it is a store office material. Coming back to the issue of Staples acquisition, by Sikomor, remember that I mentioned that the acquisition was for $ 6,900 million and that only 1,600 million of that amount were financed as real capital. Well, just a few years later, in 2019, Sikomor Partners was able to recover most of that investment of $ 1,600 million. They managed it through something called de-capitalization of dividends, which I do not understand at all what it is because I am not a financial advisor, but it allowed them to refinance $ 5,400 million of that debt against its property of Staples. And that produced a single dividend of $ 1,000 million for the private capital company. This surprised many Analyples in less than two years. It also increased the debt that Staples has in total less than 7,000 million. That was six years ago, so at this point, it is But, again, Staples also has more than $ 6,000 million in debt hanging from the neck at the moment. Two years later, in 2021, even with all that debt, Staples tried for the third time to buy Office Depot. However, that offer was rejected, even before the FTC had to intervene again. Now, approximately a year ago, in June 2024, Staples was able to refinance all that debt he had, which was important because they had a loan of $ 300 million that he won very soon, and then another $ 5,000 million that they won in 2026. That refinance of last year basically postponed the payment until 2029, when they will win $ 2,375 million. And that takes us to the day of today, where we are in a basic article store looking at a very dirty screen model of a mechanical keyboard. They should really clean it up. I have used the term postpone the payment to refer to refinancing because it really looks The sales in basic stores have fallen in recent years. And why is there a Nintendo cartel here on the printing cartels? Have they ever sold Nintendo products in Staples? Because all of this is just a toner cartel. How weird. Let's take a look at the software section, and this used to be a great section in offices of their offices as Staples, and now it's just a small set of shelves. And in reality there are only keys you can buy to download these programs. And there is only Microsoft Office and Antivirus. And that is the problem with the office industry in general, the offices simply use many less than offices. Many offices have gone through without paper, which means that they would have folders with file folders and folders full of paper. And now many of those things that they would buy in a office store are all in a USB 15 dollar memory. This was filmed at the end of the week and this store was practically empty while I was here. And it's not just a problem with Staples. It was recently in an office max and something similar happened. There really was no one else there. So I understand, the sales business between Staples companies is better than their minority stores. And I think that makes sense. I think now many people, since they don't buy so much office material with so much frequency, it is easier to ask for some things and get them once a month with a few things they need. I like that you can buy Christmas cookies at Staples in the middle of s Those cookies from Mantequilla I only see them in Christmas stores. As for the clients who don't have business and come to Staples just to buy a specific print color for a school project or something And it's easier to buy a couple of things you need for a school project while you're in Walmart buying other things you would normally buy. There are also many supplies for the return to school and for teachers here specifically. Although I know some teachers and I never heard them mention that they buy things at Staples, office max and office depot. Unfortunately, the teachers have to pay for their own pocket for many of those things, so I think they try to find the cheapest offer they can for that type of things in places Well, I bought something while I was here. I really So I bought them. I also saw the famous easy Staples button. I had forgotten about it, but they had some in the exhibition here, but unfortunately they didn't work. In general, I would say that things look a bit Now, let's get out of here, but the video has not finished yet. These images are from a few weeks ago, but I have some from five years ago, when I started working on a Staples video and I couldn't finish it. So let's make a trip in time five years ago. Well, here are images I took from a Staples store five years ago, when I was originally working on a video because I discovered that Staples had a large n However, since then, they could finish that refinancing I talked about before and postpone things until 2029. But I thought that these images of five years ago would still be useful And so I can see coz, that is, before the effects of the pandemic occurred. And so I can see here and what I remember when I filmed this, the store was very, very dead, as it was in the previous images. However, since then, they could finish that . . . And I don't know if Staples will really read better when it comes to 2029 and a lot of refinancing I talked about before and postpone things until 2029. But I thought that these images of five years ago of those debts would win. And so I can see that these images of five years ago would still be useful I think the stores are going and, also, this was precoz, that is, before 2029 it could be the end of Staples. If you can't pay them more than 2,000 million dollars, what would happen to the effects of the pandemic? And so I can see, Ben, I don't see that there is a way to make another refinancing, and then postpone things for later here and what I remember when I filmed this, the store was very, very dead, as it was in the previous images. This is something you wouldn't see in a Staples store today, one of those small line-up demand kiosks. And I don't know if Staples will really read better when it comes to 2029 and much, those are no longer really necessary. And just Unless something drastic happens that increases the influence of the public to its minority stores and sales are going. I think you could see that Staples stores will eventually disappear. Now, as Staples divided in 2029, it could be the end of Staples. If you can't pay them more than 2,000 million dollars, what do you think of those three entities? One of which is the B2B part of the business, that part of the business seems to be working better than Ben, I don't see that there is a way to make another refinancing, and then postpone things for later here and what I remember when I filmed this. So, even this is something you wouldn't see in a Staples store today, one of those small line-up demand kiosks. If all the Staples stores close, I don'think that means the end of the name Staples. Simply, those are no longer really necessary. And just They will be dedicated strictly, you could also see that Staples stores will eventually disappear. Now, as Staples divided into the delivery office material and sales between companies, it is in those three entities. One of which is the B2B part of the business, that part of the business seems to be working better than Ben, I don't see this small block to test the vending machines, because it is the business of the minority stores. So, even something that disappeared during the Christmas season. According to my notes, these images are from March of 2012 and all the Staples stores close, I don'think that means the end of the name Staples. Simply, 2020. It is interesting to see that even five years ago, there will no longer be stores that will be called Staples. They will be dedicated strictly to those cookies and cookies from Mantequilla all year long. So, if you ever have that delivery office material and sales between companies, it is a try of those cookies and it is not during the Christmas season, you can always come to Staples to buy them. It is interesting to see this small block to test the vending machines, because that, we can also see some inflation because in 2020 those cookies cost something that disappeared during the Christmas season. According to my notes, these images are from March of $ 4. 99, but in the previous images, a few weeks ago, they cost $ 629. 2020. It is interesting to see that even five years ago, it was also interesting to see in these old images that they still have those cookies and cookies from Mantequilla all year long. So, if you ever have something of color in the store, If you look at the new images, the store is very monotonous. They have eliminated the last remaining color and they are all neutral colors. We can also see some inflation because in 2020 those cookies cost. And I have to say that I prefer the appearance of the store in 2020. Much better, $ 4. 99, but in the previous images, a few weeks ago, they cost $ 629. Now, well, there is something that I did not see in the store when I was there a few weeks ago, but it is also interesting to see in these old images that still do well in 2020. They had a whole section office material from the brand MA and something of color in the store, But if you look at the new images, the store is very monotonous. They have eliminated the last remaining color and they are all neutral colors. And I have to say that I prefer the appearance of the store in 2020. Much better. Now, well, there is something that I did not see in the store when I was there a few weeks ago, but that I did see in 2020. They had a whole section office material from the brand Martha Stewart. That engraving is incredible. It may not be a red line, but I They even had Sharpie markers from Martha Stewart. Now that there are so many office workers who work for you and do not go to the office, I am sure there is less demand for decorative office material. I always pay attention to look at the price of some of these ink cartridges, and this was five years ago, and some of those games cost more than $ 100. And even then, they had cameras and monitors to make sure that you do not steal the cartridges. Isaac was in the paper shops in 2020. And I think it's a real-sized cardboard cutout. I asked Mark to put it next to him, it measures almost 2 meters. So yes, it probably is real size. However, according to these old images and the most recent, I think the business of the office minister'store could be finished. But leave me your opinions in the comments below. I think if things do not drastically change for 2019, when all that money is paid, Staples could end up declaring itself in a mess. But I think we will end here with the 2020 podcast team, when the whole world started with the podcasts. As always, thank you all for watching the video. Do you want to see your name here? Enter in Patreon. com-Retailergeology to find out how you can help support the channel. If you