Office Depot Opens First Caribbean Store under Franchise Agreement with Benmore International
BOCA RATON, Fla., Sep 01, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) –
OfficeDepot (NYSE:ODP), a leading global provider of office supplies and services, announced today that it is now expanding its retail store presence in the Caribbean territory as part of its franchise agreement with Benmore International.
Through its relationship with Benmore International, Office Depot initially launched a delivery business for customers at the end of last year. In August 2011, the first Office Depot retail store location opened in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic at the Galeria 360 on John F. Kennedy Ave., one of the city’s busiest avenues. Office Depot is planning three additional Dominican Republic stores scheduled to open in 2012. In addition to its operations in various Central American countries and Puerto Rico, Office Depot plans to further expand its business throughout the Caribbean.
Office Depot has executed a successful franchise business model in other parts of the world, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and in Kuwait.
“Office Depot is excited to open our first store in the Dominican Republic and we are looking forward to expanding our footprint in the Caribbean territory,” said Ernst Wessel, Office Depot’s Vice President and Managing Director for Latin America. “We’ve had considerable success with our franchise model in the Middle East. We believe that the Office Depot business is particularly suitable and attractive as a franchising concept for certain territories and we are actively looking to grow this part of our business in a number of overseas markets.”
“Office Depot has one of the most recognizable brand names in the world; and because of the proximity of Office Depot’s global headquarters in Florida, it makes great business sense for us to partner with this established multi-channel retailer to serve customers in the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean countries,” said Rosalina Trueba de Prida, VP and Executive Director for Benmore International.
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About Office Depot
Celebrating 25 years as a leading global provider of office supplies and services, OfficeDepot 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 supplies and services to its customers through 1,627 worldwide retail stores, a dedicated sales force, top-rated catalogs and global e-commerce operations. Office Depot has annual sales of approximately $11.6 billion, and employs about 40,000 associates around the world. The Company provides more office supplies and services to more customers in more countries than any other company, and currently sells to customers directly or through affiliates in 56 countries.
