Staples 2007 Annual Report Download - page 81

people, thought, experience, and suppliers. Our diverse workforce and network of suppliers deepens our relationships
with our customers, gives us the flexibility to react to the ever changing marketplace, and inspires us to think more
creatively as a company.
Community—Staples is committed to supporting charitable endeavors that make a difference in each and every
community where we operate. Through Staples Foundation for Learning, national charitable partnerships, and in-kind
donations, we support communities worldwide by providing resources to non-profit organizations that provide educa-
tional opportunities for all people, with a special emphasis on disadvantaged youth. Since 2002, Staples Foundation for
Learning has been a national supporter of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. In 2006, Staples partnered with its first
global charity, Ashoka’s Youth Venture program, which empowers young adults to act as positive agents for social change
in their communities.
Competition
We compete with a variety of retailers, dealers and distributors in the highly competitive office products market. We
compete in most of our geographic markets with other high-volume office supply chains, including Office Depot and
OfficeMax, as well as mass merchants such as Wal-Mart, warehouse clubs such as Costco, computer and electronics
superstores such as Best Buy, copy and print businesses such as FedEx Kinko’s, ink cartridge specialty stores, and other
discount retailers. In addition, both our retail stores and delivery operations compete with numerous mail order firms,
contract stationers, electronic commerce distributors, regional and local dealers and direct manufacturers. Many of our
competitors have increased their presence in our markets in recent years. Some of our current and potential competitors
are larger than we are and have substantially greater financial resources.
We believe we are able to compete favorably against other high-volume office supply chains, mass merchants and
other retailers, dealers and distributors because of several factors: our focus on the business customer and home office;
our tenured management team’s ability to respond to the dynamic markets in which we operate and the changing needs
of our customers; courteous, helpful and knowledgeable associates focused on making it easy for customers to buy office
products and services; a wide assortment of office supplies that are in-stock and easy to find; fast checkout; easy to use
web sites; reliability and speed of order shipment; convenient store locations; hassle-free returns and fair prices.
Trademarks, Patents, Copyrights, and Domain Names
We own or have applied to register numerous trademarks and service marks in the United States and throughout
the world in connection with our businesses. Some of our principal global and regional marks include Staples, the Staples
red brick logo, Staples the Office Superstore, the Easy Button, ‘‘that was easy’’, Quill, the Quill feather logo and many
other marks incorporating ‘‘Staples’’, which in the aggregate, we consider to be of material importance to our business.
While the duration of trademark registrations varies from country to country, trademarks are generally valid and may be
renewed indefinitely so long as they are in use and their registrations are properly maintained.
We own and maintain a number of patents internationally on certain products, systems and designs. We also own
copyrights for items such as packaging, promotional materials and in-store graphics. In addition, we have registered and
maintain numerous Internet domain names, including many that incorporate ‘‘Staples’’.
Available Information
We maintain a web site with the address www.staples.com. We are not including the information contained on our
web site as a part of, or incorporating it by reference into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We make available free of
charge through our web site our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports
on Form 8-K, and amendments to these reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such
material with, or furnish such material to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
We were organized in 1985 and are incorporated in Delaware.
Corporate Express Proposal
On February 19, 2008, we announced that we had made a proposal to Corporate Express NV (‘‘Corporate
Express’’), a Dutch office products distributor with operations in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, to
acquire all of the outstanding shares of its ordinary stock for cash consideration of 7.25 Euros per ordinary share,
representing a total enterprise value of approximately 2.5 billion Euros (approximately $3.7 billion). Corporate Express,
in a public statement issued the same day, rejected our proposal.
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