Staples 2015 Annual Report Download - page 83

PART I
STAPLES 5
Competition
We compete with a variety of online and traditional retailers,
dealers and distributors. As we rapidly expand our assortment
of products and services, we compete directly with an
increasing number of competitors including online retailers such
as Amazon.com, mass merchants such as Walmart, Target
and Tesco, warehouse clubs such as Costco, computer and
electronics retail stores such as Best Buy, specialty technology
stores such as Apple, copy and print businesses such as
FedEx Office, and a wide range of other retailers, including
grocery stores, drug stores and discount retailers. In addition,
our retail stores continue to compete against traditional office
supplies retail stores. Our commercial business competes
against a growing and diverse set of competitors, including
other office supplies distributors, wholesalers, networks
of regional suppliers, managed print service companies,
contract stationers, electronic commerce distributors, regional
and local dealers, direct manufacturers of the products we
distribute, and companies focused on adjacent categories
such as maintenance, repair and operation providers. Many
of our competitors have increased their presence in our core
product areas in recent years, and we expect this trend to
continue going forward.
We believe we are able to compete favorably against our
competitors because of the following factors: our focus
on business customers; our 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 shopping easy
for customers; a wide assortment of products and services,
in stores and on our websites; fast checkout; easy to use
websites and mobile platforms; reliability and speed of order
shipment; convenient store locations; hassle-free returns and
competitive 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,
“Make More Happen”, Staples the Office Superstore, the Easy
Button logo, “that was easy,” Quill.com, Corporate Express and
many other marks incorporating ‘’Staples” or another primary
mark, 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 products, systems, business
processes and designs, many of which have been patented.
We also own copyrights for works such as packaging, training
materials, promotional materials, computer software, in-
store graphics, website content and multi-media. 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.
As of January 30, 2016, Staples employed 42,554 full-time
and 32,817 part-time associates.