Staples to shut 225 stores in North America as sales fall March 6, 2014 11:02 AM ET By Maria Ajit Thomas Share 1.1k Share 488 inShare 18 TICKERS IN THIS ARTICLE NAME LAST CHNG % CHNG AMZN 372.16 -0.21 -0.06 AMZN ODP 4.63 -0.28 -5.70 SPLS 11.35 -2.05 -15.30 WMT 74.88 +0.08 +0.11 (Reuters) - Staples Inc said it would close up to 225 stores in the United States and Canada - 12 percent of its North America outlets - and forecast another quarter of sales decline as it loses customers to mass market chains and e-retailers. Shares of the largest U.S. office supplies retailer fell as much as 17 percent after the company also reported weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter results and forecast a profit for the current quarter that fell far below analysts estimates. Staples has 1,846 stores in the United States and Canada. Our customers are using less office supplies, theyre shopping less often in our stores and more online, and their focus on value has made the marketplace even more competitive, Chief Executive Ronald Sargent said on a post-earnings call. Staples said it had initiated a multi-year cost reduction plan that was expected to generate annualized pretax cost savings of about $500 million by 2015. Analysts said the store closures, which would take place by 2015, were unlikely to boost the companys results in the near term.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 01:28:31 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015