The Rule of Three Always Applies....

 
Three of anything...  is one too many...
ODP makes the grade, OfficeMax fails in BTS sales

September 7, 2011 | By Gail Hoffer

NAPERVILLE, Ill. and BOCA RATON, Fla. — OfficeMax and Office Depot had very different things to say about their respective back-to-school sales performances during presentations at the Goldman Sachs Annual Global Retailing Conference.

OfficeMax has been experiencing slower sales as consumers continue to be price conscious. In addition, Ravi Saligram, president and CEO of OfficeMax, reported that back-to-school sales are soft and the company is experiencing weaker technology sales.

"Consequently, we are continuing to focus on providing products that are a good value, as well as managing gross margins and costs in the third quarter and second half of the year," said Saligram
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OfficeMax said it now anticipates that total company sales for the third quarter of 2011 will be slightly lower than the third quarter of 2010, including the favorable impact of foreign currency translation. The company is maintaining its guidance for total company sales for the second half of 2011 to be slightly higher than the prior-year second half, including the favorable impact of foreign currency translation and the benefit of the additional fiscal week in the fourth quarter.

OfficeMax's presentation at the Goldman Sachs conference can be viewed at investor.officemax.com until Oct. 7 and will be posted on the "presentations" page located within the "Investors" section of the OfficeMax website.