1. June 2012 A Service Office Overview By Louise Howarth Retail Analyst

2. 2 Office Overview Louise Howarth Retail Analyst Louise.howarth@4C.planetretail.net This report looks at the office supplies retail sector, analysing the market and outlining current and future trends affecting the office specialists. All images ©Planet Retail Ltd unless otherwise stated.

3. 3 Contents 1.Sector Overview 2.Key Trends 3.Summary

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5. 5 Staples is by far the largest of the top three office specialists in terms of sales and global market share. Staples retail banner sales (RBS) has grown since 2007, boosted by acquisition in new markets: India, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Finland, Greece, Ireland and Mexico. Whereas, Office Depot and OfficeMax RBS have fallen, impacted by the global economic downturn in 2008. X Sector Overview1 There is a huge disparity between the top three specialists net profit over the last five years. Both Office Depot and OfficeMax were drastically impacted by the economic crisis of 2008. However, during, as well as pre and post-recession, Staples has displayed a much healthier net profit score.