Framingham, Mass-based Staples, one of the country's biggest retailers, began last March a two-year plan to close 225, or roughly 12%, of its North American stores, and downsize the remaining ones to be half the size.
In November, Staples leaving Tucson, announced its aim to close 170 stores in North America in 2014, up from a previous target of 140, and has closed or announced closure of approximately 132 stores to date. Plans are still on target to shutter 225 stores by the end of 2015, as part of a $500 million cost saving measure.
Following earlier 2014 closures in Phoenix, Casa Grande and Yuma, Tucson landlords received notice just before Christmas that all three Tucson stores would be closing and a fifth closure in Phoenix. Staples confirmed to us the following Arizona closings for the end of February 2015:
- store #1306 at 10310 N 91st Ave., Peoria, AZ;
- store #1463 at 2930 N Campbell Ave, Tucson;
- store #1477 at 6230 E Broadway, Ste 100, Tucson;
- and store #1482 at 3840 W River Road, Marana.
Over halfway to the goal of 225 shuttered stores, and an unknown number of stores being shrunk to half size in markets such as Sierra Vista and Prescott in Arizona, the downsizing follows similar moves by other retailers.
Smaller outlets like RadioShack Corp. and big department stores like J.C. Penney Co. have had to grapple with the effect of increased online purchases and declining shopper foot traffic. The shift has hit retailers of electronics, appliances and office supplies the hardest because those items have moved online more quickly than other goods, according to data from Kantar Retail.
Smaller store formats should improve the company's profitability, because the rent costs half as much while maintenance, wages and other expenses are reduced. Staples has also found its 12,000 square-foot stores still sell nearly as much merchandise as stores that are twice the size. The plans reflect an industry-wide consolidation for office supply chains that no longer need as much floor space to sell the electronics that schools and businesses are buying.
Office Depot Inc. earlier this year set plans to close 400 locations in the U.S., with 150 closures pegged for 2014, citing overlap created by last year’s merger with rival OfficeMax. Staples, at one time known as the nation's largest office-supply company has nearly half of its sales now generated online.
“We continually evaluate our store performance to ensure we’re operating the business in the best way. As customers shift online, we are taking aggressive action to right-size our retail footprint. We are committed to providing great service and every product businesses need whether it’s in-store, online or through mobile,” a spokesperson for Staples told us.
Staple stores employ on average, 20 persons per store.
Alex Clark of B.D. Baker in Phoenix and Paul Godles of Excess Space Retail Services are marketing the Staples subleases and currently have 109 listed for Staples on their website at https://excessspace.com/pages.php?id=MjQ=
Nancy McClure and Michael Laatsch of CBRE in Tucson handle leasing at two of the Tucson centers: Campbell Plaza and Broadway & Wilmot. Andy Seleznov of Larsen Baker handles leasing at the Marana Marketplace at River and Orange Grove in Marana.
To learn more McClure can be reached at 520.323.5117 while Laatsch is at 520.323.5191. Seleznov can be contacted at 520.296.0200. For the excess spaces at Cochise Crossroads in Sierra Vista and Depot Marketplace in Prescott contact CBRE’s McClure at 520.323.5117, Pete Villaescusa at 520.323.5112 or Jesse Peron at 520.323.5130, for more information.