American Success Story: Office Max

A very popular resource for purchasing office supplies such as computers, furniture, hardware and software in addition to copy and print services and much, much more is a store you’ve undoubtedly heard of called OfficeMax. OfficeMax came onto the retail scene in 1988 and has since grown from a single outlet to one largest office products superstore chains in the country.

OfficeMax actually materialized into the largest American office products superstore in operation in terms of the number of stores they opened and their vast geographical coverage. In January 1997, OfficeMax set a national record by exceeding $3 billion in sales making them the fourth company in United States history ever to achieve that amount of success in less than nine years.

It all began on April 1, 1988 in Cleveland, Ohio when OfficeMax was founded by Michael Feuer, its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, along with seven other of the company’s associates. The first store opened its doors to the public in Cleveland on July 5th of the same year and by the end of that year, there were a total of three stores in the suburban Cleveland area.

The year 2000 was huge for OfficeMax because during that time, the company implemented their Enterprise Resource Planning software which is the largest program of this type. The software was designed for use in American retailing to provide real-time, integrated information throughout their organization. Also during 2000, OfficeMax combined eCommerce business, catalog operations and its commercial sales groups into what they now call their OfficeMax.com / Direct Business Unit.

OfficeMax also gives back to the communities that helped them achieve their success. In 2000, The OfficeMax Charitable Foundation was established to donate more than $300,000 for worthwhile causes. One foundation the company sponsored was a National Kids N Need Resource Center Cleveland, Ohio which was the first of its kind.

Through its partnerships with companies like Hewlett Packard and introductions of its FurnitureMax, CopyMax and TechMax ventures, OfficeMax provides the public with complete, state-of-the-art services through all of its associations with a supply chain network and high-tech computer system. Presently, you can find an OfficeMax store just about anywhere you travel in the United States. They have over 900 convenient locations throughout America which include operations in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. In 1996, they opened their first international store in Mexico and by the year 2000, a total of 27 OfficeMax (OfficeMax de Mexico) stores were open for business there.

Go to www.officemax.com to find out more about the history of this company and also the extensive products and services they have to offer.