Chicago-Area Junior Achievement Student Receives $10,000 Scholarship from Office Depot.

Business Editors/Education Writers

ORLAND PARK, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 10, 2003

Special Check Presentation to Be Held

at Office Depot Store in Orland Park on June 12

Therese Rogers, a Junior Achievement (JA) student from Lemont, Ill. has been awarded the 2003 Office Depot Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded to top high school seniors who have participated in a JA program. Therese, a recent graduate from Lemont High School in Lemont, Ill. has been an active participant in the JA Company Program for four years.

A special check presentation recognizing Therese's achievement will be held at Office Depot's retail store located at 1 Orland Park Place in Orland Park on Thursday, June 12 at 2:00 p.m. Lemont High School Principal, Tom Trengrove and Superintendent, Sandy Doebert will join Office Depot executives and Junior Achievement Operations Manager of Southern Cook County, Agatha Manigo at the event.

The Office Depot scholarship consists of a $10,000 award to students who have demonstrated superior academic achievement, leadership skills and active participation in JA. The award may be used for education expenses at any accredited post-secondary educational institution for any field of study.

"We are proud of our partnership with JA and happy to help provide educational support to outstanding students like Therese," said Rich Merchant, District Manager for Office Depot's Orland Park region. "We wish her the best of luck as she strives to further her educational goals and career aspirations."

This is the first year that Office Depot has offered these scholarships. The $10,000 award will be given to six students nationwide, one from each Office Depot region.

"We are pleased to award this scholarship to Therese," said David S. Chernow, president and CEO of Junior Achievement. "It is outstanding JA students like her who are a shining example of how hard work and determination lead to success in a student's educational career and later in life in their professional career."

"We are very proud of Therese and her accomplishments," said Sandy Daffe', president of JA of Chicago. "This scholarship is a wonderful way to recognize her hard work throughout her academic career and I know she will continue to excel in college."

Therese ranked number one in her class and was extremely active in school, including as a co-editor of the school yearbook, a member of the foreign language club and National Honor Society. She volunteers in the community by serving as a peer mentor and participates on the cross country team. Therese will enroll at the University of Illinois in the fall majoring in physics.

"I would like to thank Junior Achievement for preparing me to enter the business world. I would also like to thank Office Depot for their support of my educational goals," said Therese.

(A photo of Therese Rogers is available upon request.)

About Junior Achievement

Junior Achievement is the world's largest and fastest-growing organization dedicated to educating young people about business, economics and free enterprise. Through age-appropriate curricula, JA programs begin at the elementary school level, teaching children how they can impact the world around them as individuals, workers and consumers. JA programs continue through the middle and high school grades, preparing students for additional key economic and workforce issues they will face in the future. Today JA reaches more than four million students through 150 offices nationwide and another two million students in more than 100 countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.ja.org.

About Office Depot

No one sells more office products to more customers in more countries than Office Depot. The Company operates under the Office Depot(R), Viking Office Products(R), Viking Direct(R) and 4Sure.com(R) brand names. As of March 29, 2003, Office Depot operated 871 office supply superstores in the United States and Canada, in addition to a national business-to-business delivery network supported by 24 delivery centers, more than 60 local sales offices and 13 regional call centers. Furthermore, the Company sells products and services in 20 countries outside of the United States and Canada, including 38 office supply stores in France, one in Spain and 12 in Japan that are owned and operated by the Company; and 123 additional office supply stores under joint venture and licensing agreements operating under the Office Depot(R) name in seven foreign countries.

The Company also operates an award-winning U.S. Office Depot brand web site at www.officedepot.com where customers can access Office Depot's low competitive prices seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day. The Company also operates more than 30 other web sites in the U.S. and 13 international countries including: Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Japan, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Office Depot's common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP and is included in the S&P 500 Index.