Office Depot Superstore Grand Opening July 14 in Orange City, Florida; Office Depot Marks the Event with a Donation to Metropolitan Orlando Urban League.

Business Editors

ORANGE CITY, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 10, 2001

Office Depot, Inc. (NYSE:ODP), the world's largest seller of office products, will open a new superstore in Orange City, Florida on Saturday, July 14. This is the 9th Office Depot store in the Orlando area.

The new superstore is on 1138 Saxon Boulevard (at the intersection of Saxon and Veteran's Memorial Parkway). Store operating hours are M-F 8-9, Saturday 9-9 and Sunday 11-6.

The Grand Opening ribbon cutting ceremony will be held July 14 at noon; refreshments will follow the ceremony. During the ceremony, Office Depot will make a donation of $1,000 in gift certificates to the Metropolitan Orlando Urban League Inc. Representatives from the Daytona government, the local Chamber of Commerce and Office Depot management are all expected to attend. The event is also open to the public and the media.

The new Office Depot superstore in Orange City is designed to meet the needs of small to mid-size businesses, along with the growing home office market, students, teachers and business professionals.

The superstore will carry an extensive inventory -- everything from basic office supplies and business machines to office furniture and computer hardware, software and accessories. It also will offer specialized business services, such as printing, copying, faxing, personalized checks and business forms, computer installation, and rentals, as well as delivery and credit.

In addition, the new superstore incorporates the Company's upgraded store and product layout, enhanced signage, increased availability of private label merchandise, reference charts on technology products throughout the store, and an overall improved configuration of products that delivers a more customer-friendly shopping experience.

More specifically, new aisle markers and clean, bolder signage that clearly defines specific product categories and specific items will help customers find products easily. Also, the increased availability of Office Depot special value private label products offers customers a wider product selection and savings of 5-10 percent, when compared with many brand name manufacturers products.

"We are pleased to open our 9th store in the Orlando area, this is an important market for us and we are committed to continuing to grow in this area. We selected this particular real estate site on the basis of the strong customer demand and the access to significant retail traffic flow coupled with our strong brand recognition in the community. We are committed to increasing our market presence while continuing to meet the growing customer demand for Office Depot's products and services," commented Jerry Colley, President of North American Retail Stores.

"No one sells more office products to more businesses than Office Depot. Our stores offer customers the convenience of one-stop shopping at low competitive prices every single day. At Office Depot, we make shopping as easy as possible for our busy customers. In addition to our conveniently located stores, customers may also order office products 24-7 by phone (1-888-GO-DEPOT or 1-888-463-3768), by fax [phone]), or through our award-winning U.S. public Web site (http://www.officedepot.com). At Office Depot, we really are Taking Care of Business," Colley added.

About Office Depot

As of March 31, 2001 Office Depot operated 824 office supply superstores in the United States and Canada, in addition to a national business-to-business delivery network supported by 25 delivery centers, more than 60 local sales offices and eight regional call centers. Furthermore, the Company had operations in 16 countries outside of the United States and Canada, including 28 office supply stores in France and seven in Japan that are owned and operated by the Company; and 97 additional office supply stores under joint venture and licensing agreements operating under the Office Depot name in five foreign countries. The Company also operates an award-winning U.S. Office Depot brand Web site at http://www.officedepot.com where customers can access Office Depot's low competitive prices seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day, and it operates http://www.officedepot.co.jp in Japan and http://www.officedepot.fr in France as well as Viking brand Web sites at http://www.vikingop.com in the United States, http://www.viking-direct.co.uk in the United Kingdom, http://www.viking.de in Germany, http://www.vikingdirect.nl in The Netherlands, http://www.vikingop.it in Italy, http://www.vikingop.com.au in Australia, http://www.vikingop.co.jp in Japan and http://www.vikingdirect.fr in France. 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. Office Depot is an Official Sponsor of the 2002 US Olympic Team.