Staples Donated $85,000 to U.S. Schools This Year Through the Staples NFL Coach of the Week Program.

Business Editors

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 27, 2000

Students, teachers and parents benefited from NFL coach visits and

new school supplies

Staples Retail and Delivery today announced that it donated more than $85,000 in school supplies to schools across the United States during the 1999 NFL season through the Staples NFL Coach of the Week program. As part of the program, 17 public and private elementary, middle and high schools each received a $5,000 Staples gift certificate and a school visit from their local NFL coach.

The Staples Coach of the Week program began five years ago with the cooperation of the National Football League (NFL) and CBS. Staples has donated more than $285,000 in school supplies through the program, allowing nearly 60 schools to benefit from this exciting community program and partnership with the NFL. Entry forms for the Staples NFL Coach of the Week program were available at all Staples retail stores or online at www.staples.com.

"The Staples NFL Coach of the Week program honors the hard work of NFL coaches by rewarding the students and communities that they represent," said Thomas G. Stemberg, Staples chairman and chief executive officer. "Staples is pleased to be a part of this relationship by providing schools the opportunity to purchase supplies that support educational development."

"The message of teamwork and generosity provided by Jon Gruden, Oakland Raiders head coach, struck a chord with the students and faculty at Vintage Hills School," said Mike Bossi, principal. "The Staples school supplies donation enabled Vintage Hills to start an inventory for a student store benefiting our students and their parents. We were also able to help another school in the Oakland unified school district that was in need of basic supplies."

"Participating in Staples Coach of the Week was a great experience for the students and teachers of Indian Creek Middle School," said Mike Wilcox, assistant principal. "Students enjoyed the visit from Jim Mora, head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, while teachers appreciated the year's supply of products they requested. It is truly a program that benefits everyone."

This year's winning schools in the Staples NFL Coach of the Week program include:

            SCHOOL                CITY, STATE
  Indian Creek Middle School      Trafalgar, Ind.
     Vintage Hills School         Pleasanton, Calif.
   White House Middle School      White House, Tenn.
  Cardinal O'Hara High School     Tonawanda, N.Y.
       St. Leo the Great          Amherst, N.Y.
 St. Charles West High School     St. Charles, Mo.
  Highlands Elementary School     Highlands, N.J.
   Oconto Falls High School       Oconto Falls, Wis.
    Collinwood High School        Cleveland, Ohio
    Benilde-St. Margaret's        St. Louis Park, Minn.
    Christ the King School        Haddonfield, N.J.
   Chimney Lakes Elementary       Jacksonville, Fla.
    Citrus Park Elementary        Tampa, Fla.
Grosse Pointe South High School   Grosse Pointe Farms, Miss.
    St. Mary's High School        Independence, Mo.
       Montebello School          Baltimore, Md.
    Sweet Apple Elementary        Roswell, Ga.
         Dore Academy             Charlotte, N.C.

Each week during the regular NFL season, members of the NFL Coaches Club choose a head coach whose leadership guided his team to the best performance that weekend. A winning school entry is then randomly selected from the geographic area of the NFL coach who is honored as the "Staples Coach of the Week." Both the coach and the school are announced the following Sunday during THE NFL TODAY pre-game show on CBS.

Staples Retail and Delivery is a business of Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLS), a $9 billion retailer of office supplies, furniture and technology to consumers and businesses from home-based businesses to Fortune 500 companies in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal. Headquartered outside Boston, Staples invented the office superstore concept and today is the largest operator of office superstores in the world. The company has over 48,000 employees serving customers through more than 1,100 office superstores, mail order catalogs, e-commerce and a contract business. More information about the company is available at http://www.staples.com.