Office Depot Store Closures Announcement Makes Shoppers Hesitant

Office Depot is one of a small number of office supply stores in my area. The store itself is located in the major shopping area for Hattiesburg, Miss., right next to the Turtle Creek Mall on Hardy Street and within easy driving distance to all of the major highways in the area. Its super location and cheaper prices on most office products makes it a must shop store for myself and many other people I know. I make purchases at the store at least once a month for paper products, print cartridges and items such as pens and paper clips. We have purchased printers, portable DVD players and even craft supplies there in the past.

Now that Office Depot has announced in its press release that it plans to shut down over 100 stores nationwide, I am not sure whether I should continue to shop there or not. If the store in Hattiesburg were to close, I would have to make a choice between shopping at a smaller and less conveniently located office supply store where the prices are higher or at a large warehouse store such as Walmart. While Walmart does have some office supplies, their selection is quite limited at times with prices that are not always as competitive as I would like. Perhaps, the change would not effect us as much as I feel it will, but I would hate to have to change stores. My shopping at Office Depot is something I enjoy and that I find to be frugal and easy.

While the store closures have been announced, they have not listed which stores will be closing. The lack of information makes me hesitant to shop at our local Office Depot at this time. Why take a chance on purchasing a big ticket item in a store that could be closing shortly? I would hate to have to ship a return to another store or drive it there. The uncertainty is likely to cause a decrease in the business for our local Office Depot until an announcement is made as to which stores are actually closing. While I understand the need for the company to close some stores due to the economic situation, I certainly do wish that they would give us more information on which stores will be closing and how it will effect returns, exchanges and the availability of items at the stores.