Unless it can rebrand itself, Office Depot is not going to make it. The modern way of business has not been kind to Office Depot and they recently admitted they are closing more stores in 2020, and 2021. While they focus on business-to-business plans to move forward, it is my belief that they are missing the important businesses…small businesses.
To help them out, I designed a new brand to show what they could become. Similar to Staples new rebranding effort in 2019, Office Depot needs to review their “why” and come up with a good reason for being in business. Simon Sinek always says, “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” Office Depot has no real purpose for small business owners, but I think they can change this.
New Name: First, change the name. No one knows if they are Office Max, or Office Depot, or a subsidiary of Staples. They should just be called The Depot which will open up their store to offer new services for everyone.
Dynamic Co-Working Spaces: The Depot has almost 30.3 million square feet of office space worldwide (as of 2018.) This can be easily converted to hot desks as they already have all the office desk supplies! I call them dynamic because they need to also convert to serve as classrooms for teaching. The entrepreneur/maker-movement is still growing and there are plenty of teachers that can help local communities join in. Coding classes, hand-lettering lessons, product photography instruction and Etsy shop mentoring to name a few.
MUJI Supplies - As almost everything in The Depot comes from overseas anyway, it makes perfect sense to embrace this and bring in MUJI. This white label brand makes everything and this will be a great way to get people into the store. If you haven’t been to a MUJI store yet, be careful as it is dangerous.
E-commerce shipping: Mailing packages is becoming impossible for small businesses, especially internationally. This pain-point can be quickly resolved by offering container shipping options. Large companies like The Depot get great shipping rates that they can pass along to local makers and also offer discounts on customs import duties.
Find and embrace a new ‘why’: If you go to The Depot’s website they don’t have any soul or character. If you care to read their “About Us” page, they spend 820 words on how much they have grown since 1986…very inspiring…yawn. As they grow to become a learning center for entrepreneurs and small business owners, I believe they will create their new why through their local stores. People will see how to grow their own businesses and come to depend on the resources available in The Depot’s stores and networks. People helping people…it’s that simple.
Collaboration with business owners: The Depot can bring in and showcase real business owners to local individuals looking to start their own companies. Live training sessions, networking meetings, and masterclasses to give people what they are looking for. While it is easy to say they can get this online, it is hard to know if the information can be trusted. Bring in some vetted mentors to show others that it can be done. One idea - How to Start a Food Truck - and offer lunch at the end!
Pair-down the selection: Do people really need 191 different all-in-one-printer options? Or 372 choices of copy paper? This makes room for all the new services in the store.
Build on the TUL brand: The TUL pens and office products are the best thing that has come out of this store in the last few years. They have embraced the rise in high quality stationery goods and have a great team working on growing their product line. I did a full review of their pens here and stand by their work.
Summary: The Depot may not make it but I hate to see empty stores when I drive around. I am tired of watching companies that I like to shop at close up and become Halloween Express stores. There is no reason to prop up outdated stores, but if they can’t see the writing on the storefront wall, they won’t make it to 2021.
Cheers,
Mike Linn
