Office Depot and National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) Launch Campaign to Help Business Professionals Get Organized in the New Year

BOCA RATON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--How diligent are business professionals about keeping a clutter-free workspace? Not very, according to a new survey* conducted by MARC Research for Office Depot (NYSE: ODP), a leading global provider of office products and services. While workers agreed that messy desks cost them time, missed deadlines and reputation, 32% of respondents admit to a disorganized workspace and 45% confessed to cleaning up the clutter only once a month or less. To support “National Clean Up Your Desk Day,” Office Depot is launching an effort to help professionals get - and stay - organized in the new year.

“The biggest challenge is knowing where and how to start as well as finding the motivation to do so. We’re happy to partner with Office Depot on any initiative that helps people get organized.”

Office Depot’s organization survey revealed that:

30% of respondents report having lost an important document due to a messy desk
Food (32%), old newspapers (32%), coffee cups (31%) and spare shoes (12%) were cited as the most likely items to cause workspace clutter
Disorganization commonly leads to lost time (47%), meeting tardiness (16%) and missed deadlines (14%)

“We think National Clean Up Your Desk Day is a great time to kick off a commitment to getting organized, and Office Depot is the right place to go for the products and the tips to help professionals keep that commitment,” said Chuck Rubin, President of North American Retail for Office Depot. “We’re even providing customers with a 10% discount on organization products that they can download right from our Facebook fan page.”

Office Depot has also created a “Get Organized” tab on the Company’s Facebook page offering resources and tips for business professionals to get off to a smart start in the New Year, including:

A “Take Back Your Desk” pledge that visitors can download, sign and bring to their local Office Depot retail location for a discount on organizational products
A “What’s Your Organizational Style” brochure that helps identify your organizational habits and offers strategies and tools to increase productivity
Top Ten Tips for getting organized in the new year from entrepreneur and business owner Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevy Impala in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series^™

“Every business professional knows being organized pays dividends, from increased productivity to the satisfaction of being able to actually see past the piles on your desk,” said Laura Leist, President of NAPO. “The biggest challenge is knowing where and how to start as well as finding the motivation to do so. We’re happy to partner with Office Depot on any initiative that helps people get organized.”

Office Depot has a great line-up of “must have” products to help business professionals get and stay organized in the New Year. Featured products include:

Planners

The Day-Timer Avalon Simulated Leather Organizer Starter Set features retractable handles and multiple inside pockets for a stylish way to remain productive and organized while on-the-go.
The Day-Timer “Briefcase” combines function and fashion with ample flap pockets to store receipts, PDAs, phones, credit cards, pens, markers and more.
3M Post-It® Weekly Planner helps you keep all of your appointments in one place with 52 weekly planning pages and six pads of Post-It® Super Sticky Notes to color code all of your different business activities.

Files & Folders

Office Depot Stadium Expanding Files helps you keep track of important paperwork and project details.
Office Depot Mobile File Cart is perfect for carting files and moving papers between meetings. When in transit, the Mobile File Cart collapses for the ultimate in portability.

Labels and Label Makers

The Office Depot LabelManager 260P Label Maker offers 6 font sizes, 7 styles and works with a variety of label sizes.
The Brother Electronic Desk Top Labeler offers a variety of framing mode patterns and comes with a built in memory to store up to 9 of your most frequently used labels.

Storage

A 10 Pack of Legal Letter Corrugate File boxes holds letter and legal size files so you can quickly locate and access important documents.
The durable Office Depot Index Card Storage Box is ideal for organizing and storing index cards, recipes, and pictures.

Essential Equipment and Top Tech Picks

The line of Ultra Thin and Light Notebook Computers from Toshiba are perfect for staying productive and organized while out of the office. These lightweight and portable computers come pre-loaded with Windows 7®, a large-capacity hard drive, and blazing fast processor.
Just in time for tax season, the Ativa MD460C Shredder and Tax Calculator Combo lets you calculate your taxes and then shred the documents you no longer need.
The stylish and functional Ativa line of Flash Drives allow customers to safely store and transport important business documents, photos, music and more.
Save space and time with the new HP Officejet Pro All-in-One Printer that prints up to 35ppm and comes with built-in wireless connectivity.
The Seagate 500GB FreeAgent Go External Portable Hard Drive allows you to backup, store and organize your important digital files – all in a single, secure location.

For organizational tips from the experts and more information on the smart solutions available at Office Depot, please visit your local Office Depot retail store location. Customers can also log on to www.officedepot.com or www.facebook.com/officedepot.

About Office Depot

Every day, Office Depot is Taking Care of Business for millions of customers around the globe. For the local corner store as well as Fortune 500 companies, Office Depot provides products and services to its customers through 1,585 worldwide retail stores, a dedicated sales force, top-rated catalogs and a $4.2 billion e-commerce operation. Office Depot has annual sales of approximately $14.5 billion, and employs about 42,000 associates around the world. The Company provides more office products and services to more customers in more countries than any other company, and currently sells to customers directly or through affiliates in 49 countries.

Office Depot’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP and is included in the S&P 500 Index. Additional press information can be found at: http://mediarelations.officedepot.com.

*Survey Methodology

The Office Depot survey was conducted by MARC Research via a telephone consumer poll of 1,023 people who currently work in an office environment and have a desk or workspace of their own. Respondents were recruited via a random-digit-dial phone methodology. The survey was completed in December 2009.