Staples, Inc.

Framingham, Mass. - Staples has signed onto “100% Talent: The Boston Women’s Compact,” an effort to end the gender-based wage gap and advance women in the workforce. Staples has pledged to work with Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh in a public-private partnership to make Boston the best city in the country for working women.

New York – Activist investor Starboard Value LP, which holds a 4.5% ownership stake in Staples Inc., is telling Staples it needs to improve its board of directors to complete a proposed acquisition of Office Depot. In an open letter to members of the Staples board from Starboard Value managing member Jeffrey C. Smith, the combined companies’ board must have the “proper skill set” in place to oversee the integration.

Chillicothe, Ohio -- Petland has appointed former Walmart exec Tony Samples as VP of corporate stores. Samples will lead Petland's retail store division and oversee the company's merchandising and marketing efforts.  

"Tony brings extensive retail experience to Petland at a time when Petland is expanding its retail footprint," said Petland president and CEO Joe Watson.

Boca Raton, Fla. – Office Depot Inc. is seeing some fiscal benefits from its November 2013 merger with OfficeMax. The retailer shrank its net loss in fourth quarter 2014 to $84 million, from $120 million in the same quarter the prior year.

Net sales climbed 10% to $3.83 billion, from $3.49 billion.

Framingham, Mass. – The office supply retail vertical may be in for more consolidation. According to the Wall Street Journal, Staples Inc. and Office Depot Inc. are in the “advanced stages” of negotiations to combine the two biggest U.S. office supply chains.

New York -- Activist investor Starboard Value LP, which helped put together the merger of OfficeMax and Office Depot, issued a letter on Tuesday calling for Staples Inc. and Office Depot Inc. to merge, saying it would lead to greater savings.

As part of its ongoing strategy to drive sustainability innovation, Staples will be giving away $25,000 in new tech products to 10 “eco-focused” schools in Canada in 2015.

Publicly funded schools that are focused on the environment are invited to enter the contest atStaples.ca/PowerEco and share their eco initiatives for a chance to win. The Staples Superpower your School Contest runs through Jan. 31.

Framingham, Mass. – About 1.16 million customer payment cards may have been exposed in a security breach at Staples Inc. earlier this year. In an update on the breach situation, Staples said that criminals deployed malware to some POS systems at 115 of its more than 1,400 U.S. retail stores, providing access to data from purchases made from July 20 through Sept. 16, 2014.