Office Depot Hires CEO From AutoZone

Delray Beach, Fla., The nation’s No. 2 office-products specialty chain has a new chief. Office Depot hired Steve Odland, 46, as chairman and CEO. Odland has been chairman, president and CEO of AutoZone since January 2001.

Neil Austrian, who has been interim CEO of Office Depot since October, described Odland as an executive with a track record of delivering financial results and an executive with a background in the key areas of marketing and merchandising.

With the appointment, Office Depot expanded the size of its board of directors from 11 to 12 members, and elected Odland to the board. Austrian will continue to serve as a member of the board, and will resume his duties as chair of the company’s finance committee.

AutoZone appointed J.R. Hyde III as non-executive chairman of the board of directors on an interim basis and William C. Rhodes III as president and CEO. Hyde is the founder of AutoZone and has been a member of AutoZone’s Board of Directors since its inception. Rhodes was previously executive VP, store operations and commercial.