OfficeMax COO departs company

Naperville, Ill. OfficeMax said Thursday that executive VP and COO Sam Martin has left the company, effective July 21, to become CEO of another public company.

OfficeMax has not said where Martin is going.

Chairman and CEO Sam Duncan will assume Martin’s COO duties, effectively immediately, and said the office supplies retailer will not immediately seek a replacement for Martin.

However, the company announced earlier this year that Duncan himself is slated to retire in February 2011, noting that it had begun the search for a new CEO.

Martin was named COO of OfficeMax in 2007. Duncan credits him as having had an integral role in the turnaround of the company.

"We thank Sam for the many contributions he has made to OfficeMax during his tenure at the company,” said Duncan. “He was an integral part of the successful turnaround of OfficeMax … I am committed to overseeing the COO responsibilities going forward. Our team remains highly focused on the successful execution of our five-year strategic growth plan."

For the upcoming August/September issue of Chain Store Age, senior editor Katherine Field talked with Reuben Slone, executive VP supply chain for OfficeMax, who reported to Martin, about the five-year strategic plan.