As someone who used to manage an office and staff, one of the worst things was sending someone out for supplies. It seemed like normally reliable people would be gone forever. Online ordering is really the only way to go for 75% of the supplies you need for an office these days.
The thing with an office supply store is that 95% of the things they sell are low-cost items that are meant to be used and then either published (in the case of paper or ink) or thrown away. Quality is so unimportant that purchasing decisions are made on the basis of price and convenience. That is a tough business climate for a retail chain.
I run a small business and have been using Staples for years. Once a week or so, I stop in the neighborhood store and stock up on basic business supplies. Papers, inks, envelopes, and odds and ends that we end up needing. It is becoming more and more difficult to shop there. They are constantly moving the inventory around the store! You can’t find anything! That’s why your employees take so long. They play hide and seek with the items. I want to get in and get out, not spend my afternoon “Shopping.” The management of Staples has no idea who their customers are.
All their in store promotions ask you to purchase on line. All their employees tell you to purchase the stuff you can’t find (which may be in the store) on-line. When I do, it’s not going to be from Staples, when Amazon is half the price.
It’s too bad, they drove the local Mom and Pop business supply stores out of the neighborhood, now they don’t want to have a store themselves.