No. They cannot buy in volume and cannot compete with the online retail prices.................
While I’ve taken advantage of it as much as anyone, in fairness the sales tax exemption for online purchases needs to go. It is just another wy the playing field is tilted, however it is probably true that local businesses, even when buying through cooperatives to gain volume cost advantages, cannot compete with Amazon.
Yet every business that partronizes Staples is clearly able to go to Amazon instead. So the issue is not Amazon vs. Staples, it is Locally-owned business vs. Staples. And since what Staples basically does is dislodge local businesses when they come into a market the reverse will happen when they leave, with some fraction deciding they can live with online purchasing instead.
Staples serves local demand, just as the local stores that preceeded them did. Staples business model was consolidation of local demand, just like WalMart did in general merchandise, and since WM already has the distribution channel and IT in place it would not surprise me to see them expand their office supply offerings as Staples retreats. If WM Supercenters have bakeries and drug stores, they can have copy and print shops as well.