<SUBMISSION>
<ACCESSION-NUMBER>0001104659-08-053867
<TYPE>8-K
<PUBLIC-DOCUMENT-COUNT>2
<PERIOD>20080819
<ITEMS>7.01
<ITEMS>9.01
<FILING-DATE>20080819
<DATE-OF-FILING-DATE-CHANGE>20080819
<FILER>
<COMPANY-DATA>
<CONFORMED-NAME>STAPLES INC
<CIK>0000791519
<ASSIGNED-SIC>5940
<IRS-NUMBER>042896127
<STATE-OF-INCORPORATION>DE
<FISCAL-YEAR-END>0227
</COMPANY-DATA>
<FILING-VALUES>
<FORM-TYPE>8-K
<ACT>34
<FILE-NUMBER>000-17586
<FILM-NUMBER>081028019
</FILING-VALUES>
<BUSINESS-ADDRESS>
<STREET1>500 STAPLES DRIVE
<STREET2>P O BOX 9328
<CITY>FRAMINGHAM
<STATE>MA
<ZIP>01702
<PHONE>5082535000
</BUSINESS-ADDRESS>
<MAIL-ADDRESS>
<STREET1>500 STAPLES DR
<CITY>FRAMINGHAM
<STATE>MA
<ZIP>01702
</MAIL-ADDRESS>
</FILER>
<DOCUMENT>
<TYPE>8-K
<SEQUENCE>1
<FILENAME>a08-21879_18k.htm
<DESCRIPTION>8-K
<TEXT>

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<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="5" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:18.0pt;font-weight:bold;">UNITED STATES<br>
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION<br>
</font>WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549</b></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<div align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><hr size="1" width="25%" noshade color="black" align="center"></div>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="5" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:18.0pt;font-weight:bold;">FORM&nbsp;8-K</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="3" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold;">CURRENT REPORT<br>
PURSUANT TO SECTION&nbsp;13 OR 15 (d)&nbsp;OF<br>
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Date of Report (Date of earliest event
reported): <b>August&nbsp;19, 2008</b></font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="5" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:18.0pt;font-weight:bold;">STAPLES, INC.</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(Exact name of registrant as specified in
charter)</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<div align="center">

<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" style="border-collapse:collapse;width:100.0%;">
 <tr>
  <td width="32%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:32.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">Delaware</font></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width="2%" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:2.0%;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;font-weight:bold;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width="32%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:32.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">0-17586</font></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width="2%" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:2.0%;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;font-weight:bold;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width="32%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:32.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">04-2896127</font></b></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="32%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:32.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><font style="font-size:10.0pt;">(State or other
  jurisdiction</font><br>
  </font>of incorporation)</p>
  </td>
  <td width="2%" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:2.0%;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="32%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:32.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><font style="font-size:10.0pt;">(Commission</font><br>
  </font>File Number)</p>
  </td>
  <td width="2%" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:2.0%;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="32%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:32.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><font style="font-size:10.0pt;">(IRS Employer</font><br>
  </font>Identification No.)</p>
  </td>
 </tr>
</table>

</div>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<div align="center">

<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" style="border-collapse:collapse;width:100.0%;">
 <tr>
  <td width="49%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:49.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">Five Hundred Staples Drive,
  Framingham, MA</font></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width="2%" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:2.0%;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="49%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:49.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">01702</font></b></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="49%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:49.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(Address of principal executive offices)</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="2%" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:2.0%;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="49%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:49.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(Zip Code)</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
</table>

</div>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Registrant&#146;s telephone number, including area
code: <b>508-253-5000</b></font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(Former name or former address, if changed
since last report)</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Check
the appropriate box below if the Form&nbsp;8-K filing is intended to
simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the
following provisions:</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Wingdings" style="font-size:10.0pt;">o</font> Written communications pursuant to Rule&nbsp;425
under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)</p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Wingdings" style="font-size:10.0pt;">o</font>
Soliciting material pursuant to Rule&nbsp;14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.14a-12)</p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Wingdings" style="font-size:10.0pt;">o</font>
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule&nbsp;14d-2(b)&nbsp;under the
Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))</p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Wingdings" style="font-size:10.0pt;">o</font>
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule&nbsp;13e-4(c)&nbsp;under the
Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))</p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<div style="border-bottom:solid windowtext 3.0pt;border-left:none;border-right:none;border-top:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:1.0pt 0in 1.0pt 0in;">

<p style="border:none;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><font size="1" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>

</div>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<div style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><hr size="3" width="100%" noshade color="#010101" align="left"></div>

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<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">Item 7.01&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Regulation FD Disclosure</font></b></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-indent:.35in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">On
August&nbsp;19, 2008, Staples,&nbsp;Inc. held a conference call to discuss the
company&#146;s integration strategy for its recent acquisition of Corporate Express
N.V. and its impact on the company&#146;s future financial results.&#160; The conference call transcript is attached as
Exhibit&nbsp;99.1 to this Current Report on Form&nbsp;8-K.</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-indent:25.1pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">The information in this Form&nbsp;8-K and the
exhibit attached hereto shall not be deemed &#147;filed&#148; for purposes of Section&nbsp;18
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the &#147;Exchange Act&#148;) or otherwise
subject to the liabilities of that section, nor shall it be deemed incorporated
by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933 or the Exchange
Act, except as expressly set forth by specific reference in such a filing.</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-indent:25.1pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">Item 9.01</font></b><b>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</b><b>Financial Statements and
Exhibits</b></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-indent:25.1pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">The exhibit listed on the Exhibit&nbsp;Index
immediately preceding such exhibit is furnished as part of this Current Report
on Form&nbsp;8-K.</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">2</font></p>

<div style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><hr size="3" width="100%" noshade color="#010101" align="left"></div>

</div>
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<div>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">SIGNATURE</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-indent:25.1pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed
on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" style="border-collapse:collapse;width:100.0%;">
 <tr>
  <td width="50%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:50.26%;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Date:August&nbsp;19,
  2008</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="49%" colspan="2" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:49.74%;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Staples,&nbsp;Inc.</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="50%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:50.26%;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="4%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:4.5%;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="45%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:45.24%;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="50%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:50.26%;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="4%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:4.5%;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">By:</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="45%" valign="top" style="border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:45.24%;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">/s/
  Kristin A. Campbell</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="50%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:50.26%;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="4%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:4.5%;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="45%" valign="top" style="border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:45.24%;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Kristin
  A. Campbell</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="50%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:50.26%;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="4%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:4.5%;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="45%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:45.24%;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Senior
  Vice President,</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="50%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:50.26%;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="4%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:4.5%;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="45%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:45.24%;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">General
  Counsel and Secretary</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
</table>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">3</font></p>

<div style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><hr size="3" width="100%" noshade color="#010101" align="left"></div>

</div>
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<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">EXHIBIT INDEX</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" style="border-collapse:collapse;width:100.0%;">
 <tr>
  <td width="7%" valign="top" style="border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:7.66%;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><b><font size="1" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:8.0pt;font-weight:bold;">Exhibit&nbsp;No.</font></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width="2%" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:2.08%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="1" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;font-weight:bold;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width="90%" valign="top" style="border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:90.26%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="1" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:8.0pt;font-weight:bold;">Description</font></b></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="7%" valign="top" style="border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:7.66%;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="2%" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:2.08%;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
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  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
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  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">99.1</font></p>
  </td>
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  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
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  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Transcript
  of August&nbsp;19, 2008 Conference Call.</font></p>
  </td>
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</table>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">4</font></p>

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<p align="right" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:right;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">Exhibit&nbsp;99.1</font></b></p>

<p align="right" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:right;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="right" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:right;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Transcript of Staples,&nbsp;Inc.
Conference Call</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Held on August&nbsp;19,
2008, 8:00 a.m ET</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:4.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Operator</font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Good
day, ladies and gentlemen. And welcome to the Corporate Express integration
plans and preliminary second quarter performance conference call. I will be
your coordinator for today. At this time all participants are in listen-only
mode. We will conduct a question-and-answer session towards the end of today&#146;s
conference. (OPERATOR INSTRUCTIONS) As a reminder, this conference is being
recorded for replay purposes. I would now like to turn the presentation over to
the host for today&#146;s call, Laurel Lefebvre, Vice President of Investor
Relations.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Laurel Lefebvre <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - VP, IR</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Good
morning and thanks for joining us. Before we begin I want to point out that
certain remarks we may make about management&#146;s future expectations, forecasts,
plans and prospects, constitute forward-looking statements. Actual results may
differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a
result of various important factors which are discussed or referenced under the
heading risk factors and elsewhere in our most recent Form&nbsp;10-Q and other
documents on file with the SEC. Please note that during this call we&#146;ll refer
to Staples&#146; preacquisition performance and expected future performance
excluding the impact of Corporate Express as Staples&#146; core business. With me
today are Ron Sargent, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and John Mahoney,
Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer. With that I&#146;ll turn the call over to
Ron.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Thanks
for calling in this morning. John and I wanted to give you an update on
Corporate Express. Where we are so far, and where we&#146;re going with the business
in the future. Over the years, we worked pretty hard to create one of the
world&#146;s best office products Company. We&#146;ve done this by investing in our
business during both good times and challenging times and the Corporate Express
acquisition is just another example of investing for the future.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">For
many years, the Staples&#146; team has delivered strong financial results through
consistent execution, as well as a focus on customer service. At the same time,
we&#146;ve managed our balance sheet carefully, which has put us in a position of
strength and has given us an opportunity to make a game-changing acquisition
like this one. We think that Corporate Express is a perfect fit with Staples.
This deal transforms us into a global, $27 billion multi-channel Company. The
acquisition helps us build our worldwide footprint. It fuels our long-term
growth. And most importantly, it&#146;s a transaction that drives shareholder value.
This morning, I&#146;ll recap the rationale behind the acquisition and also lay out
our early plans to achieve the expected synergies and after that I&#146;ll turn the
call over to John who will go into more detail about the financial aspects of
the acquisition and also give you an update on the challenging trends we&#146;re
seeing in our core business, driving disappointing second quarter performance.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Let
me begin by giving you a snapshot of Staples prior to the acquisition.
Pre-acquisition we sold office products and services in 22 countries through
multiple channels in three major business segments. Our North American retail
business had sales of $10 billion last year and operating profit margin of
9.5%. North American delivery, it&#146;s our second largest and most profitable
segment with 2007 sales of $6.6 billion and operating margin of 10.8%. Sales
for our international segment were $2.7 billion in 2007, with approximately
$2.5 billion coming from our retail and delivery operations in Europe.
International&#146;s 2007 operating margin was 3.6%.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">In
early July, Corporate Express became a part of Staples. Corporate Express had
sales of close to $8 billion in 2007. The Company has a widespread distribution
network spanning North America, Europe and Australia with close to 18,000
employees and operations in 21 countries. When you put the two together, today
Staples is a Fortune 100 Company with 94,000 associates worldwide and $27
billion in sales. The deal transforms Staples from a predominantly retail
Company into a global distribution Company with a strong retail network. Before
the acquisition, 60% of our sales came from our bricks and mortar locations and
the other 40% from delivery operations. Now that ratio is reversed with about
60% of our sales through delivery channels and 40% through retail. That&#146;s more
than $15 billion in annual delivery sales. The acquisition has also
significantly expanded our international business. Staples used to do 14% of
our business outside of North America and today this number is 23%.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

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<div align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">

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<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Let
me walk you through the strategic rationale of the acquisition. First of all,
the deal instantly gives us capabilities to serve the large customer segment in
new geographies. We didn&#146;t operate any contract business in Canada or Europe
before and now we&#146;ll be able to serve the large customer segment in those
important markets. We believe that this additional sale will accelerate both
our top and bottom line growth. The Corporate Express transaction also adds a
successful contract business in Australia and in New Zealand where we&#146;ve never
operated before. And in total, the combination expands our presence to 27
countries across five continents. Even more importantly, the deal more than
doubles the size of our contract business in North America, where we see the
most opportunity for synergies going forward with greater economies of scale
and shared best practices, we plan to drive meaningful efficiencies in our cost
structure in North America.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">We
will now have a much more global supply chain, providing a better platform to
bring greater value and resources to all of our businesses and customers.
Corporate Express also allows us to expand our offering in five key lines of
business. They have a sizable promotional products business which combined with
Staples promotional products makes us a powerhouse in this category. Corporate
Express is ahead of us in furniture and adding their quality of product and
delivery capability significantly improves our offer. They&#146;ve also done a great
job with facility supplies which includes environmentally friendly cleaning
products and they also have well-developed forms printing and data center
supplies, categories where Staples has never played. All told, these categories
fill out our offering and make us an even more attractive supplier to contract
customers.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">The
deal will be immediately accretive. We expect modest accretion this year and
much more meaningful accretion next year. As a result of combining these two
companies we expect total annual synergies to build to a range of approximately
200 million to $300 million over the three-year integration period. Our
opportunities in North America have the potential to create immediate value
while the additional capabilities and critical mass we now have in Europe
provide significant longer term upside. The synergies we&#146;re working on will
largely be achieved in four major areas. Procurement savings, overhead reduction,
sharing of best practices, and logistics network efficiencies. We expect the
quickest and most significant savings in the area of procurement. We&#146;re
currently reviewing and comparing all vendor contracts that Staples and
Corporate Express had in common and where differences are found, we will expect
our suppliers to provide the more favorable terms. Additionally, we are now
twice the size of our closest office superstore competitor and this should
offer us great competitive advantage due to economies of scale and will help us
obtain better terms from vendors in future negotiations resulting in better
prices for our customers. Greater scale will also favorably impact the cost to
develop owned brand products.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Not
only do we expect to buy better from our office product suppliers, we also
expect significant savings in other procurement areas. Things like
transportation, IT, hardware, software license, telecommunication services and
travel.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">The
second area where we expect significant synergies is from reducing overhead
expense. We&#146;re currently working on the optimal organizational structure and
expect to make key staffing decisions during the next few months.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Third,
we believe that there&#146;s a big upside in sharing best practices between the two
companies. Some specific opportunities for improvement include increasing the
average order size, reducing the number of small orders in our mix, and
increasing Internet penetration which drives down customer service expense and
decreases product returns. We also expect to drive higher productivity from the
salesforce. The last element and probably the longest to fully achieve will be
in the area of supply chain efficiencies, particularly here in the United
States. While we should see substantial early benefits from increased route
densities, the rationalization of our combined networks will take longer due to
the complexity of the systems involved and our aim to provide great customer
service. We plan to move cautiously and expect it may take several years before
we have a fully integrated warehouse network.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">In
addition to cost savings we also expect synergies that will drive revenue.
While there was significant overlap between the products and services Staples
and Corporate Express offered, there were also many lines that only one Company
carried. As a result, we expect to increase product sales to existing customers
of both Staples and Corporate Express.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">So,
how are we organizing our business to go after these synergies? Well, we have a
long tenured leadership team focused on integrating as well as growing the
combined businesses. An integration steering committee consisting of senior
leaders from Staples and Corporate Express meet regularly to oversee the
process and has already established time lines for achieving our synergy goals.
We&#146;ve created more than a dozen integration teams charged with planning time
lines and implementing action plans and these teams report into the steering
committee every month. Integration efforts will be focused first on the US, then
Canada and then Europe.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Shira
Goodman who is our EVP of Marketing here at Staples is leading Staples&#146; global
integration efforts and Tim Beauchamp, Corporate Express SVP of Distribution
Operations is heading up the US integration effort. We&#146;re also very pleased
that Corporate Express brings a great deal of leadership talent to our combined
organization. We&#146;ve created a new international structure which is now being
led by Peter Ventress, all business units outside of North America report
directly to Peter and we&#146;re excited to have him heading up this business which
will play a </font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">2</font></b></p>

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<hr size="3" width="100%" noshade color="#010101" align="left">

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<div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">significant
role in Staples&#146; long-term success. Jay Baitler is going to head up the new
combined contract business in North America and will continue to report to Joe
Doody, President of North American delivery. Jay Mutschler, former President of
Corporate Express US operations will report to Jay Baitler and will oversee
Staples National Advantage, the portion of our contract business that focuses
on Fortune 1000 customers. We are maintaining our SNA and SBA organizations and
have begun to realign the Corporate Express salesforce to fit into our
organizational structure. We&#146;re also happy to have many other key leaders join
staples to strengthen our team, including Mike Zahra, who heads up the Canadian
Contract business, Peter Damman who leads the contract business in Europe and
Grant Harrod, Managing Director and CEO of Corporate Express Australia.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Many
of you have asked about our brand strategy and how we plan to go to market. The
answer is we plan to quickly convert Corporate Express to Staples in North
America and in Europe and for now we&#146;ll continue to use the Corporate Express
brand in Australia and New Zealand. Our long-term plan is to evolve to the
Staples brand worldwide with a few exceptions such as the Quill brand here in
the United States. We feel great about how the integration is progressing but
we know combining the two large, complex organizations won&#146;t happen overnight.
There will undoubtedly be some challenges along the way and we have to keep our
eye on the core business during this process. Our teams understand how
important it is to successfully run and grow our business while at the same
time integrating the two businesses. The news of the acquisition has been very
well received by our customers and we will remain focused on meeting their
needs by moving quickly and thoughtfully as we work to realize synergies.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Our
North American delivery and European teams both have a solids track record of
integrating acquisitions and despite the fact that we&#146;ve only been working
together for a few weeks we&#146;ve got a lot of momentum and have already achieved
a number of quick wins and let me just highlight a couple of those quick wins.
Corporate Express was recently awarded a core supplies account from the state
government and Staples was awarded the paper and toner account for that same
state government. Representatives from both management teams worked with the
customer to combine the two into a single award which not only improves their
customer service, it also improves our profitability.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Second
of all, the combination of Staples copy business and Corporate Express&#146; print
business is helping to expand share wallet and expand relationships with
existing customers. Corporate Express customers have already asked for digital
copying bids for copy services that Corporate Express stand alone was not able
to provide. One of Corporate Express business unit was able to negotiate contract
terms with a delivery service provider. Giving Corporate Express the exact same
rates as Staples gets and here one phone call saved millions of dollars.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">As I
mentioned earlier, we&#146;ve already begun to move quickly on salesforce
integration. We&#146;ve taken over 100 Corporate Express salespeople who were
focused on their mid-market acquisition efforts and put them into Staples&#146;
unique training program. We&#146;ll be ready to deploy them in September&nbsp;into
the much more effective Staples mid-market model where we&#146;re seeing the best
growth in our portfolio. I&#146;m confident that with the expertise and talent of
our integration teams which are comprised of both Staples and Corporate Express
leaders, we will successfully combine these two companies while continuing to provide
great service to our customers.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I&#146;ll
now turn the call over to John so he can walk you through the impact of the
acquisition on our capital structure, discuss preliminary second quarter
results for our core business and outline our expectations for future
performance. John?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Thanks,
Ron. This morning I&#146;ll review the details of the transaction, update you on our
preliminary core business results during the second quarter and then discuss
our expectations for the rest of the year. Just to recap the deal, Staples
successfully completed the tender offer for the capital stock of Corporate
Express and repaid most of its debt. Total equity was approximately $2.9
billion and the debt that we repaid was valued at approximately $1.5 billion.
The total cash out was about $4.4 billion, net of cash acquired. We fully
expect our investment to provide returns above our cost of capital.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">How
did we pay for this acquisition and what&#146;s the impact on our capital structure?
As Ron mentioned, our financial strength put us in very good position to
complete this acquisition, despite tough market conditions.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Let
me just review the financing of the deal. We funded the acquisition through a
combination of our $3 billion bridge loan together with existing cash reserves
and our $750 million revolving credit agreement. The $3 billion bridge facility
back stops a commercial paper program which we launched in early July. We
currently have about $3 billion in outstanding commercial paper. Our commercial
paper average days outstanding is about 30 days, and the interest rate is
roughly 3%. Looking ahead, we&#146;ll create a more permanent capital structure when
market conditions are appropriate through a public bond issue. Interest rates
and actual mix of maturities will depend on market conditions. We completed the
acquisition while maintaining a strong investment grade credit rating. Going
forward our philosophy regarding capital structure and cash </font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">3</font></b></p>

<div align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">

<hr size="3" width="100%" noshade color="#010101" align="left">

</font></b></div>

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<div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">deployment
has not changed. We&#146;ll continue to reinvest cash back into the business, where
we expect to achieve returns greater than our cost of capital. We plan to
continue to pay a cash dividend and to resume share buybacks once our credit
metrics look more like what we had prior to the deal. In the near term, we&#146;ll
use our free cash flow to pay down short-term debt.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">In
terms of reporting, you&#146;ll continue to see the same three business segments,
all of Corporate Express North American operations will be reported under our
North American delivery segment with everything else falling into our
international segment. Please note that going forward, in addition to excluding
stock compensation from our segment operating income, we&#146;ll also be excluding
non-recurring integration and restructuring costs. Ron described key areas of
potential synergies we expect to achieve as we integrate Corporate Express into
Staples. Going forward you should see these synergies drive ongoing improvement
in margins. However as we integrate Corporate Express into our existing
business, it will become increasingly difficult to precisely track and measure
those synergy dollars that have been captured. For example, we&#146;re in the
process of blending the Corporate Express salesforce into our contract business
and as a result of our ongoing efforts to drive share of wallet improvements
and efficiencies in our contract operations, both will benefit from legacy
Staples and legacy Corporate Express businesses.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Turning
to an update of our core business, we&#146;ve seen tough economic conditions
continue to cause revenue weakness in all segments of our business. For the
second quarter, core business sales were up 3%, while diluted earnings per
share decreased by about 15%. Our North American retail top line sales
decreased 1%, and comparable store sales decreased 7% versus last year,
reflecting lower customer counts and average tickets. Our North American
delivery segment continued to grow above the market rate, but slowed with top
line increasing 2%. Finally, our international business saw top line sales
growth slow as sales increased approximately 17% in US dollars and 6% in local
currency. Europe comparable store sales were also impacted by weakness in
customer traffic and lower average order size, decreasing 7% versus 2007.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Despite
our disappointment in our sales and earnings performance, we&#146;re very pleased
with our results in customer service and variable expense management. We&#146;re
also happy with our new merchandising initiatives, excellent inventory control
and our strong free cash flow.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">So
what does that mean for the back half? We don&#146;t anticipate that the current
sales trends will turn around right away so we now expect low single digit top
line growth for the year. At the same time, we&#146;re firmly committed to
maintaining strong customer service levels and investing in growth ideas. So we
now expect core EPS on a diluted basis for 2008 to be about flat with last
year&#146;s adjusted EPS of $1.42. As you know, we&#146;re planning to report our second
quarter results including the month of July&nbsp;for Corporate Express in a
couple of weeks. With the inclusion of Corporate Express results for the month
of July, we expect the deal to have no impact to EPS for the second quarter and
for the back half of the year we expect the deal to be slightly accretive, then
building to more significant accretion in 2009.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">As a
result of the acquisition, the Company&#146;s estimated incremental interest expense
is a little more than $100 million in the back half of 2008. The Company&#146;s
preliminary forecast for amortization of intangibles is a range of 50 million
to $70 million for the same period and we expect these expenses to double in
2009. Additionally, we anticipate booking integration and restructuring costs.
While it&#146;s still very early to have firm estimates of these numbers, we&#146;d
anticipate a range of 30 million to $40 million in the back half of 2008 and a
range of 50 million to $70 million next year.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Taking
a look below the operating income line, we anticipate our effective tax rate
for 2008 to be approximately 34.5%, as we develop our tax planning strategy for
2009 and beyond, with the inclusion of Corporate Express, we&#146;ll look for
additional opportunities to reduce our tax rate. You should note that the
purchase accounting NOLs that we acquired with Corporate Express provide a cash
benefit but will not impact our effective tax rate. We expect to be able to use
a portion of NOLs in various jurisdictions and these will be included as a
deferred tax asset and have the potential to reduce future cash tax payments.
We anticipate strong free cash flows from the combined business that could
approach $1 billion for the full year after 500 million to $550 million in
capital expenditures.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">The
current tough environment has made it increasingly difficult to improve
profitability while maintaining the strength of our franchise through
investments in growth initiatives and customer service. Our acquisition of
Corporate Express demonstrates our optimism about the future of the industry as
we continue taking the right steps to maintain our leadership and build on our
foundation for long-term growth.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Before
we open the call up for questions, I would like to make a couple of
administrative announcements. We&#146;ll be hosting an Investor Day at our headquarters
in Framingham on October&nbsp;29, and 30, where we&#146;ll provide you with some
additional insight into our integration plans, have you meet new members of our
team and update you on all aspects of our business. We also expect to conduct
our quarterly earnings call a couple weeks later than usual through the
remainder of the year, as we work to integrate Corporate Express accounting
systems and processes. We&#146;ll announce those dates once they&#146;ve been formalized.
At this time, Ron and I would be happy to take your questions.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p style="color:#6B9915;font-weight:bold;letter-spacing:2.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-transform:uppercase;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:0pt;text-transform:none;">QUESTION AND ANSWER</font></b></p>

<p style="color:#6B9915;font-weight:bold;letter-spacing:2.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-transform:uppercase;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#6B9915;font-weight:bold;letter-spacing:2.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;text-transform:uppercase;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#6B9915;font-weight:bold;letter-spacing:2.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;text-transform:uppercase;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:0pt;">4</font></b></p>

<div style="color:#6B9915;font-weight:bold;letter-spacing:2.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-transform:uppercase;"><b><font size="1" color="black" face="Arial" style="color:windowtext;font-size:9.0pt;font-weight:normal;">

<hr size="3" width="100%" noshade color="#010101" align="left">

</font></b></div>
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<div>

<p style="color:#6B9915;font-weight:bold;letter-spacing:2.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-transform:uppercase;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p style="color:#6B9915;font-weight:bold;letter-spacing:2.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-transform:uppercase;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Operator</font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">(OPERATOR
INSTRUCTIONS) Our first question comes from the line of Matthew Fassler with
Goldman Sachs. Please proceed.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Matthew Fassler <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Goldman Sachs - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Thanks
a lot. Good morning and congratulations on getting this deal done.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Good
morning, Matt.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Matthew Fassler <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Goldman Sachs - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Good
morning. Two questions, if I could. First of all, the first question on the
legacy business, it looks like if you look at the drivers of the earnings
decline it was probably more so margin this quarter than revenue, though I
would imagine the revenue shortfall contributed. Can you talk about kind of how
the operating margins trended by business at least directionally in terms of
where you bore the brunt of the blow?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">As
you know, we&#146;re going to talk in some detail about that September&nbsp;3. But
directionally I would just say that as we&#146;ve gone through the year, the gross
margin dollars that we&#146;ve seen generated by the relative lack of sales have not
been enough to offset the operating expense that we feel is necessary to
continue to maintain great customer service and to be able to deliver the kind
of results that we expect to long-term. So given that we expect that this is
going to be relatively short-lived, we have not drastically or draconianly cut
back on expenses in the operating areas and so you&#146;re right, our operating
margin is down but I would tell you that the model remains intact and it&#146;s
largely the fact that our gross margin dollars, because of the slower sales,
have not been at a rate that allows us to maintain the business at a status
that we think benefits the long-term.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Matt,
as you know, sales cures all ills I think in most business and I think it&#146;s
safe to say that we&#146;re seeing a slowdown in both the consumer and to some
extent the business side and the frustrating thing is the slowing economy also
seems to be spreading a bit to Europe. But at the same time, we recognize that
there&#146;s a business cycle and that every five years there&#146;s going to be a
recession. It&#146;s going to last 13 to 20 months. And the last recession I guess
was 2001, I think we had seven quarters of negative comps. I guess this is our
fifth quarter of negative comps. And like I said last quarter, I think we&#146;re
kind of bumping along the bottom. I don&#146;t think the trend is down from here. I
think hopefully the trend is up from here. But at some point, I think you&#146;ve
got to make a decision that you&#146;re not going to make short-term decisions that
are going to harm your business long-term and that&#146;s kind of where we are.
We&#146;ve decided that we&#146;ve got to protect the franchise and we&#146;re not going to
mortgage our future by continuing to cut expenses to the bone. We&#146;re going to
continue to provide great service.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Matthew Fassler <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Goldman Sachs - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">To
the extent your expectations for the second half in terms of your earnings
growth look to be a little better than those for the second quarter, is that a
function of the seasonal softness in Q2 that just makes it a bit tougher?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Q2 is
a tough quarter because it&#146;s our smallest quarter of the year which makes it
harder to leverage anything.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Matthew Fassler <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Goldman Sachs - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Got
you. And then a second question, on the deal. If you could just give us an
early look at what the long run distribution footprint looks like. It sounds
like that will be the longest path if you will to your ultimate end game. Can
you give us some visibility into what that end game looks like here.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I&#146;ll
take a stab at it. Our first focus is on the US. We think the US is what&#146;s
going to pay for the bulk of the deal. We think the synergies are very large in
the US compared to Canada where we don&#146;t operate that business or Europe where
we don&#146;t operate that business we think there&#146;s some there.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">5</font></b></p>

<div align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">

<hr size="3" width="100%" noshade color="#010101" align="left">

</font></b></div>

</div>
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<br clear="all" style="page-break-before:always;">


<div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">On a
distribution side, Corporate Express in the US has 21 distribution centers.
They&#146;ve got nine in Canada. And Staples has 22 distribution centers in the US
and five in Canada. So we&#146;re looking at all of those and unfortunately we
haven&#146;t had the opportunity to do months and months of due diligence to see
exactly what we&#146;re going to do but I think in some cases there&#146;s a capacity to
combine two facilities into one. I think in some cases there&#146;s two small
facilities that can&#146;t handle the volume so we probably close two and open one.
But it will take some time. Somebody was saying the other day, we bought Quill
in 1998 and we just consolidated the last distribution center 10 years later.
Because we want to do it very carefully and not disrupt customers.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">We do
think there&#146;s some quick hits, particularly on the area of delivery. They also
have I think 1100 trucks doing delivery. We have about 700 trucks doing
delivery. We think the quick hit will be on the density side in terms of the
delivery and then as we consolidate product lines, systems, that will allow us
to consolidate some distribution centers. I think distribution is on a three
year plan, if you will. I think distribution probably gets under way in earnest
in year three.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Matthew Fassler <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Goldman Sachs - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Thank
you for the color.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Thanks,
Matt.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Operator</font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Next
question comes from the line of Chris Horvers with JPMorgan. Please proceed.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Chris Horvers <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> JPMorgan - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Thanks
and good morning.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Good
morning, Chris.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Chris Horvers <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> JPMorgan - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Can
you talk about the 200 million to $300 million in synergy that&#146;s you&#146;re
referring to, does that include any improvement that you can derive in the
profitability of the core Corporate Express business? And also, when you talked
about the doubling of expenses next year, are you referring to interest as
well?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">The
answer is yes. The estimate for both interest and amortization is double for
next year, both of them are. As far as the synergies are concerned, I think
that we believe that the synergies are effectively defined as either specific
cost savings or improvements that we can make in the business. So yes, I think
as we drive the operating margin rate for Corporate Express up, that will be
included in the synergies that we&#146;ve talked about so far. Now, as I also
mentioned, as we combine &#151; because in the US, the two businesses are exactly
the same, as we combine them it&#146;s going to be very difficult to be able to
distinguish between some of the profitability improvement initiatives that will
be under way at Staples that will benefit the Staples business as we&#146;ve talked
about moving our operating margin up over time, and those that are directly
related to Corporate Express. But clearly, you should look for the NAD
operating margin to expand over the next several years. Some of it will be
driven by synergy and some of it will be driven by productivity improvement.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Chris Horvers <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> JPMorgan - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Just
running through some basic math, if you said 200 to 300, pick the midpoint,
that&#146;s 250 of synergies, you&#146;re taking interest on at 220 and then the amortization
of 140, and then you add back the 70, you kind of start next year &#151; you kind of
starting out with maybe a $40 million headwind? I mean, am I looking at that
the wrong way?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">6</font></b></p>

<div align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">

<hr size="3" width="100%" noshade color="#010101" align="left">

</font></b></div>

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<div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">No, I
think that&#146;s reasonable.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Chris Horvers <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> JPMorgan - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Okay.
So then over time, it&#146;s really &#151; that&#146;s what I&#146;m trying to understand is if
there&#146;s &#151; what&#146;s the incremental opportunity outside that 200 to 300?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I
think as we sit here today, we&#146;ve just begun our integration planning. The
teams are reporting out the first time this week on a lot of their estimates
and we have preliminary ideas but the range is very fairly broad at this point
so we wanted to talk to you today about the things we feel very confident
about.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Chris Horvers <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> JPMorgan - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Got
you. Then two quick follow-ups. First, the organic growth rate and NAD that you
saw in 2Q and also is there any potential that if you had a two-year contract
with some organization that they can back out of the contract as a result of
this acquisition?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I
think as you know, the contract business is sort of a misnomer in the sense
that there&#146;s a mutual right to terminate the contract with reasonably short
notice, usually around 90 days. So as with our retail business, you almost have
to win your customer every day. It isn&#146;t something that&#146;s locked in for a long
period of time. As we&#146;ve done with other mergers, we&#146;ll look carefully at the
profitability of accounts, we&#146;ll try and make sure that customers understand
our value proposition. We&#146;ve had a great deal of luck of continuing with most
of the accounts that we&#146;ve acquired in prior acquisitions. So we&#146;ve assumed
that there&#146;s some turnover in accounts where the profitability might not meet
our needs but overall we&#146;re expecting that we&#146;re going to work very hard to
keep every single customer that we have in the portfolio.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Early
indications from our customers is they&#146;re happy about the expanded offering, in
some cases Corporate Express account is happy to have the Staples buying clout
and buying power behind them. I don&#146;t expect a big turnover in customers as a
result of this. In fact we&#146;re hoping to grow our customer base because of this.
Chris, you also asked about NAD growth, organic growth rate. I think John said
it was 2% this quarter, this past quarter and I believe that prior quarter was
5. So it has slowed down a little bit from the 5 to the 2.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Chris Horvers <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> JPMorgan - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Thank
you.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Thanks,
Chris.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Operator</font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Our
next question comes from the line of Stephen Chick with Friedman, Billings, Ramsey.
Please proceed.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Stephen Chick <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Friedman, Billings, Ramsey - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Hi,
thanks.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Good
morning, Stephen.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Stephen Chick <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Friedman, Billings, Ramsey - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">7</font></b></p>

<div align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">

<hr size="3" width="100%" noshade color="#010101" align="left">

</font></b></div>

</div>
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<div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Hey.
I guess first off I was wondering if you could speak to the state of the
Corporate Express business in terms of I guess what the LTM operating profit
level is that you&#146;re building synergies off of today maybe on a trailing basis
and what the organic growth rate is for them?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Well,
I think they did announce their earnings for the last quarter and I think
you&#146;ll recall that their growth rate was about 4% on the revenue line. And
their earnings were actually down from the prior year, slightly, but their
operating margin rate has been a little less than half of ours overall. And
we&#146;re trying to get a better understanding of what drives that between both the
US and Europe and that&#146;s part of the work the synergy teams are working on to
try and make sure that we have a really good understanding about how they
operate and obviously we think that there&#146;s some opportunities to improve
productivity, whether it&#146;s in the sales force or whether it&#146;s in G&amp;A and
all of those will help us drive improvement in the profitability that they&#146;ve
achieved over time.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">When
you look at the last &#151; the 2007 operating margins, I guess US or the office
products in North America is about in the 3s and Europe&#146;s in the 3s, 3%.
Printing is in the high 5s and Australia is little over 8% operating profit.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Stephen Chick <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Friedman, Billings, Ramsey - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Okay.
And do you guys plan on &#151; I mean, they&#146;ve been pretty good about reporting organic
growth rates in their business as you guys have in NAD. Do you plan on going
forward, telling us what that organic growth rate is for Corporate Express, at
least in the first year?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Yes,
I mean, we haven&#146;t exactly concluded how we&#146;re going to separate those and as I
mentioned, as we merge the salesforces, it isn&#146;t going to be very long before
it&#146;s going to be difficult to determine whether it&#146;s Staples or Corporate
Express in the US in particular. So we will certainly do our best to be as
transparent as possible about the impact of the acquisition, but the level of
precision we&#146;re going to be able to achieve year in is probably not going to be
great.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Stephen Chick <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Friedman, Billings, Ramsey - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Okay.
And just so we understand, can you just define, when you say slightly accretive
in this year, and then more meaningful next year, are we &#151; what kind of numbers
should we be thinking about? I mean, slightly accretive is that kind of $0.02 a
share for &#145;08 and what exactly would you &#151; would you characterize more
meaningful being for &#145;09?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I
mean, again, we try and be as clear and transparent as we know and when we
don&#146;t know, we say we don&#146;t know. And I think slightly accretive means slightly
accretive in the sense that we haven&#146;t been working at this for very long.
We&#146;ve got the synergy teams and the integration teams really under way for less
than a month and so I think we can&#146;t really be more precise than we&#146;ve been so
far.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Stephen Chick <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Friedman, Billings, Ramsey - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Okay.
And last thing, if I could. The intangible amortization, the 50 million to $70
million this year and double next, what exactly is that related to and what&#146;s
the useful life of that? Is it short-term or is that something that&#146;s going to
actually continue for 10 years?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Well,
it varies somewhat. As you know, the purchase accounting rules&nbsp;today
require that you try and identify any identifiable intangibles and amortize
them over the useful life. Some of them would be things like customer lists and
you can imagine a number of other intangibles that you might acquire,
everything from the value of some processes, et cetera. So we&#146;re in the process
of getting the valuation work done and I would assume that those amortization
periods would generally be relatively short, generally in the three to five
year range, I would say.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Stephen Chick <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Friedman, Billings, Ramsey - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Thanks,
guys.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">8</font></b></p>

<div align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">

<hr size="3" width="100%" noshade color="#010101" align="left">

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<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Operator</font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Our
next question comes from the line of Colin McGranahan with Bernstein. Please
proceed.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Colin McGranahan <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Bernstein - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Good
morning, thank you. I know it&#146;s pretty early here but I was hoping you might be
able to provide just a little bit of detail into some of the buckets where the
overhead reduction will be focused and maybe a little bit more detail into what
the specific integration costs will be, either in the back half of this year or
next year, just to give us some color on what those buckets.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I
guess I can try and do the best I can. If you think about selling, general and
administrative expense as overhead, we expect that the salesforce is going to
get substantially more productive as we benchmark one salesforce against the
other. We see room for improvement there. In all of the core administrative
functions, whether it&#146;s finance, HR, IT, all of the areas that traditionally
scale with size, we see substantial opportunities to improve there, whether
it&#146;s being able to put more transactions through our transaction processing
center or whether it&#146;s being able to buy our benefits better with more scale
through our HR group, we think overall we&#146;re going to see substantial
improvements in most of those areas.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I
mean, in terms of decisions about headcount specifically, I mean, we have told
the organization that by 1st of October, we&#146;ll have kind of an organizational
structure in place that we think is the right one for the go forward company
and I think we&#146;ll announce that on October&nbsp;1, and obviously treat people
well who are impacted by some of those decisions.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Colin McGranahan <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Bernstein - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Okay.
And integration cost, is that predominantly for, then, headcount reduction?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I
mean I think as we sit here today, there will be &#151; you could imagine that there
will be write-offs of software when we decide to go with one system versus
another. There will be certainly severance. There will be retention payments
made for people that are here temporarily as their job transitions. You can
imagine that as we begin to take a look at our distribution centers, that there
would be accrual for rent as we get out of some of those facilities. In
general, those would be the nature of most of the expenses.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Colin McGranahan <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Bernstein - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Sounds
like a sizable non-cash-portion then as well.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Yes.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Colin McGranahan <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Bernstein - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">You&#146;ll
detail that for us, obviously; right?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">As I
said, we try and give you as much detail as we reasonably know. We thought it
was important to give you some directional guidance now and I think between now
and our earnings conference call and our analyst day, you&#146;ll learn an awful lot
more about what we&#146;re planning.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Colin McGranahan <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Bernstein - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">CapEx
you said 500 to 550. Was that for &#145;08? What do you think is a run rate that we
should think about on a combined business level.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">9</font></b></p>

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</font></b></div>

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<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">That
is for &#145;08. Very early in the planning process, so I wouldn&#146;t think that we
would see substantial changes from that, but if you thought about 500 million
to $600 million for &#145;09, that&#146;s probably as good an estimate as I can give
without having done any capital budgeting for next year yet.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Colin McGranahan <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Bernstein - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Final
question for you, on the tax side obviously it&#146;s a fairly complex situation but
there&#146;s a very substantial NOL there. I think it&#146;s what, about 1.8 billion euro
of NOLs and Corporate Express said they didn&#146;t think they could realize 1
billion of those in euros. What&#146;s you&#146;re preliminary view on how much of those
NOLs you might be able to utilize?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Well,
as I said, there&#146;s about I&#146;d say $600 million of that that you lose as a result
of a change in control. The remainder will generally get set up as a deferred
tax asset on the balance sheet because as part of the purchase accounting, you
have to recognize the fair value of the assets acquired and the liabilities
assumed and so we&#146;ll see those amounts put as a deferred tax asset on the
balance sheet and we&#146;ll be able to use those against future tax payments, so
there will be a cash benefit but it doesn&#146;t affect our tax rate going forward.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Colin McGranahan <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Bernstein - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">But
do you think you&#146;d be able to actually utilize those through geographic
movement of income and maybe earning income where those NOLs actually reside?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I
think we&#146;ll be able to use a fairly substantial portion of them.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Colin McGranahan <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Bernstein - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Good.
Thank you.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Operator</font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Our
next question comes from the line of Dan Binder with Jefferies, please proceed.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Dan Binder <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Jefferies - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">They
didn&#146;t get it right this time.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">You&#146;re
going to have to give them advice before the call.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Dan Binder <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Jefferies - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Anyway,
just following up on the NOLs, just to be able to kind of net it out against
what you paid, any sense of what the present value of those NOLs look like or
is it too early?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">It&#146;s
really too early. It&#146;s a very complex area where I think there&#146;s two things at
play. One is understanding how they originated in each of the countries where
they originated and then the second is to try and make sure that we carefully
plan so that we don&#146;t do anything that would cause us to lose the benefit of
those NOLs but I think the order of magnitude you heard. We had about 1.8
billion euros whereas we lost about 600 million as we go forward, </font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">10</font></b></p>

<div align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">

<hr size="3" width="100%" noshade color="#010101" align="left">

</font></b></div>

</div>
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<br clear="all" style="page-break-before:always;">


<div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">we
expect to be able to use a substantial portion of those. But again, they won&#146;t
affect the tax rate. They&#146;ll affect &#151; but they will benefit us from a cash
perspective.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Dan Binder <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Jefferies - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Okay.
Are you building in any sales attrition during this integration process that&#146;s
accounted for in the synergy estimates and if so, what does that look like? Is
it 5% of the sales or 10% or&#151;?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I
think that there&#146;s two answers to that. For the purposes of our integration
planning and the teams that we&#146;re sending out there to work with customers,
we&#146;re assuming none. From the perspective of our financial planning for the
models that we&#146;ve &#151; the guidance we&#146;ve provided and the modeling we&#146;ve done to
achieve the numbers that we&#146;ve talked about today, we&#146;ve assumed modest loss of
sales. Either because the profitability of accounts aren&#146;t what they should be,
or because for whatever reason, somebody&#146;s not happy that Staples is now their
contract supplier.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">You
may recall several years ago when we went to our lowest total delivery cost
model, we had a number of accounts that weren&#146;t really profitable and we went
to them and said here&#146;s what drives our profitability. We think we can&#146;t work
with you based on the current profitability of your business and here&#146;s your 90
days notice and in most case this came back to us and said let&#146;s work it out.
Let&#146;s figure it out. We understand better what you&#146;re talking about and we lost
very few. We&#146;re expecting that same sort of result here. But we have provided
for a modest loss.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Dan Binder <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Jefferies - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Okay.
And then of the 2 million to $300 million synergies that you feel pretty
confident about today, understanding that it or what it sounds like
understanding that it might be more than that at some point, is that &#151; can you
take that and sort of break it down by the major categories that you&#146;ve
outlined here? Is 50% of it in purchasing or any kind of color you can give on
the major categories there?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">It&#146;s
fairly early, but in a very course basis, it&#146;s almost a third, a third, a
third.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Dan Binder <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Jefferies - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Okay.
And is it fair to say that if you had to put a guesstimate on it that we were
more likely to exceed versus fall short on these?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Well,
we&#146;re not going to give you numbers that we think we&#146;re going to fall short on.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Dan Binder <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Jefferies - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Okay.
The numbers do seem a little bit conservative. I guess we kind of anticipated
that to some extent. If you were to look at potential upside to that, what do
you think it could look like, if everything really went well?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I
think, Dan, we&#146;re here early on in the process. We&#146;re trying to give you as
good an understanding as we have about what we feel very confident about. And
since we haven&#146;t even heard really the detailed report out of all the synergy
teams yet, it would be awful difficult to say if there&#146;s any upside at all but
if there is, as we&#146;ve talked about all along, our goal is to make their
business, the Corporate Express business, look more like our business. Jay
Mutschler from Corporate Express, he says this is a little like changing a tire
while the car is driving at 50 miles an hour and to some extent it is. But I
think we&#146;ve got a pretty well-thought out approach and a plan and we&#146;ve tried
to segregate people who are working on integration from people who are running
the core business because we don&#146;t want to muck up our core business with
people spending time on integration. It&#146;s pretty analytical. It&#146;s pretty
methodical. It&#146;s a little plodding. I feel pretty comfortable that we&#146;re going
to get the synergies that we outlined and hopefully a lot more.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Dan Binder <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Jefferies - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">11</font></b></p>

<div align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">

<hr size="3" width="100%" noshade color="#010101" align="left">

</font></b></div>

</div>
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<div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Can
you give us any preliminary thoughts on where you can take the operating
margins for the major divisions at Corporate Express, particularly US and
Europe, longer term?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I
think, again, longer term it&#146;s going to look just like Staples&#146; business and
longer term we expect that we&#146;ve talked about where we can get the operating
margin to NAD to. So as time goes on, they&#146;ll morph together and longer term
you&#146;ll see an NAD operating margin that looks like what we predicted it would
be, 100 to 150 basis points higher than what we had in &#145;07.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I
don&#146;t think we&#146;re coming off of our international goal of 7.5% as well. I think
we&#146;re going to be working &#151; in fact, I think, if anything, this accelerates us
getting there.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Dan Binder <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Jefferies - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Then
lastly on the sourcing side, I think that you guys used the wholesaler or
wholesalers a little bit more for certain businesses than Corporate Express.
Can you give us an idea how that&#146;s going to fall out for that part of the
business?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I
think that&#146;s one where the integration team is really just in the process of
understanding the strategy for using the wholesaler, that each Company had and
I think we&#146;ll try and move to what we think is the best practice which combines
best customer service and lowest cost.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Dan Binder <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Jefferies - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Great.
Thanks.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Thank
you, Dan.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Operator</font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Our
next question comes from the line of Oliver Wintermantel with Morgan Stanley.
Please proceed.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Oliver Wintermantel <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Morgan Stanley - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Yes,
good morning.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Hi,
Oliver.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Oliver Wintermantel <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Morgan Stanley - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I
have a couple of questions regarding your capital structure going forward. Can
you give us an idea of what your debt to EBITDAR target ratio over the next one
or two years will be? And when you will plan to buyback stocks, what that ratio
has to drop if you start buying back stocks again?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I
think you ought to think about what the credit characteristics are for us
mid-investment grade, sort of BBB flat. It would be the target. So that if you
talked about a debt to total capital ratio in the low 50s and I think if you
had debt to EBITDAR, 3.5 or something, you&#146;d be in the range.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Oliver Wintermantel <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Morgan Stanley - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">12</font></b></p>

<div align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">

<hr size="3" width="100%" noshade color="#010101" align="left">

</font></b></div>

</div>
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<br clear="all" style="page-break-before:always;">


<div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Okay.
One follow-up. After you&#146;ve integrated Corporate Express, which segment or
which geography would you consider as your growth engine going forward?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I
think we have growth opportunities in every part of the business. I mean,
certainly North America is going to continue to grow for years to come.
Obviously, in terms of share of market, probably the biggest opportunity over
the next five years down the road is probably Europe. And internally, I&#146;ve said
over the next five years bulk of the growth is going to come out of North
America, probably the five years after that the bulk of the growth is going to
come out of Europe, both East and West Europe and then five years after that,
probably the opportunities more like in Asia. So we&#146;ve kind of got it teed up
for the next 15 years and then after that we&#146;ll let the next guy figure that
out.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Oliver Wintermantel <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Morgan Stanley - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Okay.
Lastly, can you just give us an update on your store opening plans, please?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Sure.
Like we said, over the last several years we&#146;ve been opening around 100 stores
a year and I think this year will be no exception. I think we&#146;ll probably share
a little more detail for the 2009 store plan at our upcoming analyst meeting in
October. But this year I think we&#146;re right on track to open the 100 stores that
we, seems like we always open here.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Oliver Wintermantel <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Morgan Stanley - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Thank
you very much.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Thank
you, Oliver.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Operator</font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Our
next question comes from the line of Todd Duvick with Banc of America. Please
proceed.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Todd Duvick <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Banc of America - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Yes,
good morning.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Good
morning, Todd.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Todd Duvick <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Banc of America - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I had
a follow-up on the fixed income side balance sheet question, really and I appreciate
your comments in terms of your financial priorities near-term and what I&#146;m
wondering about is you&#146;ve got about $3 billion of commercial paper on the
balance sheet and with plans to pay down short-term debt I&#146;m just wondering if
roughly half of that is the amount that you might be looking to term out in the
debt capital markets or if you could give us any color about how big the deal
size might be?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Sure.
I think that the deal size will depend on market conditions and that we&#146;ll be
looking to create a capital structure or a debt instrument that gives us
maturities that allow us to get our debt down over the next several years.
Clearly, with some component of it more permanent so that we don&#146;t have the
refinancing risk that you would be concerned about if all of it was very
short-term oriented. But we&#146;ll be in a position after we announce our quarterly
earnings to start to monitor the credit markets and take the temperature of
what levels of maturity and what interest rates seem to be optimum for us. So I
think it&#146;s a little too early to tell right now what the total amount of the
bond offering will be.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">13</font></b></p>

<div align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">

<hr size="3" width="100%" noshade color="#010101" align="left">

</font></b></div>

</div>
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<br clear="all" style="page-break-before:always;">


<div>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Todd Duvick <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Banc of America - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Fair
enough. And then also, since you do have more of an international footprint
today, when you look to tap that capital markets, would you primarily look at
the US market or would you consider other markets as well?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I
mean, our experience previously we did have a euro bond issue a number of years
ago and we found that it was a little bit more difficult to issue there. So I
think in order to be able to balance our currencies we would be more likely to
issue a US bond instrument and use swaps to be able to trade some of it in
Europe.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Todd Duvick <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Banc of America - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Okay.
Fair enough. Thank you very much.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Thank
you.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Operator</font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Our
next question comes from the line of Kate McShane with Citigroup. Please
proceed.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Kate McShane <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Citigroup - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Hi,
good morning.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Good
morning, Kate.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Kate McShane <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Citigroup - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Can
you talk a little bit more about the 7% comp store sales decline? Are you
seeing weakness across the board in the US or are there certain regions that
are weaker than others?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I
mean, when you report 7% negative same store sales, it&#146;s hard to say anything
is strong. It looks to me like everything is weak. You look at the kind of the
trend throughout the quarter. Seemed like May&nbsp;was a little better so we
had some optimism about the quarter. June&nbsp;and July&nbsp;were a little
worse which got to us the minus 7 and August, it seems a little better but
we&#146;ve been fooled before. In terms of kind of geography, really I think
probably Canada is coming back a little better than the US and obviously we&#146;re
seeing slower results in some of the areas of the country that are particularly
hard hit by the mortgage crisis. I think Phoenix was one that jumped out at me.
I think parts of Florida, parts of California, it really is a little mixed. But
I wouldn&#146;t say there&#146;s wide, broad differences between the four regions of our
US business. I think when you&#146;re reporting minus 7, I would argue that it&#146;s all
bad.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Kate McShane <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Citigroup - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Okay.
And this is a very small part of your business, but I wondered what the next
steps were in terms of ending your relationship with Lyreco for your Australian
business?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">We&#146;re
continuing to talk to Lyreco. We have a lot of respect for them and they&#146;ve
been a great partner for us for, gosh, almost a decade. I think it started with
a handshake in the mid- &#145;90s. That relationship is where if we have a European
customer, our US customer that wants to be serviced in Europe they </font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">14</font></b></p>

<div align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">

<hr size="3" width="100%" noshade color="#010101" align="left">

</font></b></div>

</div>
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<div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">can
handle that for us. Then obviously, if they have a European customer that wants
to be servicing the United States, we&#146;ve handled it for that. So we&#146;re trying
to make sure that we don&#146;t do anything to disrupt our customers that is
involved in that relationship, nor do we want to disrupt Lyreco&#146;s customers
that are involved. Ultimately we do have kind of a European partner now through
the acquisition of Corporate Express and I think going forward, we&#146;re going to
have to work out how that relationship winds down.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Kate McShane <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Citigroup - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Okay.
And then my final question is just the timing of synergies with the 200 to 300
over the next three years, is the bulk of that number coming in 2010 rather
than 2011 fiscal year?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I
think as we said, we expect the value of the acquisition to get more accretive
as the years goes on. I don&#146;t think we have a very specific idea of the ramp
today but as we said, we expect slight accretion this year and a little bit
more in 2009 and it will increase through 2010.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Kate McShane <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Citigroup - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Okay.
Thank you.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Thanks,
Kate.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Operator</font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Our
next question comes from the line of Gary Balter with Credit Suisse. Please
proceed.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Gary Balter <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Credit Suisse - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Thanks.
If I don&#146;t ask questions they start forgetting the name.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I
thought it was Binder.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I
wanted the question to come from Seth.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Gary Balter <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Credit Suisse - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I&#146;m
going to follow up a little bit on Dan&#146;s question for that. You had talked in
the past about 10% operating margins. Sounds like you&#146;re now pulling away from
that even with Corporate Express in there. Is that what we should be thinking
longer term?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">That&#146;s
what I&#146;m thinking, yes.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Gary Balter <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Credit Suisse - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Could
we ask, I&#146;d like to ask a theoretical question because one of the concerns we
get from clients is that you have not in the past focused as much on the
contract stationery business. Obviously your big growth has been delivery and
retail and then international and here, at the same time that things are
slowing down a little bit, and if you have a struggling Company, it&#146;s clearly
an accretive acquisition but is it the right use of your capital and is it the
right direction for the Company to go? Could you &#151; obviously you&#146;ve decided yes
and the Board&#146;s decided yes. Can you take us back in your thinking about
looking at this versus other alternatives and why you decided to go in this
direction.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">15</font></b></p>

<div align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">

<hr size="3" width="100%" noshade color="#010101" align="left">

</font></b></div>

</div>
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<div>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Let
me start and then Ron can clean it up. I think that the opportunity is really
very much delivery. We&#146;ve seen over the last number of years the delivery
business be our fastest growing and we&#146;ve tried to go to market without regard
to how customers buy from us, from delivery and over the last several years the
contract business has far and away been our fastest growing business. A good
part of that has come from our ability to be able to use the Staples linked
platform to create a contract experience for much smaller accounts. So I think
our view is that many of the assets that are deployed against contract, whether
it&#146;s websites, whether it&#146;s delivery and distribution, are leveraged over all
three delivery platforms, so I think that the question is really the value of
the salesforce which of course is a variable cost. So we feel great about the
ability to be able to address broadly the delivery market with multiple offers
and we think Corporate Express is a wonderful addition to that because not only
do they have a lot of great accounts, but they have some great electronics
capabilities in their website. They have a great salesforce and we&#146;ve already
learned some interesting best practices from them in the delivery and
distribution area. So I think it is a good strategic move and it is a good use
of our capital. Remember, the delivery segment is our best return business of
all of our segments.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">What
we&#146;re trying to create and maybe this is a little grandiose, but we&#146;re really
trying to create the quintessential 21st century retailer. I mean, multiple
channels, stores, web, delivery, we&#146;re trying to build a global brand. We think
there&#146;s huge leverage in kind of creating an own brand presence that makes
people think of office supplies. So we think own brand is another big
opportunity. When you look outside the United States, retail has not grown as
fast as delivery and most Europeans still buy office supplies through delivery.
Where in the US I think the mix is more retail than delivery I think when you
look in Europe. Particularly in places like India and Asia, delivery and
contract and relationships with larger customers is incredibly important to
build your brand.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">So I
think any time you make an investment in your fastest growing business and one
of your highest RONA business because you don&#146;t have huge fixed costs in this
business, and you&#146;ve already got great infrastructure in place, to me it&#146;s kind
of a winning idea and there&#146;s a lot of debate internally. You spend the money
on the retail side or the catalog side or the contract side and we felt like
given our lack of presence in Canada contract, Europe contract, Australia, New
Zealand, and huge synergies in the US contract business we just thought this
was a great opportunity and we typically are not a Company that likes to do
things on an unfriendly basis but we fought so hard for Corporate Express because
we thought there was such great, great opportunity for our shareholders and
that&#146;s kind of where we are today.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Gary Balter <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Credit Suisse - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Thank
you. That&#146;s very helpful.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Operator</font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Our
next question comes from the line of David Barden with Banc of America. Please
proceed.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">David Barden <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Banc of America - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Thank
you. Two quick questions. First of all, as you think about the new geographies
you&#146;re in, will you follow-up with retail in any of those markets? Is that a
logical thought process or&#151;?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Like
I said earlier, I think we want to be multi channel everywhere and I think
ultimately we will have all those channels, web presence, catalog presence,
contract and retail. I think obviously we have bit off a lot here and we want
to make sure that we pay our bills and get our balance sheet back to where we
would like it to be. And do I see us kind of using this as a platform for
retail? I do. But I don&#146;t see us using it as a huge platform for retail in the
future. We have a lot of work to do to integrate this business well before we
use it to enter new retail markets.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">David Barden <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Banc of America - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I
guess just on a different topic on that, just from a private label standpoint, I
mean, how are you thinking about that going forward with the combined Company?
I mean, A, who has a higher percentage of private label? And how will you go
about that?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">16</font></b></p>

<div align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">

<hr size="3" width="100%" noshade color="#010101" align="left">

</font></b></div>

</div>
<!-- SEQ.=1,FOLIO='16',FILE='C:\JMS\rmoralec\08-21879-1\task3099555\21879-1-mm.htm',USER='rmoralec',CD='Aug 19 15:00 2008' -->


<br clear="all" style="page-break-before:always;">


<div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I
mean, I think we&#146;ve been very clear. I felt we would have to do a lot of
research and we didn&#146;t have to do much research because I think the folks at
Corporate Express felt like particularly with the retail presence, the Staples
brand was very strong and that was the name they wanted to use in the US, in
Canada and in Europe. So we&#146;re going to be moving in a prudent way, not too
quickly, but I think we&#146;re going to be moving steadily towards having a Staples
brand presence in all those geographies and really try to build this as a
global brand. The great news is it saves you a ton of money on private label.
In terms of percentage, I would say it&#146;s probably fairly comparable. I think
Corporate Express might even do a little more as a percentage but they also
have a lot more SKUs. So I think probably Corporate Express is a little larger
than we are as a percent of total. But yes, we&#146;re going to move to Staples
everywhere with the brand, even in Australia it&#146;s something we&#146;re going to look
at down the road. Right now Corporate Express is a powerhouse in Australia and
New Zealand and nobody has ever heard of Staples. I think we&#146;re going to be
very cautious about that one.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">David Barden <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Banc of America - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">That&#146;s
years 15 to 20? All right, thank you very much.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Maybe
it&#146;s Australasia in years 10 to 15. All right, thanks David.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Operator</font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Our
next question comes from the line of Mike Baker with Deutsche Bank.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Mike Baker <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Deutsche Bank - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Thanks.
So just a quick follow-up on some of the accretion synergy numbers. So the
accretion slight this year, more next year, that&#146;s GAAP so that includes all
charges, interest expense, amortization, et cetera; correct?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Tax,
tip and gratuity.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Mike Baker <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Deutsche Bank - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Perfect.
Okay. And then on the synergy, or I guess the accretion number, so we know the
synergy, does it include any contemplation of Corporate Express&#146; top line
getting better or is it taking the existing top line and taking out some cost
savings and margin improvement to Corporate Express&#146; business as it looks now?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I
think as we&#146;ve said, we talked about our revenue growth rate overall. One of
the synergies that we think is important, or some of the revenue synergies, for
example, we talked about the copy and print, digital printing business that
Corporate Express doesn&#146;t offer today, selling that to their customers. They
have promotional products business to go along with the business that we
originally acquired as American Identity. I think that&#146;s going to be a
penetration opportunity, a revenue synergy, share of wallet. There&#146;s a number
of those things. Overall I think we would expect to see that as a component of
the synergies going forward but it will take some time before we have more
detail on that.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Mike Baker <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Deutsche Bank - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">That&#146;s
in the 200 to 300?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Yes.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Mike Baker <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Deutsche Bank - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">And I
guess, a couple of people have tried to get to it, but I guess if you add what
that 200 to 300 on, something roughly around Corporate Express&#146; current sales,
maybe a little bit higher, you do get a margin that does look like it&#146;s below at
least what I estimate your delivery business is in the US. Your </font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">17</font></b></p>

<div align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">

<hr size="3" width="100%" noshade color="#010101" align="left">

</font></b></div>

</div>
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<div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">contract
business I should say, we know what the delivery business is. So is that fair
to say, that this current working assumption is for a margin to not quite be
where Staples is and therefore I guess that&#146;s where people are looking for
potential upside?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I
think as we sit here today we don&#146;t know enough about the profitability of all
of their accounts. We don&#146;t know all the elements of the way they operate and
so I think what we&#146;ve done is we&#146;ve tried to give you a view of what we have a
good understanding of today and, while I&#146;m not saying that we&#146;re sure we&#146;re
going to see more than that, we would like to think that there are
opportunities beyond that and we&#146;ll let you know about them when we uncover
them.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Mike Baker <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Deutsche Bank - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Perfect.
Thank you.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Thanks,
Mike.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Operator</font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Our
next question comes from the line of Brian Nagle with UBS. Please proceed.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Brian Nagle <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> UBS - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Good
morning.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Hi,
Brian.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Brian Nagle <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> UBS - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">A
couple quick questions on the overall environment. First off, with respect on
the contract side, as you&#146;ve been &#151; following the acquisition of Corporate
Express. Have you seen any moves on pricing from some of your competitors, as
they may try to take advantage of disruption in the marketplace?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">On
the contract side, I think pricing is probably more up a little birth bit than
down because the cost of resin is causing the cost of office products to go up,
paper over the last couple years has gone up. I don&#146;t feel like our competitors
are being kind of predatory or lowering prices to get customers because I think
they&#146;re certainly dealing with profit pressures on their own in terms of
passing along some higher costs. So, I don&#146;t see that at all. I think the contract
business has been pretty rational.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Brian Nagle <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> UBS - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Great.
The second question, more I guess on the retail side. Back to school, you
alluded before that I think August&nbsp;started a little bit better than July.
Overall, any comments on back-to-school trends thus far?</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Yes.
We are right in the midst of back-to-school. We&#146;re seeing certainly in the
southern states, we&#146;re right in the throes of back to school and really the
northeast it&#146;s really kicking in right now. September&nbsp;is our kind of most
important back-to-school month and we just don&#146;t know yet. But obviously when
you&#146;re talking about negative comps, I&#146;m not happy about any of our sales right
now but August&nbsp;does seem a little bit better than June&nbsp;and July&nbsp;but
again, May&nbsp;seemed better than April&nbsp;too. It&#146;s just a little hard to
know because it&#146;s a little choppy and like I said, we are kind of bumping along
the bottom here.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Brian Nagle <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> UBS - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Thanks
a lot.</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">18</font></b></p>

<div align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">

<hr size="3" width="100%" noshade color="#010101" align="left">

</font></b></div>

</div>
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<div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Probably
have time for one more question.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Operator</font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Our
final question comes from the line of Joe Feldman with Telsey Advisory Group.
Please proceed.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Joe Feldman <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Telsey Advisory Group - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Hi,
guys, thanks for taking my last question. Quick question also about more of the
current environment. Earlier in the call I think, Ron, you had mentioned that
you&#146;re seeing this hopefully as more short-lived and one question was what is
short-lived in your mind? And two, where can you control expenses? Because at
some point I think you would agree you&#146;re going to have to tighten up in order
to help to offset some of that comp. I understand wanting to keep the staffing
levels at some good service but at some point you will have to take that hit a
little bit.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">I
guess to answer your question, I think at some point you get to a minimum store
volume on certain stores that you&#146;re not going to take the hit. You&#146;re going to
maintain your service and you&#146;re going to let the margins be what the margins
will be. Obviously if you&#146;ve got a $10 million store that moves to a $9 million
store you&#146;re going to flex payroll like we do every week. But I don&#146;t think kind
of alienating the customer in the short term is worth it. Because we&#146;ve got a
long view of this thing and we know that recessions don&#146;t last forever. How
long they last, I don&#146;t know. All we&#146;ve got, we&#146;ve had two recessions in our
history. One we kind of were growing right through it and the other one which
is most recent was 2001 where we saw seven quarters of negative comps. It
seemed to be at that case a little more business oriented where this one seems
to be a little more consumer-led and whether we&#146;re going to have seven quarters
of negative comps or six or eight, it just &#151; I&#146;m not that good at predicting
the future or the economic cycle.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">We&#146;re
certainly squeezing everything we can but we&#146;re &#151; and I think this quarter we
made the decision that &#151; you get to the point where even your retail costs, a
lot of them are fixed and we just don&#146;t want to mortgage our future because
it&#146;s easy to lose customers but it&#146;s very difficult to win them back. I think
the other point, I would make internally is, we&#146;re pretty proud of our team,
despite the results. They have managed our business very well and very
carefully in a very difficult time and they&#146;re working very hard to drive
sales, even in this lousy economy we&#146;re facing.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Just
to be clear, we did see the impact of expenses cause our operating margins to
deleverage this quarter, I think as we said. So we&#146;ve &#151; I think we&#146;ve reached a
point where we are not continuing to cut as aggressively as we would need to to
maintain the operating margin at this point.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Part&nbsp;of
your biggest fixed expense at this point would be rent. There, as I said
earlier, sales kind of cures all ills. Rent is fixed whether your sales are
great or your sales are lousy.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Joe Feldman <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Telsey Advisory Group - Analyst</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">That
all makes sense. Thanks for your &#151;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">John Mahoney <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - EVP, CFO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Thank
you, Joe.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Ron Sargent <i>&#160;</i>&#151;<i> Staples,&nbsp;Inc. - Chairman, CEO</i></font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Just
to wrap up. We&#146;re going to be sharing the details of our second quarter
results, we&#146;ll be doing that on September&nbsp;3. And then we&#146;re going to be
having our analyst conference meeting here in Framingham on October&nbsp;29,
with dinner, and then the bulk of the meeting will be the next day on October&nbsp;30.
Thanks for your time this morning and thanks for your continued interest in
Staples.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">19</font></b></p>

<div align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">

<hr size="3" width="100%" noshade color="#010101" align="left">

</font></b></div>

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<div>

<p align="center" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #003399 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Operator</font></b></p>

<p style="border:none;font-weight:bold;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;padding:0in;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

</div>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">Thank
you for your participation in today&#146;s conference. This concludes the
presentation. You may disconnect at this time. Have a great day.</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="color:#003399;font-weight:bold;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" color="black" face="Times New Roman" style="color:windowtext;font-size:10.0pt;font-variant:normal !important;font-weight:normal;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>

<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="98%" style="border-collapse:collapse;width:98.84%;">
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  </td>
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</table>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><b><u><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">Forward
Looking Statements</font></u></b></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">This transcript contains
a number of forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section&nbsp;27A
of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section&nbsp;21E of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934 (the &#147;Exchange Act&#148;). Any statements that are not statements of
historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements.&#160; You can identify these forward-looking
statements by the use of the words &#147;believes&#148;, &#147;expects&#148;, &#147;anticipates&#148;,
&#147;plans&#148;, &#147;may&#148;, &#147;will&#148;, &#147;would&#148;, &#147;intends&#148;, &#147;estimates&#148; and other similar
expressions, whether in the negative or affirmative.&#160; These forward-looking statements are based on
current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the industry
and markets in which we operate and management&#146;s beliefs and assumptions, and
should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and
notes to consolidated financial statements.&#160;
We cannot guarantee that we actually will achieve the plans, intentions
or expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements made.&#160; There are a number of important risks and
uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from
those indicated by such forward-looking statements.&#160; These risks and uncertainties include,
without limitation, those set forth under the heading &#147;Risk Factors&#148; of most
recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.&#160; We do not intend to update publicly any
forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise.</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">20</font></p>

<div style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><b><font size="3" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold;">

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</font></b></div>

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