Evanston Office Depot expected to close in October

Evanston’s Office Depot location is closing in mid-October, according to store employees.

Evanstonians will still be able to find some of the supplies Office Depot carries by shopping at stores, such as the downtown Target, Blick Art Materials and the Applied Ergonomics office furniture store. But Office Depot has been the only all-in-one stop for just about anything one might need for an office. The store carries everything from pens to printers to office desks, and even items that might be useful to office workers outside the workplace, such as laptop bags and luggage.

The Evanston location is one of only a handful of Office Depot locations accompanied by a co-working space.

Office Depot is already offering discounts on just about every item in-store, and they are selling off shelves and other furnishings, as well.

The closure comes as a number of people working at an office five days a week lags behind the pre-pandemic numbers. But the office supply store market was shrinking even before 2020. Evanston used to also have Office Max locations at Sherman Plaza and on the Evanston side of Howard Street, near the McCormick Boulevard.

The ODP Corporation, which currently owns both Office Depot and Office Max chains, did not respond to a request for comment by deadline. According to the company’s second quarter of 2024 financial report, sales were down 10 percent compared to the second quarter of 2023.

The report stated that the “decrease in reported sales is largely related to lower sales in its Office Depot Division, primarily due to 58 fewer retail locations in service compared to the previous year and reduced transactions, as well as lower sales in its ODP Business Solutions Division.”

ODP CEO Gerry Smith was quoted as saying that the performance was “below our expectations” for several reasons, including issues on the retail side.