Ministerio de Salud - Ministerio de Hacienda

Staples was incorporated in 1985 as a Delaware corporation for an unlimited period of time. Staples has

its registered office at Five Hundred Staples Drive, Framingham, Massachusetts 01702, United States of

America (telephone number +1 (508) 253-5000). As per January 31, 2015, Staples had approximately

44,400 full-time and 34,675 part-time employees in the U.S. and abroad.

Shares of the Company having a par value of US$ 0.0006 per Share are publicly traded on the Nasdaq

Global Select Market (the “Nasdaq”). The ticker symbol for the Company’s Shares is “SPLS.” The ISIN

Code of the Company’s Shares is US8550301027.

Staples is a world-class provider of products and services that serve the needs of business customers and

consumers. Staples is committed to providing superior value to its customers through a broad selection of

products, easy to use websites and mobile platforms, an integrated retail and online shopping experience

and a wide range of copy and print and technology services. Staples pioneered the office products

superstore concept by opening the first office products superstore in Brighton, Massachusetts in 1986 to

serve the needs of small businesses, and currently serve businesses of all sizes and consumers in North

America, Europe, Australia, South America and Asia. Staples’ delivery businesses account for a majority

of its sales and many of its delivery customers place their orders online, making Staples one of the largest

internet resellers in the world.

Staples and its subsidiaries operate three business segments: North American Stores & Online, North

American Commercial and International Operations.

The North American Stores & Online segment includes the company's retail stores and Staples.com

businesses in the U.S. and Canada. The Company's strategy for North American Stores & Online focuses

on offering easy-to-shop stores and websites with quality products that are readily available and easy to

find, and courteous, helpful and knowledgeable sales associates to support customers across all channels.

The Company's goals are to continue to be a destination for core office supply categories like ink, toner

and paper and to build scale and creditability for products and services beyond office supplies, such as

copy and print services, facilities and breakroom supplies, as well as a full assortment of vertical focused

solutions to serve industries like retail, restaurants, health care, and education. The Company's associates

are trained to deliver excellent service by engaging with customers, focusing on solution selling, and

encouraging customers to shop across channels.

The Company operates a portfolio of retail store formats, tailored to the unique characteristics of each

location. The Company's North American Stores & Online segment consisted of 1,364 stores in the

United States and 315 stores in Canada at the end of fiscal 2014. In an effort to improve store productivity

and effectively manage the Company's cost structure, it is closing, downsizing and relocating stores. As

part of the plan to close at least 225 stores in North America by the end of fiscal year 2015, the Company

closed 169 stores in fiscal 2014 and expects to close approximately 60 stores in fiscal 2015. In addition,

over the past few years the Company has reduced the size of its store prototype from 24,000 square feet to

12,000 square feet and incorporated enhanced omnichannel features to better address changing customer

needs and the dynamic and competitive environment in which the Company competes.

Staples.com and Staples.ca are designed to reach small businesses, home offices and consumers, offering

next business day delivery for most orders in the majority of the Company's markets. Over the past few

years the Company has made significant investments in talent, technology, pricing, and marketing while

significantly expanding its assortment to enhance the customer experience online. The Company has

successfully launched new desktop and mobile platforms, improved site speed, enhanced usability, and

increased customer acquisition and conversion.

The Company believes that its integrated network of stores and online businesses provide a differentiated

experience for its customers. The Company has increased its focus on maximizing the synergies between

Staples.com and its retail stores with the introduction of new concepts including ship to store, in store

kiosks, online retail store inventory lookup, as well as buy online pickup in store. These new concepts

offer customers a more seamless shopping experience, regardless of whether customers physically visit its

retail stores or its websites.

The North American Commercial segment consists of the U.S. and Canadian businesses that sell and

deliver products and services directly to businesses, including Staples Advantage and Quill.com. The

Company's strategies for North American Commercial focus on expanding in categories beyond office

supplies, increasing the Company's share of wallet with existing customers, and acquiring new customers.

The Company is also focused on serving its customers by evolving its team-based contract selling model

which is more unified and collaborative. The Company is also driving growth in categories beyond core

office supplies by adding specialists who have expertise in selling products like facilities and breakroom

supplies, furniture, promotional products, print solutions and technology.

The Staples Advantage contract business focuses on serving the needs of mid-sized businesses and

organizations as well as larger regional businesses and Fortune 1000 companies. Through the Company's

contract sales force it offers full service account management, free delivery, customized pricing and

payment terms, usage reporting, the stocking of certain proprietary items and a wide assortment of

environmentally friendly products and services.

Quill.com is an internet and catalog business with a targeted approach to serving the needs of small and

mid-sized businesses in the United States. Quill.com has rapidly expanded its assortment in categories

beyond offices supplies to serve the evolving needs of its customers. To attract and retain its customers,

Quill.com seeks to offer outstanding customer service, and builds loyalty through its Quill brand products

and special services. Quill.com also offers a specialized assortment of office supplies and products for

health care professionals. Quill.com is viewed separately from the Company's Staples.com business in

that its customer base is somewhat different and it targets exclusively the business customer.

The Company’s International Operations segment consists of businesses in 23 countries in Europe,

Australia, South America and Asia. The markets for office products and services in these countries are

highly fragmented.

The Company’s European Office Products business represents a balanced multi-channel portfolio serving

contract, retail, internet and catalog customers in 16 countries. The Company's contract business includes

sizable operations in Scandinavia, Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The Company

operates 284 retail stores in Europe, with the largest concentration of stores in the United Kingdom,

Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal. It operates internet and direct mail catalog business with a

significant concentration of sales in France, Italy and the United Kingdom.

The Company’s strategies for its European Office Products business focus on expanding its assortment

beyond office supplies and increasing its mix of business services with a focus on copy and print,

streamlining its information technology systems, further developing its ecommerce platform, expanding

and leveraging best practices from its North American businesses, including its mid-market contract

selling model. The Company is also focused on improving profitability by consolidating sub-scale

businesses, streamlining operations to improve efficiencies, increasing sales of higher margin Staples

brand products and improving the performance of its supply chain.

Staples Australia serves primarily contract and government customers in Australia and New Zealand. In

addition, the Company operates a public website which targets small business and home office customers.

The Company's strategies focus on improving sales force productivity by increasing customer acquisition

and retention, and by providing customers with a broad assortment of products and services, including

office products, facility and breakroom supplies, technology, business furniture and print management.

The Company continues to build a foundation for growth in Asia and South America. The Company

operates retail and delivery businesses in China, Argentina, Taiwan and Brazil. The Company also has a

franchise arrangement in India with its former joint venture partner.

In document Boletín Oficial. Gobierno de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires. "2009 Año de los Derechos Politicos de la Mujer" (página 72-78)