Struggling Amazon rival has closed 100s of stores, more closing in 2025

While the internet has only captured about 16% of overall retail sales, according to Census.gov data, it has still changed how people shop.

Consumers no longer need to visit a store to shop. It means that when items they plan to purchase aren't things they need to see in person, there's no reason to go to a store.

I used to go to Staples when I needed to make a copy or fax something. Those things rarely come up and, when they do, the UPS store has more convenience locations and offers those services.

The changing marketplace hurt some retailers more than others. Office-supply chains have been hit really hard because nobody likes going to buy printer paper or related products.

"Staples CEO Ron Sargent said that customers were using fewer office supplies and migrating to online shopping, reducing the ability to sell add-on items and making them more value-conscious. In response, Staples will close about 225 stores by 2015, with expectations to cut costs by $500 million as a result," The Motley Fool's Dan Caplinger reported all the way back in 2014.

In more recent years, the overall industry has struggled.

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“The office supply store industry has faced choppy waters recently, battling shrinking profit and declining demand due to digitalization and intense competition. In 2025, the industry’s revenue will stand at $20.9 billion, reflecting a drop of 1.8% from the previous year. This decline aligns with the industry’s overall five-year CAGR of -4.0%,” IBISWorld reported.

Staples has steadily been closing stores, and more have shuttered recently.

Recent and upcoming staples closures (2024-2025)

• Norwalk, Connecticut (654 Main Ave.): This Staples location closed permanently on August 8, 2025.
  Source: CT Insider
• Howell, New Jersey: The Howell Staples closed on October 3, 2025.
  Source: 92.7 WOBM
• Whitehall Square, Pennsylvania: A Staples store there is confirmed to close on January 2, 2026, with clearance sales already underway.
  Source: The Sun
• Multiple stores nationwide: According to a 2025 industry-wide analysis, more than 45-60 Staples stores are expected to close this year, affecting areas with declining foot traffic or overlapping locations.
  Sources: Yahoo Finance, Money Times
• Overall U.S. store count (as of October 2025): 929, indicating a shrinking footprint over time.
  Source: ScrapeHero

Staples is part of a broader trend

About 15,000 retail stores are expected to close this year, according to data from retail analysis firm Coresight Research.

If this estimate is accurate, it will be significantly higher than last year, as "store closures totaled 7,325 in 2024, the highest number of store closures seen since 2020 when Coresight Research tracked almost 10,000 closures," the firm said.

Closures "outpaced openings in 2024 with a net loss of 1,355 stores," according to the data.

Office supplies have also seen less demand, and that market has been shared by Staples, direct rival Office Depot, and Amazon.

"Data from Euromonitor also shows a steep decline at office supply and stationery stores over the past five years, with the market contracting by 38% between 2016 and 2021," RetailDive reported.

Circana: U.S. office supplies industry (2025)

• Sales Revenue: Sales revenue across physical and digital retail channels totaled $11.5 billion in 2024, representing a 5% decline compared to the previous year.
• Unit Demand: Total unit demand fell by 2% in 2024.
• Outlook: The outlook for 2025 remains challenged but increasingly stable, with a projected 2% decline and expected industry flattening through 2027.
  Source: Circana

Staples' fall has been long

Staples has been a private company since 2017, but its fall from grace can be traced back to years before that.

"Staples’ strategic position began to erode when it moved away from an EDLP (every day low prices) value strategy toward one reliant on widest range and convenient locations. New competitors, both digital (Amazon) and brick and mortar (Walmart), eventually were able to claim price leadership — which became critical in the recessionary economy," EnvZone reported.

The company has not course corrected, and having already closed hundreds of stores (roughly 400 since its peak), the chain now finds itself fighting for its share of a shrinking industry.

“The office supply store industry has faced choppy waters recently, battling shrinking profit and declining demand due to digitalization and intense competition. In 2025, the industry’s revenue will stand at $20.9 billion, reflecting a drop of 1.8% from the previous year. This decline aligns with the industry’s overall five-year CAGR of -4.0%,” IBISWorld reported.

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