| Seventeen years ago, Staples, Inc., the worldwide | | | | separate section from the rest of the host store. |
| office supplies and equipment chain, began its West | | | | Certain stores tout Staples EasyTech, an in-store and |
| Coast expansion by building stores in the city of Los | | | | on-site service for computer repair, upgrades, as well |
| Angeles, CA. By 1997 the company was sufficiently | | | | as home and office networking setup. |
| established that it bought the naming rights for the | | | | Because of industry competition, Staples has been |
| Staples Center, Los Angeles' premier sports and | | | | testing a program named 'Heavy Up,' mainly using |
| entertainment complex. | | | | stores in New York State, since 2005, to experiment |
| Staples, Inc. is the globe's biggest office supplies and | | | | with expanding the services offered by the Tech |
| equipment retail store chain, with more than 1,900 | | | | Center. Another test, called 'Double Up' began running |
| stores worldwide, including locations in the U.S., Canada, | | | | early in 2006 in unspecified markets. This is all being |
| Belgium, England, Germany, Portugal, Spain and | | | | done to gain an advantage on competing services like |
| Sweden. A catalog business serves customers in | | | | Best Buy's Geek Squad and Circuit City's Firedog. |
| Argentina, Brazil, China, France, Denmark, Austria and | | | | In 2006, Staples also launched the 'Easy Resident |
| Italy. The company, which started out in | | | | Tech' program, which utilized one or two repair |
| Massachusetts, sells items like office machines, | | | | technicians to do in-store computer repairs in business |
| furniture, technology and business services. | | | | hours. On-site work, though, is available when desired. |
| Staples-dot-com is its online Web site. | | | | Beginning in Fall 2007, the company launched a |
| Offering an extensive number of services to its | | | | 'Security by Staples' initiative, which attempts to inform |
| customers, Staples has copy and print centers for | | | | customers how to avoid identity theft, data loss, and |
| things like faxing, business cards and custom stamps. | | | | other similar Internet threats. It also offers a wide |
| Stores also feature UPS pickup and delivery during | | | | variety of products and services to keep customers' |
| business hours. The copy center is virtually a store | | | | identities, as well as personal and business data, |
| inside a store, especially since most of them are in a | | | | safeguarded from common security threats. |