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Struggling office supply giant Staples Inc. (Nasdaq: SPLS) may have just found a way out of its imminent demise… Sort of.
The Wall Street Journal reported today (April 4) that Staples is exploring a sale and is "in talks with potential private-equity bidders," roughly one year after a federal judge blocked its proposed $6 billion tie-up with Office Depot Inc. (Nasdaq: ODP).
The news sent Staples stock up as much as 15%.
Should there be a sale, it could value the retailer at roughly $7 billion or more, according to WSJ. The company currently has a market value of about $5.7 billion.
You see, Staples and its peers have been drowning in the face of competition from e-commerce giants like Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN). In fact, Amazon now accounts for more than $1 billion of office supply sales in the United States – and those sales are growing by about 20% monthly, Fortune reported in May 2016.
Staples has cut more than 16% of its full-time U.S. workforce since 2011 – down to 44,000 from just 53,000 employees six years ago – to cope with the rising costs of doing business.
And while the costs to compete are rising, Staples' revenue has been declining…
In fact, during that same period, the company's annual sales fell a whopping 9% — down to $22.5 billion from $24.7 billion.
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Even worse, SPLS stock has fallen more than 52% — from $20.89 in 2011 to just $9.59 today.
Indeed, Staples is just the latest example of how e-commerce has slammed retail stocks. Many more retailers are in just as much trouble…
And when these stocks start to crumble, your money is at risk.
We've compiled a list of companies on our "Retail Death Watch" list, exclusively for Money Morning members, so you can be ahead of the curve.
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Staples deliver me any product in one or two days at my house or in there store at the same prices as Amazon , some better
I would really hate to see Staples stores go away. Not only do I enjoy browsing there, One of my best excuses for getting away is "I'm going to Staples. I'm out of______________(fill in the blanks).
We have established a relationship with the personnel at the local Staples.
They're very competitive and have not charged for much technical assistance received.
Also, items not in stock are ordered and delivered promptly.
BILL HACKENBERGER