OfficeMax to Close 50 Stores, Trim Expansion

OfficeMax Inc. will close or relocate as many as 50 stores next year and scale back expansion plans. The company, whose shares have lost almost half their value this year, said it will offer transfers to about 2,000 employees. The affected store locations were not disclosed. OfficeMax also said it will open fewer stores in fiscal 2001 than the 54 it had earlier planned. OfficeMax said the scaled-back expansion will allow it to address problems with its supply system and was not prompted by competition in the office-supply industry. But a company spokesman said competition was a factor in the decision to close some poorly performing stores. OfficeMax said also it agreed to pay $5.1 million to settle a lawsuit resulting from a contract dispute with a unit of truck rental company Ryder System Inc. that it had hired to work out problems in its distribution system. The company will write off $14.4 million in revenue that it had expected to be refunded as part of the Ryder agreement. That will result in a third-quarter charge of $19.5 million, or about 10 cents a share. Shares of Shaker Heights, Ohio-based OfficeMax closed up 31 cents at $2.88 on the New York Stock Exchange.