Office Depot (NYSE:ODP), celebrating 25 years as a leading global provider of office supplies and services, today announced that it has been recognized by DiversityBusiness.com, the nation's leading multicultural business-to-business website, as one of the "Top 50 Organizations for Multicultural Business Opportunities" for the 12th year in a row. Office Depot was ranked 4th on the list, a move up of two spots from last year.

The annual list, dubbed the Div50, recognizes companies for the volume, consistency, and quality of business opportunities granted to women and minority-owned companies. The Div50 has become a highly-valued metric of corporate excellence in the diversity space.

"We are proud to be named one of the top organizations for multicultural business opportunities for the 12th consecutive year," said Steve Calkins, Senior Vice President of Office Depot's Business Solutions Division. "Office Depot is committed to supplier diversity, and our ranking on the BusinessDiversity.com Div50 list further shows our dedication to supporting women and minority-owned businesses."

Office Depot's comprehensive Supply Chain Diversity program gives Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs) ample opportunities to grow and prosper. The Company actively seeks out promising HUBs that are certified minority-, women-, disabled-, and veteran-owned to ensure equal opportunity in the supplier selection process. Office Depot also produces an annual HUB catalog that features an assortment of more than 1,600 items from select HUB suppliers.

In addition, the Company has affiliations with national organizations such as the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the Small Business Administration (SBA), and other organizations that share Office Depot's goal of making a positive impact on economic development through supplier diversity.

For more information on Office Depot's diversity initiatives, please visit www.officedepot.com/diversity.

About DiversityBusiness.com

Launched in 1999, DiversityBusiness, with over 250,000 members, is the largest organization of diversity owned businesses throughout the United States that provide goods and services to Fortune 1000 companies, government agencies, and colleges and universities. DiversityBusiness provides research and data collection services for diversity including the "Top 50 Organizations for Multicultural Business Opportunities", "Top 500 Diversity Owned Companies in America", and others. Its research has been recognized and published by Forbes Magazine, Business Week and thousands of other print and internet publications. The site has gained national recognition and has won numerous awards for its content and design.

About Office Depot

Celebrating 25 years as a leading global provider of office supplies and services, Office Depot is Taking Care of Business for millions of customers around the globe. For the local corner store as well as Fortune 500 companies, Office Depot provides supplies and services to its customers through 1,656 worldwide retail stores, a dedicated sales force, top-rated catalogs and global e-commerce operations. Office Depot has annual sales of approximately $11.6 billion, and employs about 40,000 associates around the world. The Company provides more office supplies and services to more customers in more countries than any other company, and currently sells to customers directly or through affiliates in 58 countries.

Office Depot's common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP. Additional press information can be found at: http://mediarelations.officedepot.com and http://socialpress.officedepot.com/.

Office Depot
Rebecca Rakitin, 561-438-1450
Rebecca.Rakitin@officedepot.com
or
Don Mears, 561-438-7054
Donald.Mears@officedepot.com