Company to launch same-day delivery

BOCA RATON — Starting Sept. 6, small businesses and other consumers in Fort Lauderdale and Miami won’t have to take time to stop at their local Office Depot to refill office supplies. Office Depot will come to them.

Office Depot is launching same-day delivery of office supplies in regions including Fort Lauderdale and Miami, the Boca Raton-based company said Monday.

The quick delivery is through Deliv, a California-based logistics firm that provides same-day delivery and returns for retailers and other businesses. Same-day delivery from Office Depot is scheduled to launch first, on Aug. 28, in Atlanta and Los Angeles.

Customers in those areas who shop officedepot.com will have the option of scheduling same-day delivery between 8 and 11 a.m., between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., between 2 and 5 p.m., or between 5 and 8 p.m. Office Depot said it is waiving delivery fees as an introductory offer, for a limited time.

Deliv has set up national sameday delivery for Amazon and for AmazonFresh in California, according to Deliv’s website.

Gerry Smith, CEO of Office Depot, said in a news release that the same-day delivery better makes use of the company’s retail stores as “assets.” In a recent conference call with analysts, Smith said he viewed Office Depot’s 1,400 stores as “an asset, not a liability,” and that Office Depot would add more products and services to leverage what he sees as the company’s competitive edge to online sellers — using its stores as additional distribution centers.

Smith, who joined Office Depot as CEO in February, has been applying his technology background from companies including Lenovo and Dell to Office Depot. In June, the company invested in a technology startup, San Francisco-based Centriq Technology, to revamp its mobile app for business customers.

By the end of 2017, Office Depot said it expects to roll out same-day deliveries in several additional markets.

mpounds@sunsentinel.com, 561-243-6650 or twitter: @marciabiz