Boca-based Office Depot plans to cut 13,100 jobs

Company said it also intends to close more retail stores

Office Depot, seeking to cut costs and sharpen its mission to focus on business customers, intends to cut 13,100 jobs and shut an unspecific number of retail stories and distribution centers.

The company, which is based in Boca Raton, quietly made the announcement this week in a brief filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. There was no mention of the initiative being influenced by the coronavirus pandemic that has savaged the national and state economies.

But earlier this month, the company withdrew its financial estimates for 2020, citing the uncertainties of business disruptions worldwide and by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The restructuring plan includes closing and/or consolidating distribution facilities and retail stores and the reduction of approximately 13,100 employee positions by the end of 2023,” the filing said. “The company is still evaluating the number of potential retail store and distribution facility closures, as well as the timing of any such closures.”

The plan is expected “to be substantially completed by the end of 2023,” the filing added.

The company estimated the overhaul will cost it up to an estimated $543 million. The company expects to fund the spending from existing operations and cash on hand.

By the time the overhaul is complete, the company will have saved $860 million, the filing said.

Store closings have been a way of life for the company, as Office Depot management and other retailers sought ways to operate in a world of online shopping.

Last year, CEO Gerry Smith said the company intended to close more stores in 2019 than the previous year. By the end of 2018, Office Depot had shuttered 154 of the 300 stores it planned to close over three years.

Through May 2019, management operated 1,350 Office Depot and OfficeMax stores nationally and employed about 2,000 at its Boca Raton headquarters.

One key Smith objective was to develop Office Depot as a business services company rather than a traditional office-supply retailer, a strategy that was reflected in the SEC filing this week.