Office Depot, National Hurricane Center and Greater Miami Chamber Partner to Help Prepare South Florida Businesses for Hurricane Season

Office Depot®, (NYSE:ODP), a leading global provider of office products and services, and National Hurricane Center Director William Read will join the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, June 17 to educate South Florida business owners on the importance of disaster preparedness.

According to a recent Office Depot survey, four out of 10 small businesses are not ready for a potential disaster such as a hurricane. When asked what prevents them from preparing their businesses, respondents say they have not done so because readiness planning is currently not a priority (37%), that it is too expensive (17%), and that they do not know what to do in order to adequately prepare their business (11%).

“Businesses and individuals throughout South Florida are keenly aware of the need for disaster preparedness plans – particularly as we enter Hurricane Season – but this awareness doesn’t always translate into action,” said Tom Serio, Director of Global Business Continuity for Office Depot. “We want to reinforce that there are a number of simple and affordable ways that businesses can prepare, especially since disruption events can happen any time.”

Serio will join with Read to address small business owners at the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce’s “Business Continuity & Hurricane Outlook 2008” forum on June 17 in Miami, FL. Serio will speak on how small businesses can effectively respond to a crisis and protect their most irreplaceable assets: their employees and their data. Read will provide the Greater Miami Chamber with a 2008 Hurricane Season outlook that will also feature an interactive question and answer session. The event takes place at the Ray Goode Ryder Conference Center at 1601 Biscayne Boulevard.

In support of small business readiness planning, Office Depot is also offering a free brochure entitled Expecting the Unexpected: Disaster Preparedness Strategies for Small Business. Available at www.officedepot.com/getprepared and at select Office Depot retail locations, the brochure highlights simple and affordable solutions on how businesses can protect their people and data, and provides preparation checklists and guidelines on how to get started.

About Office Depot

Every day, 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 products and services to its customers through 1,670 worldwide retail stores, a dedicated sales force, top-rated catalogs and a $4.9 billion e-commerce operation. Office Depot has annual sales of approximately $15.5 billion, and employs about 49,000 associates around the world. The Company provides more office products and services to more customers in more countries than any other company, and currently sells to customers directly or through affiliates in 43 countries.

Office Depot’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP and is included in the S&P 500 Index. Additional press information can be found at: http://mediarelations.officedepot.com.