Following its buying of OfficeMax, and need for a bigger space, Office Depot will soon be moving its headquarters to a new 625,000 square-foot property in Boca Raton, Fla.
The new space will be able to take in the employees from the company's building in Naperville, Ill. The company will keep this location until the move is completed.
Office Depot factored in many aspects to see how it could keep strides with competitors Staples, and Amazon.com.
"We appreciate the significant efforts from legislators in Illinois and the generous support we have received from the state of Florida, Palm Beach County, and city of Boca Raton," Office Depot Chairman and Chief Executive Roland Smith said in a statement The Wall Street Journal reported.
The move could be helped by tax breaks granted by Illinois legislators if a vote passes in at least January. These are predicted to total $53 million in 15 years.
OfficeMax has been headquartered in Naperville dating back to 2005. Approximately 1,600 staff positions of the company's 2,000 total employees currently work at this location.
"It is too early to estimate how many employees will relocate from Illinois to Boca Raton," an Office Depot spokeswoman told Crain's Chicago Business.
Naperville appears to have been the anchor for the community.
"The whole city of Naperville is saddened by the fact that OfficeMax and Office Depot have decided to move to Boca Raton," Naperville Mayor George Pradel told Crain's. "In addition to being Naperville's sixth-largest employer, they do all kinds of community work for our schools."
"The economic impact of the loss of professional-level salaries and benefits is substantial," Christine Jeffries president of the Naperville Development Partnership told Crain's. "It's a huge blow."
There are 900 OfficeMax stores in the United States, and Mexico. Office Depot consisted of 1,675 across the globe. These locations saw $11.5 billion in yearly revenue, and employed 39,000 workers.
