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Office Depot Named to Two Prestigious Lists in the Area of Vendor Diversity; WBENC and DiversityBusiness.com Recognize the Company for Its Work With Women and Minority-Owned Businesses

DELRAY BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 24, 2004--Office Depot, Inc. (NYSE:ODP), one of the world's largest resellers of office products, today was named for the third time to the Women's Business Enterprise National Council's (WBENC) annual listing of America's Top Corporations for Women's Business Enterprises. In addition, DiversityBusiness.com acknowledged Office Depot for the fourth time last week when it named the company a Top Corporation for Multicultural Business Opportunities of 2004, including Office Depot in it's "Div50". Office Depot is the only retailer to appear on both lists. "We are thrilled to be included on these esteemed lists and to be recognized for the contributions we make to women and minority-owned businesses," said Robert Ballou, Director of Vendor Diversity for Office Depot. "Diversity is part of our corporate culture, and we will continue to strategically develop relationships in the office supply industry to introduce minority and women-owned businesses to the market." The WBENC listing of America's Top Corporations for Women's Business Enterprises WBENC recognizes the "Elite Eleven" corporations that not only have instituted programs to offer equal access for women-owned suppliers, but also have attained world-class quality in their supplier diversity programs featuring women's business enterprises. CEOs and other representatives of America's Top Corporations for Women's Business Enterprises will be honored at a special ceremony at the White House tonight. DiversityBusiness.com, DIV50 List DiversityBusiness.com, the nation's leading multicultural B2B online portal, named Office Depot a Top Corporation for Multicultural Business Opportunities of 2004. Companies making the list were voted on by more than 200,000 diversity business owners who based their decisions on such factors as the volume, consistency and quality of business opportunities granted to women and minority-owned companies. Div50 is an indicator of which organizations provide the best and the most business for diversity-owned companies. About Office Depot With annual sales of more than $12 billion, no one sells more office supplies to more customers in more countries than Office Depot. Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Delray Beach, FL, the company conducts business in 23 countries and employs nearly 50,000 people worldwide. Office Depot is a leader in every distribution channel - from retail stores and contract delivery to catalogs and e-commerce. The company is the world's number two online retailer - generating $2.6B in sales for FY'03. In North America, Office Depot has 900 retail stores in addition to a national business-to-business delivery network supported by 22 delivery centers, more than 60 local sales offices and 13 regional call centers. The company's common stock is traded 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. CONTACT: Office Depot, Delray Beach Alison Lynch, 561/438-4276 alynch2@officedepot.com SOURCE: Office Depot, Inc.