Basis of Presentation

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2012

Basis of Presentation

1. Basis of Presentation

Nature of Operations

OfficeMax Incorporated (“OfficeMax,” the “Company”, “we” or “our”) is a leader in both business-to-business and retail office products distribution. The Company provides office supplies and paper, print and document services, technology products and solutions and office furniture to large, medium and small businesses, government offices and consumers. OfficeMax customers are served by approximately 29,000 associates through direct sales, catalogs, the Internet and a network of retail stores located throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico.

The accompanying quarterly consolidated financial statements include the accounts of OfficeMax and all majority-owned subsidiaries, except our 88%-owned subsidiary that formerly owned assets in Cuba that were confiscated by the Cuban government in the 1960s, which is accounted for as an investment due to various asset restrictions. We also consolidate the variable interest entities in which the Company is the primary beneficiary. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. These financial statements are for the thirteen-week and twenty-six-week periods ended on June 30, 2012 (also referred to as the “second quarter of 2012” or the “three months ended June 30, 2012” and the “first six months of 2012” or the “six months ended June 30, 2012,” respectively) and the thirteen-week and twenty-six-week periods ended on June 25, 2011 (also referred to as the “second quarter of 2011” or the “three months ended June 25, 2011” and the “first six months of 2011” or the “six months ended June 25, 2011,” respectively). The Company’s fiscal year ends on the last Saturday in December. Due primarily to statutory reporting requirements, the Company’s international businesses maintain December 31 year-ends and end their quarters on the last calendar day of the month, with our majority-owned joint venture in Mexico reporting one month in arrears. Fiscal year 2012 will include 52 weeks for our U.S. businesses, while fiscal year 2011 included 53 weeks for our U.S. businesses.

The Company manages its business using three reportable segments: OfficeMax, Contract (“Contract segment” or “Contract”); OfficeMax, Retail (“Retail segment” or “Retail”); and Corporate and Other. Management reviews the performance of the Company based on these segments. We present information pertaining to our segments in Note 12, “Segment Information”.

The Company has prepared the quarterly consolidated financial statements included herein pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Some information and note disclosures, which would normally be included in comprehensive annual financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, have been condensed or omitted pursuant to those SEC rules and regulations. These quarterly consolidated financial statements should be read together with the consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011.

The quarterly consolidated financial statements included herein have not been audited by an independent registered public accounting firm, but in the opinion of management, include all adjustments necessary to present fairly the results for the periods indicated. Except as disclosed within these “Notes to Quarterly Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited),” the adjustments made were of a normal, recurring nature. Quarterly results are not necessarily indicative of results which may be expected for a full year.

Recently Issued or Newly Adopted Accounting Standards

In June 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued guidance which established disclosure requirements for other comprehensive income. The guidance requires the reporting of components of other comprehensive income and components of net income together as components of total comprehensive income, and is effective for periods beginning on or after December 15, 2011. We adopted the guidance effective with our financial statements for the first quarter of 2012. The adoption of this guidance affects the presentation of certain elements of the Company’s financial statements, but these changes in presentation did not have an impact on the amounts reported in our financial statements.