Exhibit 99.1

Executive Offices	For Further Information Contact:
One Parkway North Blvd.
Suite 100
Deerfield, IL 60015-2559	P. Cody Phipps
	President and Chief Executive Officer
	or
	Victoria J. Reich
	Sr. Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
	United Stationers Inc.
	(847) 627-7000

PHIPPS NAMED PRESIDENT AND CEO OF UNITED STATIONERS

DEERFIELD, Ill., May 11, 2011 – The board of directors of United Stationers Inc. (NASDAQ: USTR) today announced the election of P. Cody Phipps (49) as president and chief executive officer effective as of the annual meeting of stockholders held today. He succeeds Richard W. Gochnauer, who announced in December his plans to retire after nine years with the company. Mr. Phipps has also been elected to the company’s board of directors.

Phipps joined United in 2003 as senior vice president of operations and was promoted to president, United Stationers Supply division in 2006. He was named president and chief operating officer of United Stationers Inc. in September 2010. Phipps has been a key member of the leadership team that has enhanced shareholder value by defining and driving company growth strategies and achieving operating efficiencies.

Before joining United, Phipps was a partner in the Chicago office of McKinsey & Company and a leader in the firm’s Global Operations Effectiveness Practice. He has an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from The Ohio State University.

“As I leave United, I am excited to have Cody assume leadership of the company and a strong management team,” said Richard W. Gochnauer. “I am confident that United’s outstanding team of associates will continue to execute on the plans and strategies we have developed to enable the success of the business and all of our stakeholders. Cody has had full responsibility for the execution of our 2011 plan since the beginning of the year and is making great progress.”

“Cody’s extensive background in developing and implementing business strategies and his leadership skills make him an outstanding successor to Dick Gochnauer,” noted Frederick B. Hegi, chairman of the board. “Cody has the management qualities and insight to help us continue driving long-term profitable growth for our shareholders.”

“I also want to thank Dick on behalf of the entire United Stationers family for all of his contributions over the past nine years,” continued Hegi. “He has been an outstanding leader, demonstrating strong cultural values and a commitment to serving all of United’s partners.”

“My appointment to succeed Dick is a great honor and a great responsibility and I thank the board for their vote of confidence,” said Cody Phipps, president and chief executive officer. “Together with a strong team of 6,000 associates, I am committed to building on United Stationers’ strong foundation to realize the company’s vast potential and to providing value for all of its stakeholders. It is rewarding to be part of United’s growth and its evolution, and I look forward to the future.”

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Phipps Named President and CEO of United Stationers

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Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements, including references to goals, plans, strategies, objectives, projected costs or savings, anticipated future performance, results or events and other statements that are not strictly historical in nature. These statements are based on management’s current expectations, forecasts and assumptions. This means they involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied here. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to the following: prevailing economic conditions and changes affecting the business products industry and the general economy; United’s ability to effectively manage its operations and to implement growth, cost-reduction and margin-enhancement initiatives; United’s reliance on key customers, and the business, credit and other risks inherent in continuing or increased customer concentration; United’s reliance on key suppliers and the supplier allowances and promotional incentives they offer; United’s reliance on independent resellers for a significant percentage of its net sales and therefore the importance of the continued independence, viability and success of these resellers; continuing or increasing competitive activity and pricing pressures within existing or expanded product categories, including competition from product manufacturers who sell directly to United’s customers; the impact of variability in customer and end-user demand patterns on United’s product sales mix and, in turn, on profit margins; the impact of a loss of, or substantial decrease in, the availability of products or service from key suppliers at competitive prices; the availability of financing sources to meet United’s business needs; United’s ability to manage inventory in order to maximize sales and supplier allowances while minimizing excess and obsolete inventory; United’s ability to maintain its existing information technology and e-commerce systems and to successfully procure and implement new systems without business disruption or other unanticipated difficulties or costs; United’s ability to effectively identify, consummate and integrate acquisitions; United’s reliance on key management personnel, both in day-to-day operations and in execution of new business initiatives; and the effects of hurricanes, acts of terrorism and other natural or man-made disruptions.

Shareholders, potential investors and other readers are urged to consider these risks and uncertainties in evaluating forward-looking statements and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. For additional information about risks and uncertainties that could materially affect United’s results, please see the company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The forward-looking information in this news release is made as of this date only, and the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement. Investors are advised to consult any further disclosure by United regarding the matters discussed in this release in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in other written statements it makes from time to time. It is not possible to anticipate or foresee all risks and uncertainties, and investors should not consider any list of risks and uncertainties to be exhaustive or complete.

Company Overview

United Stationers Inc. is a leading wholesale distributor of business products, with 2010 net sales of approximately $4.8 billion. The company stocks approximately 100,000 items, including technology products, traditional office products, janitorial and breakroom supplies, office furniture, and industrial supplies. A network of 64 distribution centers allows it to deliver these products to over 25,000 reseller customers. This network, combined with United’s depth and breadth of inventory, enables the company to ship most products overnight to more than 90% of the U.S. and major cities in Mexico. For more information, visit www.unitedstationers.com.

United Stationers’ common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol USTR.