Exhibit 99.2


                   STATEMENT UNDER OATH OF PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL
                   OFFICER REGARDING FACTS AND CIRCUMSTANCES
                              RELATING TO EXCHANGE
                                   ACT FILINGS

I, John Mahoney, Chief Financial Officer of Staples, Inc., state and attest to:

     (1)  To the best of my knowledge, based upon a review of the covered
          reports of Staples, Inc., and, except as corrected or supplemented in
          a subsequent covered report:

          o    no covered report contained an untrue statement of a material
               fact as of the end of the period covered by such report (or in
               the case of a report on Form 8-K or definitive proxy materials,
               as of the date on which it was filed); and

          o    no covered report omitted to state a material fact necessary to
               make the statements in the covered report, in light of the
               circumstances under which they were made, not misleading as of
               the end of the period covered by such report (or in the case of a
               report on Form 8-K or definitive proxy materials, as of the date
               on which it was filed).

     (2)  I have reviewed the contents of this statement with Staples, Inc.'s
          Audit Committee.

     (3)  In this statement under oath, each of the following, if filed on or
          before the date of this statement, is a "covered report":

          o    Annual Report on Form 10-K of Staples, Inc. filed with the
               Commission on April 4, 2002;

          o    all reports on Form 10-Q, all reports on Form 8-K and all
               definitive proxy materials of Staples, Inc. filed with the
               Commission subsequent to the filing of the Form 10-K identified
               above; and

          o    any amendments to any of the foregoing.


/s/ John Mahoney
----------------
John Mahoney
August 12, 2002


Subscribed and sworn to
Before me this 12th day of
August, 2002.

/s/ Elizabeth J. Rooney
-----------------------
Notary Public: Elizabeth J. Rooney
My Commission Expires: 10-20-06