OFFICE
DEPOT (R)
                                                                    NEWS RELEASE
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CONTACT: Eileen H. Dunn
         Vice President, Investor Relations/public Relations
         561/438-4930
         edunn@officedepot.com


            OFFICE DEPOT NAMES CHARLES BROWN CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

(DELRAY BEACH, FL) OCTOBER 16, 2001 -- OFFICE DEPOT, INC. (NYSE: ODP), the
world's largest seller of office products, today announced that Charles E.
Brown, formerly Senior Vice President, Finance & Controller has been promoted to
the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

Mr. Brown, who joined Office Depot in 1998 as Controller, was previously
responsible, for the entire finance area, including financial planning and
analysis, external reporting, accounting and financial processes. In his newly
expanded role as Office Depot's CFO, Mr. Brown will now assume additional
responsibilities, including tax, treasury, investor relations and corporate
communications.

Bruce Nelson, CEO of Office Depot, said, "I am extremely pleased to announce
Charlie's promotion to the position of CFO. Throughout the Company's lengthy and
comprehensive external search process, I interviewed many highly qualified
candidates, each with strong skills sets and solid financial experience.
However, it became increasingly clear to me that Charlie's performance over the
past year had placed him at the top of my list of candidates. He has led the
Company's efforts in transforming work processes to the Intranet, which has
resulted in better business tools and more timely and insightful management
information at significantly lower costs. His strong financial background and
experience, his disciplined approach to capital spending and his knowledge of
Office Depot have made him an invaluable member of our leadership organization.
His value to the Company has grown immensely over the past year and all of that
makes him the 'right' partner as I continue to develop new ways to grow our
Company."

Mr. Brown commented, "I am thrilled with the opportunity to serve as Office
Depot's CFO. Bruce and I have developed a strong partnership since his
appointment as CEO and we share a common passion for growing shareholder value.
I believe we've only scratched the surface of Office Depot's potential as a
compelling place to invest."

Before joining Office Depot, Mr. Brown spent two years as SVP, Chief Financial
Officer of Denny's, Inc. Prior to his work at Denny's, Mr. Brown spent over two
decades at KPMG, PepsiCo and Aramark Corporation, where he held positions of
increasing responsibility.

Mr. Brown, age 48, is a graduate of Duke University and a CPA. He is married
with two children and lives in Parkland, Florida.



Succeeding Mr. Brown as Senior Vice President, Finance & Controller is James
Walker, age 44. For the past three years, Mr. Walker has been Vice President,
Stores Finance. In that role, Mr. Walker has provided the financial leadership
and oversight for our North America Retail Division. His retailing knowledge and
business insights have contributed substantially to the continued performance
improvement at Office Depot. He will now assume day-to-day responsibility for
the Company's financial planning and analysis, external reporting, and all
accounting and financial processes.

ABOUT OFFICE DEPOT
As of September 29, 2001, Office Depot operated 846 office supply superstores in
the United States and Canada, in addition to a national business-to-business
delivery network supported by 25 delivery centers, more than 60 local sales
offices and eight regional call centers. Furthermore, the Company had operations
in 15 countries outside of the United States and Canada, including 28 office
supply stores in France and seven in Japan that are owned and operated by the
Company; and 101 additional office supply stores under joint venture and
licensing agreements operating under the Office Depot(R) name in five foreign
countries. The Company also operates an award-winning U.S. Office Depot(R) brand
Web site at www.officedepot.com where customers can access Office Depot's low
competitive prices seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day, and it operates
www.officedepot.co.jp in Japan and www.officedepot.fr in France as well as
Viking(R) brand Web sites at www.vikingop.com in the United States,
www.viking-direct.co.uk in the United Kingdom, www.viking.de in Germany,
www.vikingdirect.nl in The Netherlands, www.vikingop.it in Italy,
www.vikingop.com.au in Australia, www.vikingop.co.jp in Japan,
www.vikingdirect.fr in France and www.vikingdirekt.at in Austria. Office Depot's
common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP and
is included in the S&P 500 Index.



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