[OFFICE DEPOT LOGO]

                                                                    NEWS RELEASE
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CONTACT: Eileen H. Dunn
         Vice President, Investor Relations/Public Relations
         561/438-4930
         edunn@officedepot.com


                   OFFICE DEPOT ANNOUNCES NEW STOCK REPURCHASE
                 PROGRAM Company's Board of Directors Authorizes
                       up to $50 Million Buyback per Year

DELRAY BEACH, FLA. -- OCTOBER 26, 2001 -- OFFICE DEPOT, INC. (NYSE: ODP), the
world's largest seller of office products, today announced that its Board of
Directors has authorized the Company to repurchase up to $50 million of its
common stock annually.

Purchases will be made in the open market or through privately negotiated
transactions and made in accordance with all applicable securities laws.
Purchases will be transacted through a number of brokerage firms.

Bruce Nelson, CEO of Office Depot, commented, "Over the course of the past three
quarters, we have consistently demonstrated our ability to execute and to meet
or exceed our commitments to employees, customers and shareholders. While the
short-term outlook for our economy is uncertain, Office Depot's long-term
prospects for consistent revenue and earnings growth have never been better. And
while the investment community has acknowledged our improvements over the past
year, we still see substantial value in our stock price over the long term."

Mr. Nelson further noted, "The repurchased shares will be added to the Company's
Treasury Shares and will be used to meet the Company's near term requirements
for its stock option and other benefit plans."

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.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: EXCEPT FOR HISTORICAL
INFORMATION, THE MATTERS DISCUSSED IN THIS PRESS RELEASE ARE FORWARD-LOOKING
STATEMENTS WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF
1995, AS AMENDED. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ALL
OF THE PROJECTIONS AND ANTICIPATED LEVELS OF FUTURE PERFORMANCE, INVOLVE RISKS
AND UNCERTAINTIES WHICH MAY CAUSE ACTUAL RESULTS TO DIFFER MATERIALLY FROM THOSE
DISCUSSED HEREIN. THESE RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES ARE DETAILED FROM TIME TO TIME
BY OFFICE DEPOT IN ITS FILINGS WITH THE UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION ("SEC"), INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ITS MOST RECENT FILING ON FORM
10-K, FILED ON MARCH 27, 2001 AND ALL SUBSEQUENT FILINGS WITH THE SEC. YOU ARE
STRONGLY URGED TO REVIEW ALL SUCH FILINGS FOR A MORE DETAILED DISCUSSION OF SUCH
RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES. THE COMPANY'S SEC FILINGS ARE READILY OBTAINABLE AT NO
CHARGE AT WWW.SEC.GOV AND AT WWW.FREEEDGAR.COM, AS WELL AS ON A NUMBER OF OTHER
COMMERCIAL WEB SITES.

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