Welcome to Officemax, your one-stop shop for all things office and business! Our story began over 30 years ago with a simple idea: provide busy professionals, entrepreneurs, small businesses, and anyone needing office supplies with an easy, affordable way to get what they need.

Since our founding in 1989, Officemax has grown from a small mail-order catalog company into one of the nation’s leading online retailers of office products and services. Headquartered in Chicago, IL, we now serve millions of customers across the U.S. and Canada through our user-friendly website, officesmax.to.

Our Vision

The officemax vision is to be the preferred destination for work, school, and life needs. We strive to provide exceptional value, selection, and service to enable our customers to achieve their aspirations.

Our Mission

The officemax mission is to help our customers work smarter and live better through innovative solutions and dependable performance. We are committed to understanding our customers and exceeding their expectations.

Our Values

Everything we do at Officemax stems from our core values:

• Customer Commitment: The customer is at the heart of all we do. We strive to anticipate and fulfill their needs through the right products, services, and solutions.
• Integrity: We adhere to the highest ethical standards and principles in every action we take. Trust and transparency are paramount.
• Accountability: We take ownership for our responsibilities, celebrate our successes, and learn from our mistakes.
• Inclusion & Diversity: We foster a culture where all people feel welcomed, respected, supported, and valued.
• Innovation: We embrace creativity, collaboration, and change to constantly improve and meet emerging needs.
• Community: We care about the people we serve and the communities in which we live and work.

How We Started

The Officemax story begins in 1988 when Jack Smith, a young entrepreneur based in Chicago, noticed the rapid growth of home offices and small businesses in need of office products. Inspired by the success of office superstores like Staples and Office Depot, Jack saw an opportunity to meet this demand through a convenient mail-order catalog.

Together with a small team and seed funding from family and friends, Jack spent a year researching products, sourcing suppliers, and developing the first Officemax catalog. The catalog featured over 2,000 of the most popular office supply products from leading brands with clear descriptions and attractive pricing.

In May of 1989, Jack mailed the first Officemax catalog to over 50,000 prospective home office and small business owners. The response was tremendous with orders flooding in. Jack and his team worked tirelessly in a small warehouse to hand pick, pack, and ship out each order.

Within a year, Officemax had generated over $1 million in sales – proving Jack’s vision for a mail-order office supplier was a success. With growing sales and customer demand, Officemax expanded its warehouse, product offerings, and team.

Growth & Expansion

Over the next decade, Officemax experienced rapid growth by providing exceptional service and low prices to customers across the U.S. Key milestones included:

• 1991: Officemax expanded its catalog offerings to over 20,000 products including office furniture and technology.
• 1995: The company opened its first large-scale warehouse and fulfillment center in Illinois enabling faster nationwide delivery.
• 1998: Officemax.com launched, allowing customers to order products online and access helpful resources.
• 2000: Officemax opened its 100th retail showroom, providing customers opportunities to see and test out products.

In 2001, recognizing the growth potential of ecommerce, Officemax made a strategic decision to transition from multi-channel to a fully online model. We sold our retail showrooms to focus entirely on officemax.com and our direct mail catalogs. This enabled us to provide even wider selection, lower prices, and better convenience through an online and mobile optimized shopping experience.

Growth as Leading Online Retailer

Over the past two decades, Officemax has grown into one of America’s leading online retailers of office supplies and services. Key accomplishments include:

• 2004: We expanded our product catalog to over 50,000 items across hundreds of categories. This provided customers with a “one-stop shop” for all office needs.
• 2009: Officemax.com received outstanding reviews for our easy-to-navigate site, wide selection, competitive pricing, and excellent customer service.
• 2012: We launched innovative proprietary brands of office supplies including PenPal pens and PadWorks notebooks. This provided low-cost options without sacrificing quality.
• 2015: Officemax expanded into business services including printing, promotional products, and shipping solutions – enabling business owners to do more with Officemax.
• 2021: We debuted our Officemax mobile app allowing customers to shop and manage orders on-the-go. The app provides personalized recommendations and notifications to save time.

Today, Officemax offers over 100,000 products across our website and catalogs with new items added daily. We ship over 30,000 orders per day from our state-of-the-art fulfillment centers. Our commitment to selection, value, and service has earned us high customer loyalty and satisfaction.

Products & Services

At Officemax, we provide everything busy professionals, small business owners, teachers, students, and home office users need to tackle their work. Our selection includes:

Office Supplies

From pens, paper, and folders to planners, filing cabinets, and more – we offer a vast range of office supplies across all major brands. Shop essentials for organization, technology, mailing, filing, and presentation needs.

Office Technology

Our wide selection of tech products includes printers, laptops, desktops, software, electronics, and accessories to power productivity. Top brands offered include HP, Epson, Lenovo, Microsoft and Adobe.

Office Furniture

Create efficient and comfortable workspaces with our office chairs, desks, filing cabinets, bookshelves, and modular cubicle systems. Available in varied styles and configurations to meet any need.

Breakroom & Facilities

Keep your people energized and your facility running smoothly with coffee makers, water coolers, cleaning supplies, snacks, food service items, and more. Shop leading brands like Rubbermaid, Keurig, Brita and Clorox.

Promotional Products

Make your brand stand out with custom pens, apparel, drinkware, tech accessories, office items, and trade show giveaways. Add logo designs to 100s of products.

Printing & Creative Services

Trust Officemax for all your printing needs including business cards, stationery, signs, banners, manuals, booklets, and custom marketing pieces. Get professional graphic design services too.

In addition to products, we also offer services like custom printing, shredding, freight shipping, tech support, space planning, and more. Our goal is to be the one-stop resource to help run workplaces smoothly.

Commitment to Value

A driving force behind Officemax’s success is our commitment to providing customers outstanding value. We offer:

• Low Prices: Our huge volume allows us to negotiate great vendor rates – we pass the savings directly to you. We also monitor and match our competitors’ prices.
• Special Deals: Check our site and emails for limited time percent-off sales, dollars off coupons, free gift promotions, clearance deals, and BOGO (buy one, get one) offers.
• Rewards Program: Earn points on every purchase to redeem for discounts. Get extra points with our Officemax credit card.
• Price Match Guarantee: Find a lower published price somewhere else and we’ll match it.
• Free Shipping: Get free standard shipping on orders over $50 or pay just $9.99 for faster delivery.
• Easy Returns: Items can be returned for any reason within 90 days for refund or exchange. Return shipping is free.

At Officemax, we want to make it easy to get the products you need at a price you can afford. Shop with confidence knowing we offer low prices and price protection guarantees.

Customer Commitment

Providing exceptional customer experiences has been central to Officemax since the beginning. We demonstrate our commitment through:

• Product Expertise: Our team offers knowledge to help customers select the right items for their needs from our vast catalog. Live chat, email, and phone support is available.
• Speedy Fulfillment: Orders ship within 24 hours from our nationwide fulfillment centers. Expect fast, accurate delivery.
• Quality Control: We thoroughly inspect and test products to ensure items arrive damage-free and in perfect condition.
• Easy Returns: Items can be returned for any reason for a full refund or exchange. Print free return labels from your account.
• Secure Shopping: Our site is encrypted and we never share your personal or payment information. Shop with complete peace of mind.
• Ongoing Support: Our Customer Care team is available 5am-5pm PST to answer questions and resolve any issues to your complete satisfaction.

Our goal is to make Officemax the easiest – and most enjoyable – place to shop for office needs. We are committed to ensuring every customer has a positive experience. Please contact us if we can improve in any way!

Our Culture

Officemax aims to foster a positive, diverse, and collaborative work culture where team members feel valued and empowered. Key elements of our culture include:

• Teamwork – We work together across departments to meet shared goals. Together Everyone Achieves More (TEAM) is our motto.
• Growth – We invest in our team through training, mentorship, and paths to advancement that enable professional and personal growth.
• Wellbeing – We promote work-life balance, health, and self-care through benefits like remote work options, paid time off, parental leave, and flexible scheduling.
• Diversity – We embrace diversity of background and thought. Our hiring and development practices aim to build an inclusive team.
• Recognition – We celebrate wins big and small. Peer-to-peer appreciation is encouraged. Annual awards recognize top performers.
• Feedback –We frequently exchange constructive feedback to strengthen our skills and processes. Two-way communication is encouraged.

Our supportive, stimulating work environment empowers team members to perform at their best to deliver for our customers. We aim to be a company where the most talented professionals thrive.

Giving Back

Officemax believes in giving back to strengthen the communities we serve. We proudly support:

• Local Schools – We donate a portion of profits annually to equip classrooms and support programs at schools near our facilities. Teachers get discounts in our stores.
• Charitable Organizations – We partner with nonprofits and donate supplies/funding to empower communities in need like low-income, veterans, differently abled, and the homeless.
• Sustainability – We implement environmentally-friendly operations from eco-packaging to recycling programs. We share sustainability tips with customers to reduce waste.
• Small Businesses – We offer free business seminars, discounted services, and grants to help entrepreneurs succeed. Our Small Biz Spotlight highlights inspiring businesses.

Making a lasting social impact is important to us. We welcome partnerships with organizations aligned to our giving mission.

Looking Ahead

As we celebrate over 30 years in business, Officemax looks ahead to serving customers and communities for decades to come. We will continue innovating to make office shopping even easier, enhance our sustainable operations, and help small businesses thrive.

Most importantly, we’ll stay true to the core values of customer commitment, integrity, and community investment that have been foundational to Officemax since the beginning. We thank you for being part of our story and allowing us to be your partner in work, school, and life!