BOCA RATON, FL—Retail experts had predicted that a merger between Office Depot and OfficeMax would result in some locations going dark, and so it will come to pass. Now known as Office Depot Inc., the office supplies retailer said Tuesday it would close at least 400 locations across the US, about 20% of its worldwide total.

“One of our 2014 critical priorities is to improve our store footprint in North America to best meet customer demand, ensure we are appropriately positioned in the markets we serve, and align with our unique selling proposition which we are developing this year,” says CEO Roland Smith. “The overlapping retail footprint resulting from the merger provides us with a unique opportunity to consolidate and optimize our store portfolio, while maintaining the retail presence necessary to serve our customers.”

Smith says “at least” 400 of its current locations are expected to close, including 150 this year. Office Depot expects that when all is said and done, the closures will generate annual run-rate synergies of at least $75 million by the end of 2016 and will begin to be accretive to earnings in 2015.

The company announced the upcoming round of closings when reported its first-quarter results. Total reported sales for Q1 were $4.4 billion compared to $2.7 billion the year, but were 3% lower than combined pro forma sales of $4.5 billion in Q1 2013.

Although Office Depot reported a net loss of $109 million to stockholders for Q1, Smith says the company is “pleased with our first quarter performance. After a weather-challenged start to the year, sales trends improved as the quarter progressed, and we exceeded our expectations for both cost reduction and operational execution.”