According to Austrian, the company is going to carry on withexpansion plans initiated by Nelson, which focus on taking OfficeDepot into the northeastern United States. The expansion is justnow getting under way, with the recent opening of stores in NorthAttleboro, MA; Nashua, NH; and Largo, MD. These stores, which areamong the more than 40 Office Depot plans to open in various partsof the region, feature the company's new Millennium 2 (M2) format,which puts core supplies at the outer perimeter of the store andfurniture and technology at the center, among other features. Manyof the new stores will be in former Kids R Us locations that thecompany bought.

"I've been asked, 'Why expand in the northeast, especially now?'" said Austrian. "I answer, 'Why give up a third of the U.S.population to the competition?' Of course, we expect Staples tofight us every step of the way, just as we'll fight them in Chicagoto protect our territory."

He stressed that the change in executive leadership doesn't meandiscontinuity in managing the company, citing his own experience asa board member, and the Office Depot experience of other seniormanagers. As for the question of finding a new chief executive,Austrian noted that the search ought to be complete by the firstquarter of 2005.