Staples Argentina is the subsidiary of the American office supply chain Staples in Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 and Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, headquartered in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

.

Staples Argentina is the largest office supply company in Argentina and one of the top three in Brazil.

The company gained international relevance after Harvard Business School

Harvard Business School

Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...

 Professor Walter Kuemmerle wrote two cases for the International Entrepreneurship course http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b02/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=800238 http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml;jsessionid=Y3JJLOI0E2QRIAKRGWCB5VQBKE0YOISW?id=802010&referral=2340.

History

• 1997 Officenet was founded by Andy Freire and Santiago Bilinkis
  Santiago Bilinkis
  Santiago Bilinkis is an entrepreneur, venture capitalist and executive, most notable for founding office supply delivery business Officenet in Argentina with Andy Freire....
  
  , with seed capital from four angel investor
  Angel investor
  An angel investor or angel is an affluent individual who provides capital for a business start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity...
  
  s from Argentina.
• 1998 Officenet was selected as an Endeavor (non-profit)
  Endeavor (non-profit)
  Endeavor is a non-profit organization that pioneered the concept of High-Impact Entrepreneurship in emerging markets. Its mission is to “lead the global movement to catalyze long-term economic growth by selecting, mentoring, and accelerating the best High-Impact Entrepreneurs around the...
  
   Entrepreneur.
• 1999 Submarino, Inc. starts acquisition of Officenet, later finished on February 29, 2000.
• 2000 With the help of Submarino, Officenet expands into Brazil, setting its office and warehouse in Sao Paulo
  São Paulo
  São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
  
  . By the end of 2000, new investors into Officenet force a de-merge between the two companies
• 2004 Staples acquires both Officenet Argentina and Officenet Brazil
• 2006 Officenet Argentina starts one of the first corporate blogs in the country (as reviewed by newspapers La Nación http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=929524, Clarín http://www.ieco.clarin.com/notas/2007/06/22/01442747.html and Infobae http://www.infobaeprofesional.com/notas/57654-Blogs-corporativos-riesgos-y-ventajas-de-un-dialogo-franco-con-el-cliente.html&cookie)
• 2007 Officenet is ranked #30 in Great Places to Work list http://www.greatplacetowork.com.ar/best/list-ar-2007.htm in Argentina
• 2008 Officenet opens the first Staples store in Argentina on May 13, and the second on November 14
• 2008 The US Embassy in Argentina acknowledged Officenet Staples' corporate social responsibility efforts http://argentina.usembassy.gov/csr10.html
• 2009 Officenet appears as case study in Social Networking on Intranets http://www.useit.com/alertbox/social-intranet-features.html by usability consultant Jakob Nielsen
  Jakob Nielsen (usability consultant)
  Jakob Nielsen is a leading web usability consultant. He holds a Ph.D. in human–computer interaction from the Technical University of Denmark in Copenhagen.-Early life and background:...
  
  
• 2009 The US Department of State selects Officenet Staples Argentina as a finalist for the Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE) http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2009/oct/130172.htm
• 2009 Officenet is ranked #33 in Great Places to Work list http://www.greatplacetowork.com.ar/best/list-ar-2009.htm in Argentina
• 2010 Santiago Bilinkis
  Santiago Bilinkis
  Santiago Bilinkis is an entrepreneur, venture capitalist and executive, most notable for founding office supply delivery business Officenet in Argentina with Andy Freire....
  
  , founder, leaves the company http://spanish.bilinkis.com/2010/05/el-fin-de-una-era-en-mi-vida-mi-despedida-de-officenet
• 2011 Company in Argentina
  Argentina
  Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
  
   drops the original "Officenet" brand and is renamed as Staples Argentina http://www.mediosyempresas.com.ar/noticias/3748/ahora+officenet+es+staples+argentina+y+lo+anuncia+en+youtube+.html
• 2011 Staples Argentina launches a Virtual Store concepthttp://www.ieco.clarin.com/empresas/Marketing-futurista-comprar-camara-celular_0_555544518.html, with QR code
  QR code
  A QR code is a type of matrix barcode first designed for the automotive industry. More recently, the system has become popular outside of the industry due to its fast readability and comparatively large storage capacity. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white...
  
  technology, copying Tesco subisdiary in Korea.