Office Depot and Sharpie Launch "Project Backpack" Design Contest for Back-to-School

New Contest Offers Customers Chance to Have Their Sharpie-Designed Backpack
Reproduced and Sold in Office Depot Stores Nationwide
BOCA RATON, Fla.--(Business Wire)--
Office Depot (NYSE:ODP), a leading global provider of office products and
services, and Sharpie, one of the world`s most recognized brands of permanent
markers, today announced "Project Backpack," a national contest that will allow
customers to submit images of their Sharpie-designed backpacks for the chance to
win $10,000 in prizes, including the opportunity to have their backpack design
reproduced and sold in Office Depot stores nationwide during the 2010
back-to-school season.

Customers can enter the contest by creating a design on one of four Office Depot
canvas backpacks that can be purchased ($14.99 each; available in blue, pink,
olive and green khaki, that will include two free individual Sharpie markers of
your choice) from a participating Office Depot store, or by downloading an
official contest template from www.myprojectbackpack.com. After designing the
backpack using Sharpie markers, participants can upload a photo or scanned image
of their backpack to www.myprojectbackpack.com along with their official entry
form.

"Students rely on Office Depot for their back-to-school products and solutions
during the entire school year," said Wade Eveleth, Senior Director of
Merchandising for Office Depot. "We are excited to launch this contest with
Sharpie and provide everyone with a really fun way to show off their creativity
by designing a backpack that will be on store shelves for the 2010 back to
school season."

"Sharpie`s large assortment of permanent markers and pens makes Sharpie the
perfect partner for this program," said Ed Cooper, Vice President of Sales for
Newell Rubbermaid Office Products. "The wide range of colors and tips sizes will
inspire a lot of creative ideas and designs. Office Depot`s Project Backpack is
a great way to get people excited about the possibilities, with Sharpie as the
advocate for self-expression."

Entries must be received by 11:59 pm CDT on September 19, 2009. A panel of
judges will select the top ten finalists whose designs will be posted back to
www.myprojectbackpack.com where the public will vote on the official winner. The
grand prize winner will receive $5000 and will have their backpack produced
during the 2010 school season, the first runner up will receive $3000 and the
second runner up will receive $2000.

For more information, please visit www.myprojectbackpack.com.

About Office Depot

Every day, Office Depot is Taking Care of Business for millions of customers
around the globe. For the local corner store as well as Fortune 500 companies,
Office Depot provides products and services to its customers through 1,604
worldwide retail stores, a dedicated sales force, top-rated catalogs and a $4.6
billion e-commerce operation. Office Depot has annual sales of approximately
$14.5 billion, and employs about 42,000 associates around the world. The Company
provides more office products and services to more customers in more countries
than any other company, and currently sells to customers directly or through
affiliates in 48 countries.

Office Depot`s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the
symbol ODP and is included in the S&P 500 Index. Additional press information
can be found at: http://mediarelations.officedepot.com.

About Sharpie

For more than 40 years, Sharpie has been the popular brand of permanent marker
associated with the autograph experience. Newell Rubbermaid`s Office Products
Group, maker of Sharpie markers, is a worldwide leader in the manufacturing and
marketing of writing instruments, art products and office organization and
technology products, including such well known brands as Paper Mate, Sharpie,
DYMO Parker, Waterman, EXPO, uni-ball, and Rolodex, among others. Visit
www.sharpie.com or http://blog.sharpie.com for more information and creative
ways to use Sharpie markers.

Office Depot
Jason Shockley, 561-438-0037
jason.shockley@officedepot.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009