Office supply retailing is the commercial trade of

stationery Stationery refers to writing materials, including cut paper, envelopes, continuous form paper, and other office supplies. Stationery usually specifies materials to be written on by hand (e.g., letter paper) or by equipment such as computer p ...

and other

office supplies Office supplies are consumables and equipment regularly used in offices by businesses and other organizations, required to sustain office operations. For example, office supplies may be used by individuals engaged in written communications, rec ...

. An office supply retailer, stationer, stationery retailer or business solutions retailer sells things typically found in an office or classroom, such as

computers A computer is a machine that can be programmed to automatically carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations ('' computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as ''programs'', ...

monitors Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West ...

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James Printer (1640 ...

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...

writing instruments A writing implement or writing instrument is an object used to produce writing. Writing consists of different figures, lines, and or forms. Most of these items can be also used for other functions such as painting, drawing and technical drawing, ...

books A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, mo ...

desks A desk or bureau is a piece of furniture with a flat table (furniture), table-style work surface used in a school, office, home or the like for academic, professional or domestic activities such as reading (activity), reading, writing, or using ...

, office chairs and lamps, as well as novelty items like picture frames,

artworks A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literatur ...

and pot plants. Many provide a range of printing, photography, lamination and binding services. Some may provide repair and recovery services. The term 'stationery' originally referred to all products sold by a medieval stationer, a "stationary" storekeeper who kept a fixed location near a university rather than others who travelled to markets or fairs. These stores bound, copied, published and lent out books, often providing a greater range of books than university libraries. Modern office supply stores usually sell supplies for school students, particularly at the start of school years. Historically, this includes like

exercise book An exercise book or composition book is a notebook that is used in schools to copy down schoolwork and notes. A student will usually have different exercise books for each separate lesson or subject. The exercise book format is different fo ...

pens PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) *PEN International, a worldwide association of writers **English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International **PEN America, located in ...

pencils A pencil () is a writing or drawing implement with a solid pigment core in a protective casing that reduces the risk of core breakage and keeps it from marking the user's hand. Pencils create marks by physical abrasion (mechanical), abrasi ...

coloured pencils A colored pencil (American English), coloured pencil (Commonwealth English), colour pencil (Indian English), map pencil, pencil crayon, or coloured/colouring lead (Canadian English, Newfoundland English) is a type of pencil constructed of a na ...

crayons A crayon (or wax pastel) is a stick of pigmented wax used for writing or drawing. Wax crayons differ from pastels, in which the pigment is mixed with a dry binder such as gum arabic, and from oil pastels, where the binder is a mixture of wax a ...

and other

art supplies Media, or mediums, are the core types of material (or related other tools) used by an artist, composer, designer, etc. to create a work of art. For example, a visual artist may broadly use the media of painting or sculpting, which themselves have ...

which students are often required to bring to class. In markets where

bring your own device Bring your own device (BYOD ) (also called bring your own technology (BYOT), bring your own phone (BYOP), and bring your own personal computer (BYOPC)) refers to being allowed to use one's personally owned device, rather than being required to use ...

and

remote learning Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance; today, it usually involves online ...

is more common, it includes the technology students are required to provide for themselves. Retailers also supply products required for a range of businesses and activities. Historically, desk stationery and printing services were major sources of revenue. In the 21st century, revenue has increasingly come from technology and furniture instead. Many retailers have experienced a loss of revenue from major business clients due to the growth of

working from home Remote work (also called telecommuting, telework, work from or at home, WFH as an initialism, hybrid work, and other terms) is the practice of working at or from one's home or another space rather than from an office or workplace. The pract ...

, particularly during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Retailers have shifted their focus to selling

home office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

products direct to consumers, such as by offering a broader range of styles and home delivery.

By market

Australia

Officeworks Officeworks is a chain of Australian office supplies stores operated under parent company Wesfarmers. The company was established in 1994 by Coles Myer. Its head office is located in Chadstone, Melbourne. The store concept adopted by Officewor ...

Smiggle Smiggle is an Australian-based retail store chain that sells stationery and related accessories. It was founded in Melbourne by Stephen Meurs and Peter Pausewang in 2003 and acquired by the Just Group in July 2007. As of February 2016, the chain ...

Typo A typographical error (often shortened to typo), also called a misprint, is a mistake (such as a spelling or transposition error) made in the typing of printed or electronic material. Historically, this referred to mistakes in manual typesetting ...

and

Winc Winc is a workplace support company operating in Australia supplying office essentials, furniture, safety equipment and IT solutions. The company is focused on supporting businesses through the delivery of everything a workplace needs to work - ...

sell stationery and office supplies in Australia.

Canada

Canadian stationers include

Dollarama Dollarama Inc. is a Canadian dollar store retail chain headquartered in Mount Royal, Quebec. Since 2009, it has been Canada's biggest retailer of items for five dollars or less. Dollarama has over 1400 stores and is active in all of Canada; Onta ...

Grand & Toy Grand & Toy is a Canadian B2B e-commerce, B2B end-to-end supplier of office products and services, founded in 1882 by James Grand as a home-based stationery printing business. It is owned by The ODP Corporation, whose other brands include Offic ...

and

Staples Canada Staples Canada ULC, operating as Staples (Bureau en Gros in Quebec), is a Canadian retail sales company owned by Sycamore Partners. Staples was founded by Leo Kahn and Thomas G. Stemberg. Since 2017, Staples Canada has operated independently ...

United Kingdom

Office supply retailers in the United Kingdom include

Ryman Ryman is a stationery retail company with 205 outlets nationwide in the United Kingdom. The website and stores provide a wide range of stationery and office supplies for homes and businesses, with its headquarters in Crewe, Cheshire. His ...

, UOE Store and

Viking Direct Viking Direct, trading as Viking, is a European office supply mail order and online company based in Europe. It has operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Netherlands, and Germany and operates in a number of European countries. It's United Ki ...

. A chain of stationers called Office World existed until 2005.

United States

Office Depot The ODP Corporation is an American office supply retailer headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. The company operates 922 retail stores in the United States under the Office Depot and OfficeMax brands, as well as e-commerce sites and a business ...

and Staples are major companies with the office retailing sector in the United States. Other retailers include

IBM Product Center IBM Product Center was an American retailer wholly owned by International Business Machines that sold the company's office equipment, which consisted at the time mostly of photocopiers, typewriters and personal computers. The first store opened in ...

, InkStop,

The ODP Corporation The ODP Corporation is an American office supply retailer headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. The company operates 922 retail stores in the United States under the Office Depot and OfficeMax brands, as well as e-commerce sites and a business-t ...

, Office 1 Superstore, Office Zone,

OfficeMax OfficeMax is an American office supplies retailer founded in 1988. As an independent chain, it was the third-largest office supply retailer in the United States. Following a 2013 merger, it is currently a brand and subsidiary of Office Depot. ...

, Quill Corporation, ReStockIt, Shoplet and W.B. Mason.

Asia

The

Rong Bao Zhai Rong Bao Zhai (, Studio of Glorious Treasures) is an old stationery, calligraphy and painting shop in Beijing, China. It is located in Liulichang outside the Hepingmen Gate. History Rong Bao Zhai was founded in 1672 (11th year of the Kangxi ...

stationery shop has been operating in

Beijing, China Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

since 1672. M&G Stationery has stores around China and Singapore.Company Overview of Shanghai M&G Stationery Inc.
''

Businessweek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...

''. Retrieved on April 20, 2014.Contact Us
." M&G Singapore. Retrieved on April 19, 2014. "Office: 921, Upper Bukit Timah Road, #04-02, Singapore 678202"

References

External links

* * Hardlines (retail) {{Retail-stub