OfficeMax Names Ronald Lalla Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer

NAPERVILLE, Ill., March 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- OfficeMax® Incorporated (NYSE: OMX), a leader in office supplies, technology and services, announced today that Ronald Lalla has been named EVP, chief merchandising officer, effective Monday, March 19. He will serve as a member of the OfficeMax executive committee and will have responsibility for all aspects of enterprise-wide merchandising for OfficeMax, including category management, strategic product planning, global sourcing, private label expansion and cost of goods sold initiatives. In this role, Mr. Lalla will report to Michael Lewis, EVP, president of Retail.

"Ron is a strategic merchant with a strong financial acumen who will focus on driving disciplined processes to enhance the customer experience and improve margins," said Ravi Saligram, president and CEO of OfficeMax. "His track record of driving innovations in both the retail and business-to-business office products sectors will be an asset as we focus on developing new models, new retail formats and entering new categories."

Mr. Lalla comes to OfficeMax with extensive retail merchandising and business-to-business experience. Most recently, he held positions as chief merchandising officer and chief technology officer for Katz Group, which is one of Canada's leading drug store operators with over 1,800 drug stores across the country. Prior to that, he was executive vice president, global merchandising, for Corporate Express. While in that position, he implemented best-in-class programs for category and vendor management, resulting in significant cost savings and margin enhancement. He also held several leadership positions in merchandising, store operations and finance during his more than 10 years at Kmart Corporation.

He attended the University of Manitoba, where he received his degree in Commerce and then later earned his M.B.A from Duke University.

"With a strong management team in place, a commitment to profitable growth and a clear focus on the customer and driving innovation, this is a great time to be joining the OfficeMax team," said Mr. Lalla.

About OfficeMax

OfficeMax Incorporated (NYSE: OMX) is a leader in both business-to-business office products solutions and retail office products. The OfficeMax mission is simple. We help our customers do their best work. The company provides office supplies and paper, in-store print and document services through OfficeMax ImPress®, technology products and solutions, and furniture to businesses and individual consumers. OfficeMax customers are served by approximately 29,000 associates through direct sales, catalogs, e-commerce and nearly 1,000 stores. To find the nearest OfficeMax, call 1-877-OFFICEMAX. For more information, visit www.officemax.com.

All trademarks, service marks and trade names of OfficeMax Incorporated used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of OfficeMax Incorporated. Any other product or company names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.

Contacts
Mike Steele           Tony Giuliano
630 864 6826         630 864 6800

SOURCE OfficeMax Incorporated

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