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