The eight closings in Michigan are in Canton, Pontiac, Westland, Roseville, Southgate, Ann Arbor, Lansing and Saginaw. "According to our review, those areas in Michigan were underperforming for the company," says spokeswoman Lauren Garvey. Nineteen stores will remain open in the state.

In early November, Office Depot announced sales performance in its North American Retail Division during the month of October and in early November had continued totrend downward into negative territory for the fourth quarter. Based on December sales, the company now expects to report fourth quarter comparable store sales in the minus 5% range. Office Depot hopes the moves put them on the path to growth and profitability.

"While we recognize the signs of a softening economy, demand for office supplies and products still outpaces economic growth in general and theproliferation of technology products has driven an increasing demand for basic consumable supplies, like inkjet cartridges, toner and paper," says Bruce Nelson, Office Depot's CEO.