office depot is opening a branch in Santo Domingo

[windeguy]

DR Pricing at Office Depot?

How much is Office Depot charging versus the same products in the US?
Perhaps in a year or two they will have a working web site up.

Home Depot and Best Buy, if and when they show up, will be much more interesting stores since
I don't run an office.

 

[Criss Colon]

Too High Prices Are The "Dominican Way"!

Ten years ago,there was an office supply store on the corner of Kennedy & Ortega & Gasset. They had most everything that Office Depot did. Their prices were "Dominican",go see if they are still there????
There was no place to park either. That's a big reason I don't go to Ferreteria Americana. You can always park in the IKEA lot next door,Ikea is EMPTY nowdays!
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[Berzin]

Who's next to open up in the DR?

If you guess right, you'll win a USD$100.00 Gift Card!!!

How about a franchise that will actually MAKE money?

 

[PICHARDO]

The reason this office depot is small is due to the way they'll operate in the DR. Unlike in the mainland, corporate decided to open multiple stores in key points of the country, all to be supplied from a central depot (posted here by me) only hours away from each.

The way of the big box is not smart on the new economic reality, paying high rates for plenty of space that goes unused for retail and all for storage. The way to task it in the DR, is to pepper the entire territory with an office depot at strategic sites and within an economic travel distance to clients. Instead of bringing the client to the store (big box all in one) the store comes to the client's field of mobility and economic travel time.

Keeping inventory low at stores also means that liabilities are reduced and insurance costs cut further along. Keeping a central supply depot for all stores translates into a steady supply of goods that never run out at any given sales point! A major let down for biz and general clients that would then need further visits to other stores/competition to purchase the needed items.

About prices? One must understand that we're living on an island smacked in the heart of the Caribbean! Everything must be flown or shipped in! There's no bridge or tunnel from the source to the DR! Another thing is that more than 80% of goods sold are not under the DR-CAFTA agreement and pay import taxes/duties!

Office Depot is currently working in a way to mass produce their own items in the DR, using the country as a supply source for their mainland and international stores (including PR). But that's a long term project that first needs to be explored and researched well before the first pencil is manufactured. *IKEA is doing the same in the DR pending a trade agreement to be signed and ratified. The DR offers not only a market, but a source point for these giants.

Several Korean and Japanese corporations are also working to open some plants in the DR for their markets in the USA and LA.

Under the DR and the USA are future plans to agree into a free trade, open markets deal, which would allow both nations to trade freely into each other's markets. Currently the DR is carrying out the DR-CAFTA deal with the USA, but this FTA is too narrow and both countries know it.

 

[Criss Colon]

YOU ARE DELUSIONAL!
It;s like listening to a con man sell timeshares !

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[PICHARDO]

YOU ARE DELUSIONAL!
It;s like listening to a con man sell timeshares !

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

Yes CCCCCCCCC's but my delusions are real and yours? Well... They're far from tangible now are they?

 

[playacaribe2]

About prices? One must understand that we're living on an island smacked in the heart of the Caribbean! Everything must be flown or shipped in! There's no bridge or tunnel from the source to the DR! Another thing is that more than 80% of goods sold are not under the DR-CAFTA agreement and pay import taxes/duties!


It's about the Taxes, not because you are an island.

All those electronics (printers/computers) that Office Depot sells are imported from Malaysia, China, etc. There is no bridge or tunnel from the source to the U.S. either. Everything must also be flown or shipped in. Yet prices are markedly cheaper. Why? Once again, its the taxes charged.

At this juncture I fully expect you to argue the U.S. is not an Island and a comparison cannot be made. So to save a further rebuttal, lets look at Puerto Rico, that smaller island just to your east.

If you view this weeks sales circular for Office Depot in Puerto Rico, they carry an HP 4500 printer for $79.99. That same printer in their U.S. stores weekly sales circular is.....$79.99. Bear in mind, there are also U.S. import taxes on these products.

Now I fully expect some other "Pichardoism" as to why, so lets also look at the price of gasoline. Gasoline prices in Puerto Rico are like most places in the U.S., and unlike your government contolled pricing environment in the D.R., fluctuate from station to station. That having been said, the price of a gallon in Puerto Rico is about $3.70 a gallon. The price in the D.R. is over $5.50 a gallon.

I might have bought your argument if your port facilities were not up to handling the job, but such is not the case. Plain and simple, it's about the taxes.


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2

 

[PICHARDO]

This pack of 3.5 goes for USD$6.49 at Office Depot USA
http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/405891/Office-Depot-Brand-35-Diskettes-IBM/

This same TDK 100 pack DVD+R is USD$38.99 at Office Depot's in the USA...
http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/158285/TDK-DVDR-Recordable-Media-Spindle-47GB120/

 

[playacaribe2]

This pack of 3.5 goes for USD$6.49 at Office Depot USA
Office Depot Brand 35 Diskettes IBM Format DSHD Black Box Of 10 by Office Depot

This same TDK 100 pack DVD+R is USD$38.99 at Office Depot's in the USA...
TDK DVDR Recordable Media Spindle 47GB120 Minutes Pack Of 100 by Office Depot

Thanks for providing further evidence that prices do not have to be higher because you live on an island. But, is that the best evidence you could provide? I mean 3.5 diskettes and VHS tape. Who the heck uses that stuff anymore? Note that the DVD-R discs are slightly more expensive there when you add the ITBIS to the price. Just out of curiosity how or why did you choose these items?

I think most people here want to see how their big ticket electronic items (computers/printers etc.) prices compare. That will be the litmus test, not some obsolete or loss leader items.

Since we already know, via their weekly ad, that the HP 4500 printer/scanner/copier/fax is $79.99 in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, perhaps on your next trip there you can update us as to its price in Santo Domingo.


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2

 

[PICHARDO]

Thanks for providing further evidence that prices do not have to be higher because you live on an island. But, is that the best evidence you could provide? I mean 3.5 diskettes and VHS tape. Who the heck uses that stuff anymore? Note that the DVD-R discs are slightly more expensive there when you add the ITBIS to the price. Just out of curiosity how or why did you choose these items?

I think most people here want to see how their big ticket electronic items (computers/printers etc.) prices compare. That will be the litmus test, not some obsolete or loss leader items.

Since we already know, via their weekly ad, that the HP 4500 printer/scanner/copier/fax is $79.99 in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, perhaps on your next trip there you can update us as to its price in Santo Domingo.


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2

The pictures were taken by some one other than me, he picked what to capture!
I just used what could be eyed for prices and made a quick search on office depot USA for price pairings!

The DR still uses 3.5 disks, so too in the USA where legacy systems also still use it!

The VHS are still in use in both the USA and DR! A lot of people still use their VHS high end editing consoles, which can be had for cheap on the market and still produce crisp results! Well... Always that HDTV definition is not called for anyhow!

Would you sell something nobody buys in your store? Now go click on the link for the 3.5 diskettes and see that all office depot stores in all their north america sites carry them! Not only office depot, but all the office/PC supply chains!

 

[playacaribe2]

The pictures were taken by some one other than me, he picked what to capture!
I just used what could be eyed for prices and made a quick search on office depot USA for price pairings!

The DR still uses 3.5 disks, so too in the USA where legacy systems also still use it!

The VHS are still in use in both the USA and DR! A lot of people still use their VHS high end editing consoles, which can be had for cheap on the market and still produce crisp results! Well... Always that HDTV definition is not called for anyhow!

Would you sell something nobody buys in your store? Now go click on the link for the 3.5 diskettes and see that all office depot stores in all their north america sites carry them! Not only office depot, but all the office/PC supply chains!

Well, I guess just because I have not seen a computer with 3.5 diskettes in years, does not mean they do not exist. Certainly if the stores are carrying them, there must be a market...however small.

But VHS tapes? High end editing consoles....for what....and to be used by what mass market? Are there that many computers left in the D.R. still using diskettes...and are there that many households still recording VHS? I thought you stated the D.R. was becoming a dynamic modern digital economy? You mean all those people living in those countless pictures of expensive highrises you have posted are still using "legacy" (outdated) computers with 3.5 diskettes and recording on VHS tape?

Perhaps when one of the board members in S.D. visits Office Depot, they can post a couple different prices for the computers and/or printers. That should make for a better price comparison.


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2

 

[Criss Colon]

Can't wait to get my hands on some of those VHS tapes!
What will they think of next????????????????????????

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GO TO "STAPLES.COM", AND CHECK OUT THEIR WEEKLY AD. lOTS OF SCHOOL SUPPLIES FOR 10 CENTS,25 CENTS,50 CENTS,1$,AND EVEN free!
I know,my first box arrived yesterday!

 

[PICHARDO]

Well, I guess just because I have not seen a computer with 3.5 diskettes in years, does not mean they do not exist. Certainly if the stores are carrying them, there must be a market...however small.

But VHS tapes? High end editing consoles....for what....and to be used by what mass market? Are there that many computers left in the D.R. still using diskettes...and are there that many households still recording VHS? I thought you stated the D.R. was becoming a dynamic modern digital economy? You mean all those people living in those countless pictures of expensive highrises you have posted are still using "legacy" (outdated) computers with 3.5 diskettes and recording on VHS tape?

Perhaps when one of the board members in S.D. visits Office Depot, they can post a couple different prices for the computers and/or printers. That should make for a better price comparison.


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2

There seems to be a sea of void space in understanding for you, based on "legacy" systems...

Legacy systems in biz is not what you can pair to an old home PC system! Even the CIA and FBI, to name two of the myriad, use legacy systems to this Day and age! The US and other militaries are to their necks on legacy systems! ICBMs run on legacy systems! Yes! A 3.5 IBM disk! NASA employs over 12,000 IBM 3.5 diskettes a month for their legacy systems! Boeing uses twice as much each week! Northrop uses an outstanding number of 3.5 IBM diskettes each DAY!!!

The reason behind the legacy systems is more to do with how they got created to work ONLY via the use of these old tech disks, and not their capacity or generation. On my last deployment working for a subcontractor at Diego Garcia (long ago), we arrived to the spot with 2,500 diskettes and left with only some 27 not used on the project! Needless to say, the bulk space on the bins was taken by all the diskettes and left us with little for our own bags.

If you think that's weird, reel tapes are STILL used in many R&D centers and places you wouldn't believe it in the first place...

About the use of VHS and editing decks, it has to do with an art that still is used to recover untold numbers of celluloid movies from spoiled reels. That's one aspect, the other is that analog systems are used when security is needed ( I can't tell you how, but it is like that) and digital devices are banned from use in those special cases.

There is more material in VHS format, than there is for digital the world over! I know there's a ton of things you can't grasp, but let it be like that or else we could spend the rest of the year talking about this!

 

[PICHARDO]

Isn't the idea behind Office Depot to be where you go to get ANYTHING you need, office related? That's why they're so big in the states, after all.

I'm sure a hell of a lot of though went into every single thing on those shelves.

Who are the owners, anyway?

Nope! They are so big in the states due to the way they created their supply chain! The large box stores served as inventory centers, instead of getting their supplies by truck each week, they get them about once or twice a month (even longer in some places).

If you visit any office depot in the states, the first thing you notice is the duplicity and redundancy of the same items on shelves to no end. In some cases the entire inventory for the item is placed on the shelf.

This create a big problem for office depot and other chains, the huge inventories and the lack of an effective resupply service able to focus on inventory that got spent, but must wait until the entire inventory ordered gets trucked at the given time.

Office depot is focusing on creating a system of stores for the DR, where a main depot will serve as the main inventory warehouse, with the capacity to dispatch items as small as a few bins or as large as a semi truck load in mere hours to any point in the DR! The stores will be supplied in a expeditious manner, in order to keep all inventories stocked in all the future stores, all the time.

The idea is simple yet competitive: Never be out of any given item of the store's inventory! That translates into clients being assured of an always on hand purchase and creates a close relationship where said clients need not keep large inventories at hand, for the same ills of short supplies around.

Office Depot DR is aiming to become a key component of all types of biz and home offices in the DR, where inventories for safety of resupply create large headaches and financial burdens for the owners. Not to mention the drop in efficiency when the hands become idle, as they run out of certain needed items from time to time.

If they can pull this off in the DR, soon enough you'll see this replicated elsewhere the chain aims to extend to.

 

[playacaribe2]

There seems to be a sea of void space in understanding for you, based on "legacy" systems...

Legacy systems in biz is not what you can pair to an old home PC system! Even the CIA and FBI, to name two of the myriad, use legacy systems to this Day and age! The US and other militaries are to their necks on legacy systems! ICBMs run on legacy systems! Yes! A 3.5 IBM disk! NASA employs over 12,000 IBM 3.5 diskettes a month for their legacy systems! Boeing uses twice as much each week! Northrop uses an outstanding number of 3.5 IBM diskettes each DAY!!!

The reason behind the legacy systems is more to do with how they got created to work ONLY via the use of these old tech disks, and not their capacity or generation. On my last deployment working for a subcontractor at Diego Garcia (long ago), we arrived to the spot with 2,500 diskettes and left with only some 27 not used on the project! Needless to say, the bulk space on the bins was taken by all the diskettes and left us with little for our own bags.

If you think that's weird, reel tapes are STILL used in many R&D centers and places you wouldn't believe it in the first place...

About the use of VHS and editing decks, it has to do with an art that still is used to recover untold numbers of celluloid movies from spoiled reels. That's one aspect, the other is that analog systems are used when security is needed ( I can't tell you how, but it is like that) and digital devices are banned from use in those special cases.

There is more material in VHS format, than there is for digital the world over! I know there's a ton of things you can't grasp, but let it be like that or else we could spend the rest of the year talking about this!

Thank You again for that clarification. I think I am making progress though. Some of your past comments to me indicated an ocean of void space in understanding, so its good to know I am making progress and now it's only a "sea of void space in understanding" LOL. And really Pichardo, I am now down to only a ton of things I can't grasp, instead of a Mountain? Wow, I guess there is hope.

As to that grasp, you mean to tell me our ICBM missiles are still run on legacy systems from the 1980's and 1990's. I can believe data might still be stored on diskettes. but that we have not come out of the diskette era to such new fangled things as external hard drives, cd-roms read/write, cruise drives, zip drives, etc. is really hard to grasp. Please don't share that info with the Russians or Chinese.

And just to show you I have made some progress, I figured out why those VHS tapes are being made available in the D.R.

When they set up all those movie studios you have spoken of and provided pictures for, in prior threads, they apparently are going to need lots and lots of VHS tape. If it were not for your posts, I never would have made the connection. Thanks Again.

Now how about a little electronics price comparison. I will be interested in the outcome...and far more interested in your explanation.


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2

 

[SKY]

If their prices are similar to Radio Shack for example, you will pay double for outdated goods. And who cares why prices are high? I only go by what they charge me, not why.

 

[the gorgon]

PICHARDO informs

The idea is simple yet competitive: Never be out of any given item of the store's inventory!

Walmart and Michael Dell have been doing this forever. the problem is that it needs very accurate record keeping at the end user side of the supply chain, or the whole deck of cards will come tumbling down from whipsaw effect.

 

[the gorgon]

JDJones, forget any supply center ideas for Office Depot in the DR. outside of Santo Domingo, and possibly Santiago, there is no other town or city that has the kind of demand numbers to support an office depot. none. in the matter of the supply centers...it is not exactly just a matter of warehousing. it is the distribution protocols that count. when a customer at WalMart in Jacksonville Florida buys a toothbrush, the head office in Bentonville is aware of it within 14 seconds. the bar code swipe tells them. they immediately put a replacement in the bin for that store. at the end of the day, everything which was sold is replenished, bringing the floor inventory to exactly what it was at opening the day before.

 

[PICHARDO]

Hey, all of the biggies do that here now, it's nothing new. Bravo has the supply center on Luperon, so does CCN.

La Sirena has theirs in Haina. The list goes on and on.

My question is, where is the supply center for this Office Depot?

JDJones, forget any supply center ideas for Office Depot in the DR. outside of Santo Domingo, and possibly Santiago, there is no other town or city that has the kind of demand numbers to support an office depot. none. in the matter of the supply centers...it is not exactly just a matter of warehousing. it is the distribution protocols that count. when a customer at WalMart in Jacksonville Florida buys a toothbrush, the head office in Bentonville is aware of it within 14 seconds. the bar code swipe tells them. they immediately put a replacement in the bin for that store. at the end of the day, everything which was sold is replenished, bringing the floor inventory to exactly what it was at opening the day before.

These pictures are the of the storage plant in SD, not the actual store in the Mall soon to open. The goods are arriving from the USA and being sorted for their placement in the store.

Not only is the supply warehouse ready to do the job, but the system is fully automated via the linked retail servers and the main storage/supply HQ. Also Office Depot is currently preparing a biz to biz backbone for corporate/medium and small biz in the DR, via which they'll be able to order what they need/keep a set steady resupply contract/buy with savings on bulk/etc.. All that via a secured backbone system, all optic fiber!

 

[PICHARDO]

JDJones, forget any supply center ideas for Office Depot in the DR. outside of Santo Domingo, and possibly Santiago, there is no other town or city that has the kind of demand numbers to support an office depot. none. in the matter of the supply centers...

Office Depot Dominican Republic will NOT build any big box centers!

There's will be not only MANY stores all over SD city, but the province and all other municipalities all over the country!