Feature News

OfficeMax Honored For Innovative Service and Outstanding Member Service

NAPERVILLE, Ill., May 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- OfficeMax (NYSE: OMX), a leading provider of office supplies and services, today announced that it has been named the 2009 recipient of the Educational & Institutional Cooperative Purchasing (E&I) Supply Partner of the Year award, E&I's inaugural year for this award. OfficeMax is being recognized for its extraordinary service to members and for its willingness to help improve the E&I membership community through flexibility and continuous innovation.

"OfficeMax has helped E&I members purchase what they need more easily, has saved their institutions scarce operating dollars, and in many cases has helped improve the procurement process," said Thomas Fitzgerald, CEO, E&I Cooperative Purchasing. "This is a significant set of achievements for any organization, and OfficeMax shows no signs of slowing down. Simply put, OfficeMax is the kind of supply partner that sets a worthy benchmark for others."

In challenging times, many companies are finding that adding value in areas such as customer service is critical to remaining competitive in the marketplace. According to a recent semi-annual survey(1) of small business owners, offering excellent customer service is the number one management tactic during the economic downturn.

"Many business providers are dropping customer service performance as they reduce operating costs. We remain focused on customer service because it's an area where we can guide our customers toward efficiencies and deliver a level of genuine value," said Jim Durkin, EVP of North American Sales for OfficeMax. "We are committed to helping our partners achieve a better bottom line with award winning customer service and innovative programs such as our Total Solutions Enterprise program."

This is the third award OfficeMax has received to date this year for its outstanding service. On April 22, The University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) and Novation, the healthcare industry's leading contracting services company, announced OfficeMax as the 2009 recipient of UHC Service Excellence Supplier Award as Supplier of the Year. In May, OfficeMax received the Ariba Spend Management Excellence Award in the Supplier Network Pioneer category.

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(R), technology products and solutions, and furniture to consumers and to large, medium and small businesses. OfficeMax customers are served by more than 30,000 associates through direct sales, catalogs, e-commerce and more than 1,000 stores. To find the nearest OfficeMax, call 1-877-OFFICEMAX. For more information, visit http://www.officemax.com/.

About E&I Cooperative Purchasing

Established in 1934 by members of The National Association of Educational Procurement (NAEP), Educational & Institutional Cooperative Purchasing (E&I) is a buying cooperative that serves colleges and universities. As the premier group purchasing organization for higher education, E&I uses the combined purchasing power of more than 1,600 member institutions to lower costs on a wide range of products and services. The organization provides members with access to a diverse portfolio of high quality national and regional contracts from best-in-class suppliers. E&I's member-driven competitive solicitation process has been validated by the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing (NIGP). For more information, please go to: www.eandi.org.

(1) Survey conducted by the American Express OPEN Small Business Monitor in October 2008

    OfficeMax Media Contacts:               OfficeMax Investor Contact:
    William Bonner    Jennifer Rook         Mike Steele
    630-864-6057      630-864-6057          630-864-6826