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Joseph S. Vassalluzzo joined Staples, Inc., in 1989, and has been an integral part of Staples’ phenomenal growth in its seventeen year history. At the prompting of Staples Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Tom Stemberg, Mr. Vassalluzzo joined the company to spearhead rapid expansion worldwide. Originally holding the position of Executive Vice President, Growth & Support Services, he was named to Executive Vice President, Global Growth and Development in 1993. In 1997, he was promoted to President, Staples Realty & Development. He was promoted to his current position of Vice Chairman, in January 2000. Today, he is responsible for Staples’ growth, both domestic and abroad, for both the retail and commercial operations. In addition from the development perspective, Mr. Vassalluzzo oversees all corporate environmental initiatives and is responsible for merger and acquisition activities worldwide.
Mr. Vassalluzzo has been responsible for the company’s rapid expansion from 30 stores to over 1,300 retail stores in the U.S. and Canada, and has developed over 190 retail units in its international divisions in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal. Numerous distribution, office, call and other support facilities have been developed under his management. In addition, he oversees real estate for the company’s catalog delivery divisions, Staples Business Delivery and Quill Corporation, the contract stationer divisions, which includes Staples Business Advantage and Staples National Advantage, its E-Commerce division, Staples.com and Staples European Catalogue. He also negotiated and managed major mergers and acquisitions, which to date have included in part: HQ Office Supply Warehouse, the former Rickel Channel Home Improvement Chain, Office America, the Quill Corporation; Sigma Office Centre Europe; Staples UK and Maxi Papier Europe, Office America and, most recently Medical Arts Press.
Presently, Mr. Vassalluzzo serves as an independent Director of Federal Realty Investment Trust, a publicly held REIT and as a Director of Zoots, Inc. a privately held dry cleaning chain.
Mr. Vassalluzzo’s prior career included accomplished service in sales, operations and real estate for Mobil Corp. and Amerada Hess Corp. He later joined Acme Supermarkets, where he became Director of Real Estate. He was promoted to the parent company, American Stores Co., where he assumed the position of President of American Stores Properties Inc. before joining Staples. In this role, he managed a $2 billion retail real estate portfolio, which included; Acme Markets, Inc., Jewel Food Stores, Lucky Food stores and Osco drugstores.
Mr. Vassalluzzo earned a B.S. degree in marketing from Pennsylvania State University and received an MBA from Temple University. He currently resides in Southborough, Massachusetts, with his wife, Julia, and has three children residing out of state. | 