Lily Tomlin, Christine Todd Whitman and Judge Glenda A. Hatchett to Headline Office Depot's Sixth Annual Success Strategies for Businesswomen Conference

Registration

The conference will be held at the Westin Diplomat Resort and Spain Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood, Fla. March 26-28, 2006. It is open tothe public, but limited to the first 1,500 registrants. Thoseinterested in registering may do so online atwww.officedepotsuccess.com or by calling 1-877-846-2367. Registrantscan take advantage of Savvy Saver pricing at $499 now through February14. Early Bird pricing for the three-day conference will be $649through March 1, and $749 from March 2 through March 26.

Theme

The theme for 2006 is Connecting for Growth, Innovation andInspiration.

"The annual conference builds on Office Depot's vision of'Delivering Winning Solutions That Inspire Worklife' by providing aforum to share the knowledge and wisdom of some of the most dynamicwomen in business today," noted Chuck Rubin, President, North AmericanRetail for Office Depot.

Keynote Speakers

-- Lily Tomlin -- Actress and Comedienne

-- Judge Glenda A. Hatchett -- Judge, Lawyer, Author, TV Host, Judge Hatchett

-- Christine Todd Whitman -- President, The Whitman Strategy Group

Panelists and Presenters

This year's conference is a diverse program filled withinformative panel sessions and outstanding presentations to bedelivered by more than 40 prominent women business leaders. Featuredspeakers include:

-- Sara Blakely, Creator and Founder of Spanx

-- Marsha Evans, Former President and CEO, American Red Cross

-- Maxine Clark, Founder and Chief Executive Bear from Build-A-Bear Workshop(R)

-- Linda Kaplan Thaler, CEO and CCO, The Kaplan Thaler Group

-- B. Smith, Chairman of the Board and CCO, B. Smith Enterprises

-- Lisa Price, Founder Carol's Daughter Cosmetics

-- Antoinette Zel, Senior Executive Vice President, Network Strategy, Telemundo

-- Violy McCausland-Seve, CEO & President, Violy & Company

-- Nina McLemore, President of the Nina McLemore Collection

-- A'Lelia Bundles, Author of On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker and Madam C.J. Walker, Entrepreneur

-- Cathy Areu, Publisher, Catalina Magazine

-- Susan Handley, Founder Beijo Bags

Also, returning for the third year as emcee is Alexis M. Herman,Former U.S. Secretary of Labor (1997-2001).

Business Sessions

Planned business sessions will address topics focused on buildingyour business and your brand, sales strategies, and lessons learnedfrom leading CEO's on achieving a healthier work/life balance.

Matchmaker Session

The conference offers an enhanced Matchmaker Session wherebycertified women business owners are pre-selected and invited to meetwith procurement officers and present their products and services.(Women-business owners eligible for consideration must havecertification from the National Minority Supplier Development Council,Women's Business Enterprise National Council or Small BusinessAdministration.)

In the past, this invitation-only session provided an opportunityfor women to meet exclusively with Office Depot procurementexecutives. This year, several Fortune 500 companies will be on handas well to participate in the session. Companies expected toparticipate include Xerox Corporation, NACO, Scripps and North BrowardHospital.

Certified women-business owners interested in participating shouldvisit www.officedepotsuccess.com and apply online for consideration.All submissions must be received no later than February 17, 2006.Those selected will be contacted by Office Depot no later than March10, 2006.

Break-Out Sessions and Workshops

New elements to the conference agenda this year are CorporateTrack break-out sessions and interactive workshops for femalecorporate professionals. Also offered will be an Entrepreneurial Trackthat will provide tips on how to write effective business andmarketing plans; insight on franchising, licensing and funding; andsecrets to secure government and corporate contracts.

To learn more about the planned business sessions, corporate andentrepreneurial tracks, please visithttp://www.officedepotsuccess.com/bizsessions.html.

Businesswomen of the Year Awards

Another highlight of the conference is the presentation of OfficeDepot's "Businesswomen of the Year." The awards are presented to womenwho demonstrate outstanding leadership within the community, businessor respective association. The winners will be selected by OfficeDepot and a panel of distinguished women's associations. Office Depotis proud to partner with the following women's associations inpresenting the 2006 awards:

-- National Association of Women Business Owners

-- Executive Women's Golf Association

-- Women's Leadership Exchange

-- Women Impacting Public Policy

-- eWomenNetwork

-- Women's Business Enterprise National Council

-- National Association for Female Executives

-- Business Women's Network

-- The Committee of 200

Office Depot is soliciting nominations to identify the mostqualified recipients for consideration and will accept nominationsthrough February 6. All women who are active members of theparticipating women's associations are eligible to submit nominationsand are advised to contact their association for a nomination form.All nominations must be mailed to Office Depot BWOY Award c/o MedeliaCommunications, 2029 Taft Street, Hollywood, FL 33020 or via email toofficedepotsuccessstrategies@medelia.com. The selected winners will benotified no later than February 17, 2006.

Exposition Area

The conference will also include an exposition area featuring morethan 50 exhibitor booths and a special Wellness Center. For moreinformation on exhibitor and sponsorship opportunities please call954-922-0846.

Silent Auction

Office Depot will once again host a Silent Auction with proceedsbenefiting Count-Me-In, a non-profit organization that provides onlinenationwide access to micro business loans for women starting their ownbusiness.

About the Conference

The Office Depot Success Strategies for Businesswomen Conferencewas created in 2001 and is recognized as one of the nation's mostprominent events for women business owners as well as corporate femaleprofessionals. The three-day event attracts more than 1,000 women fromaround the country and features keynote presentations, business panelsessions and workshops delivered by chief executive officers,presidents and vice presidents of national multi-million dollarcompanies founded by women, as well as Fortune 500 companies andwomen's associations. According to past attendees, the conference isan invaluable networking tool to educate, encourage and empower womento grow and achieve greater success in business.

The conference also honors top women in business with Office DepotVisionary Awards. Leading sponsors for the 2006 conference are: XeroxCorporation, MassMutual, Microsoft, Washington Mutual and HON.

About Office Depot

With annual sales of over $14 billion, Office Depot provides moreoffice products and services to more customers in more countries thanany other company. Incorporated in 1986 and headquartered in DelrayBeach, Florida, Office Depot conducts business in 23 countries andemploys 47,000 people worldwide. The Company operates under the OfficeDepot(R), Viking Office Products(R), Viking Direct(R), Guilbert(R),and Tech Depot(R) brand names.

Office Depot is a leader in every distribution channel - fromretail stores and contract delivery to catalogs and e-commerce. Withover $3.1 billion in online sales, the Company is the world's numberthree Internet retailer. As of September 24, 2005, Office Depot has1,009 retail stores in North America. Internationally, the Companyconducts wholly-owned operations in 14 countries, and operates retailstores under joint venture and license arrangements in another sevencountries.

The company's common stock is listed on the New York StockExchange under the symbol ODP and is included in the S&P 500 Index.Additional press information can be found at:http://mediarelations.officedepot.com.