Staples follows RadioShack with big store-closure plans
Office-supply retailer Staples (SPLS) on Thursday announced plans to close up to 225 stores in North America by the end of 2015, as online sales take a bigger bite out of brick-and-mortar shops. The closures would reduce its worldwide store count by 10%. The news comes on the heels of RadioShack’s (RSH) decision Tuesday to close up to 1,100 stores in the U.S., slashing its company-owned store count by 26%. Staples said its action is part of an effort to reduce annual costs by about $500 million by next year. The Framingham, Mass.-based company currently operates 2,200 stores worldwide, with 1,500 of them in the U.S. Staples shuttered 109 stores in North America and Europe in 2013. Staples announced the latest store closings as it released results for its fiscal fourth quarter ended Feb. 1. The retailer earned 33 cents a share, down 28% from…