The Crestwood OfficeMax store will close in May – the latest in a line of store closures along Watson Road and part of a wave of OfficeMax closures across the country.
The Crestwood OfficeMax, at 9901 Watson Road, will close May 14, Office Depot spokeswoman Julianne Embry confirmed to the Call. Office Depot and OfficeMax merged into one company in 2013.
The OfficeMax closing is the latest in a series of closures along the Watson Road corridor in Crestwood. The Board of Aldermen unanimously approved $25 million in tax incentives for a $104 million redevelopment plan of the former Crestwood Plaza mall site at Watson and Sappington roads March 22, and demolition could start in May and will likely take a year.
The same night officials approved the tax incentives for the mall, officials also unanimously approved a request from Gold’s Gym to open at 9450 Watson Road, the former location of Best Buy, which closed Oct. 31. The electronics store had been open in Crestwood since 1987, but Best Buy spokesman Jeff Shelman told the Call that the decline and closing of the mall and the exodus of surrounding retail over the years, including Barnes & Noble and Sears, translated to fewer customers in Crestwood.
Firestone closed its location at 9415 Watson Road last year. Calvert’s Express & Tire participated in the Christmas in Crestwood Christmas tree decorating contest in December and opened in January, but shut down soon after. Calvert’s Express owner George Calvert did not respond to a request for comment about the closing.
In 2014, Gordmans moved its Crestwood store to Arnold.
The latest Watson Road closure is part of a planned closure by OfficeMax and Office Depot nationwide. After the two companies merged, the new company announced it would close 400 stores over a period of several years. The company closed 165 stores in 2014 and 182 in 2015.
After the Crestwood store shuts down, Office Depot recommends that Crestwood shoppers go to the Office Max store in Kirkwood, 1241 S. Kirkwood Road, or shop online.
The OfficeMax stores at 8730 Manchester Road in Brentwood and 1016 Loughborough Avenue in south St. Louis are also closing May 14, Embry confirmed.
For now, the other OfficeMax in south county, at 4106 Lemay Ferry Road, will stay open, but Embry said she could not comment on any potential future closure of that store or the others in the St. Louis region.
“One of the critical priorities for Office Depot, Inc. continues to be rationalizing our store footprint in North America,” Embry wrote in an email. “The overlapping retail footprint created by the merger of Office Depot and OfficeMax in 2013 provided us a unique opportunity to consolidate and optimize our store portfolio, while maintaining the retail presence needed to serve our customers.”