Yet another unintended Amazon.com side effect
Starting back in the 80s, OfficeDepot/Officemax (the 2nd and 3rd rank chains recently merged) and Staples drove all the little stationary / office supply stores out of business as part of the "big box store" revolution. They provided one-stop shopping, good prices, and often helpful advice, and made good profits as they took over the SOHO & small/medium business supply market.
Over the last decade, these big box stores have been hit hard as internet shopping (especially Amazon) plus Costco have provided better prices, cheap/fast delivery to the premises, and a wider range of good quality products. Businesses (and most consumers) aren't stupid, so Office Depot (especially!) and Staples have been hanging on by a thread. Clearly, Office Depot seems to be getting desperate.
PS - many people not comfortable with technology developed good impressions of Office Depot / Staples as helpful places to buy technology during their growth, and have not yet learned that the situation has changed.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
