He became chairman of the company and replaced its entire board of directors. Staples reported that North American same-store sales during the third quarter were down four percent as traffic declined by a like amount and order sizes were flat year-over-year. On Staples' earnings conference call last month, CEO Ron Sargent, said the chain expected to close 170 stores by year's end versus the 140 it had previously announced. On Office Depot's earnings call last month, CEO Roland Smith declared the first year following its merger with OfficeMax to be "a huge success."