photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Store closing signs were visible Aug. 21, 2025 at Lawrence's Office Depot, 2525 Iowa Street.

Now departing Lawrence: Office Depot.

The office supply chain has posted “store closing” signs at its location at 2525 Iowa Street.

An exact closing date for the store wasn’t advertised, but employees have been told to expect the last day of business to be in early October, the Journal-World has learned.

The retailer has been in Lawrence for more than a decade, but its closing doesn’t necessarily come as a surprise. The Journal-World reported in February that the store’s approximately 36,000-square-foot location was being actively marketed to new tenants.

The fact that a “for lease” signed had appeared in the parking lot connected to the store was a pretty strong indication that Office Depot’s fate in Lawrence was precarious.

There has been no word on whether a new tenant has been found for the site, or whether Office Depot is simply leaving as its lease expires. Either way, the closing opens a significant amount of space on busy south Iowa Street. Office Depot shares the shopping center with Planet Fitness, HuHot Mongolian Grill, the Mattress Hub, and most recently got a shot of adrenaline with the location of a standalone Dutch Bros. coffee shop in the parking lot of the center.

As for Office Depot, its parent company has been closing stores over the past year in many markets. Its parent company, The ODP Corporation, reported quarterly earnings earlier this month, and highlighted that the company had 60 fewer Office Depot stores than it did a year ago. Sales at the chain have been down by 10% or more over the last year or so, according to the financial results.

Signs at the Lawrence location announced that the going-out-of-business sale had begun, with items across the store marked-down by 30%.

Store closing signs were visible Aug. 21, 2025 at Lawrence’s Office Depot, 2525 Iowa Street.

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I’ve gotten a few inquiries about other national news related to a Lawrence chain. Some of you have seen reports that Noodles & Company is closing a significant number of its restaurants. That’s true, however, the company hasn’t released a list of locations that it plans to close this year and next year.

The Colorado-based company plans to close 28 to 32 restaurants before the end of this year, and then another 12 to 17 restaurants in 2026. So, nearly 50 restaurants in total. Just mathematically speaking, the Lawrence Noodles & Company — which is located on Massachusetts Street — has a good chance of avoiding the cut. A closing of 50 restaurants would be about a 13% reduction from 2024 totals, according to various media reports.

But I have no insight into how Lawrence factors into the company’s plans. However, Noodles & Company does have several financial challenges to tackle, according to its earnings report released earlier this month. The company lost about $18 million in the most recent quarter, which was about $5 million worse than the same period a year ago. The company also reported having about $2.3 million in cash, and about $14 million of credit available through a revolving line of credit. The company has about $108 million in debt.