To the Editor:
The sudden closing of Staples in Bayonne and the explanations leave me unsatisfied. Why would Staples close when its busiest season was imminent? Back to School. In addition, there is no indication that its lease was about to expire.
There are only three explanations possible: [1] the losses were so extraordinary that it was deemed more financially sound to close the store and put up with the fixed costs of the unexpired lease than to pay for utilities and salaries; [2] the Parent company is in the process of merging or being acquired, and they needed to immediately close down marginal performers; or [3] there was an immediate threat to the store, such as unionization of its workforce, or even a criminal threat, or some kind of extortion or blackmail by parties which are entrenched locally.
In any event, the sudden closing, right before the most profitable season is bizarre. But so is a broken windmill.
BRUCE D. KOWAL