Thomas Stemberg, founder of Staples office superstore, dies

BOSTON (AP) - Thomas Stemberg, a former grocery business executive who founded Staples Inc. and revolutionized the office supplies retail business, died Friday at his home in Massachusetts. He was 66.

Venture capital firm Highland Capital Partners, which Stemberg joined in 2005, said he died of cancer.

Stemberg was a New England grocery executive but left after a dispute with his bosses. He came up with the idea of Staples after driving around the Boston area searching unsuccessfully for printer ribbon on July 4th weekend in 1985 when stores were closed.

Staples, based in Framingham, grew into a chain with $22.5 billion in revenue and 83,000 employees last year. It was among the first big-box stores that applied price pressure on competitors and lured shoppers from downtown stores and shopping malls.

Former Gov. Mitt Romney, whose Bain Capital invested in Staples, called Stemberg "an extraordinarily creative and dynamic visionary."

"Tom is one of the great business leaders of our state and our nation," he said, according to The Boston Globe.

Romney, a Republican, said Stemberg persuaded him to draft health care legislation in the state.

"Without Tom pushing it, I don't think we would have had Romneycare," he said.