Why Staples Has Olympics Fever

In May, soccer midfielder Carli Lloyd, swimmer Missy Franklin, and fencing champ Ibtihaj Muhammad—three of the U.S. Olympic team’s biggest stars—gathered at a Los Angeles airplane hangar to take part in a media event for Visa, one of the team’s biggest sponsors. For their 30-minute photo shoot, the three women chose from a rack of garments bearing Visa’s logo on one side and the Olympic rings on the other. The stylish and colorful shirts, sweaters, and hoodies were all provided by the United States Olympic Committee’s most unlikely apparel partner: office supply kingpin Staples.

“When I first met them, I had the same reaction. Staples? Really?” says Andrew Cohen, Visa’s vice president for global brand and innovation. “And they’ve done a great job with us.”