After the New York Post said Staples (SPLS) has held talks to sell its 1,500 North American retail stores to Office Depot (ODP), Anthony Chukumba said he believes buying the stores would result in significant synergies for Office Depot and could make near-term sense, but he has a hard time understanding the long-term strategic rationale to "double down" on the secularly declining retail business. Any short-term benefits would be more than offset by the negative long-term implications, believes Chukumba, who keeps a Hold rating on Office Depot shares.