The company is Office Depot, Inc., providing more office products and services to more customers in more countries than any other company in the world.

Garcia is its executive vice president, general counsel, and secretary. As general counsel, Garcia oversees a staff of 22 lawyers — 10 are overseas — 12 paralegals; 110 internal audit, risk management, and loss prevention employees; and four staff in investor relations. With so many employees, and so much responsibility, it would be easy to get bogged down in the details. But that’s not her role, says Garcia. “My greatest focus is acting as a member of the executive committee and board of directors.”

That focus, she adds, encompasses everything from exploring corporate restructuring activities to identifying ways to increase sales. “As a general counsel, you wear a lot of hats. I am sometimes giving very specific legal advice, but for the most part, I am a member of the executive committee. My role is far beyond giving legal advice.”

The numbers underscore the need for that broad-based role. Office Depot sells to customers throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America through wholly-owned entities, majority-owned entities, or other ventures covering 35 countries, and through alliances in an another eight countries.

Forty per cent of the company’s revenue comes from retail operations, 30 per cent from business-to-business sales, and the remaining 30 per cent in international sales, notes Garcia, who joined Office Depot in 2007 from Domino’s Pizza, Inc.

Its international division sells office products and services through direct mail catalogues, contract sales forces, internet sites, and retail stores using a mix of company-owned operations, joint ventures, licensing and franchise agreements, alliances, and other arrangements.

In 1990 Office Depot began operations in the United Kingdom. Today, Office Depot has catalogue offerings in 14 countries outside of North America. In March 1999, the company introduced its first international public internet site for consumers and businesses in the U.K. Now there are more than 35 separate web sites in the international division.

Canadian operations play a minor role in the company’s global operations.

“Our business in Canada is small,” says Garcia. In Office Depot’s world, small equates to annual sales of US$166 million. Because of the size of operations, there is no in-house counsel on the ground in Canada, says Garcia. Instead, outside counsel are used, and the vice president of international law oversees activities across the country.

That situation is unlikely to change any time soon given the current economic conditions. “Retail companies are being very hard hit,” says Garcia. “We’re evaluating our general and administrative spending in every area. Employees are being cut.”

The reason for concern was evident in Office Depot’s third-quarter results. The company reported a net loss of $7 million compared to earnings of $117 million in the same period last year. Total sales decreased seven per cent to $3.7 billion while operating expenses rose 2.5 per cent to 27.7 per cent of sales.

Particularly hard hit was the North American retail division. Sales were $1.6 billion, down 11 per cent compared to the same period last year. Comparable store sales in the 1,203 stores in the U.S. and Canada open for more than one year decreased 14 per cent for the third quarter.