Opening a Harvard Square branch of Staples should have been a non-event for the Framingham-based office supply empire, with its 1,200 stores and $9 billion in revenue.

But last week's grand opening of a new store on the corner of JFK and Winthrop Streets was a homecoming of sorts for company CEO Thomas G. Stemberg '71 and President Ronald L. Sargent '77.

In a ceremony last Thursday, the two alumni dedicated the company's newest store--located in the Crimson Galleria--to the University administrators who gave them their places at Harvard.

Stemberg and Sargent dedicated the store to two former deans of the College--L. Fred Jewett '57 and Fred L. Glimp '50--and to Executive Director of the Harvard Alumni Association John P. Reardon '60.

The former administrators--all of whom sat on the admissions committees that admitted Stemberg and Sargent to their respective classes at Harvard--were given plaques commemorating their work in the Harvard community.

"I am proud to have the opportunity to dedicate Staples' Harvard Square store to the men who helped make my education at Harvard University possible," said Stemberg, whose 15-year company has grown to employ more 50,000 people worldwide.

At the ceremony, Sargent recounted his first journey to Harvard when it took him six hours to get to Cambridge from Boston's Logan Airport.

After attending the College, both Sargent and Stemberg went on to attend Harvard Business School (HBS), and Stemberg currently serves on the Board of Overseers' Visiting Committee to HBS.