Framingham based Staples, Inc. will ring the NASDAQ stock market opening bell this morning in New York City’s Times Square. The president of Staples’ US stores, Demos Parneros, will ring the bell in honor of today being the official first day of the 2011 back-to-school shopping season — a season arguably second as important to the holidays for many retailers.

“When people think of back-to-school shopping, they think of Staples because we are the top destination for selection and savings,” said Demos Parneros, president of U.S. Retail for Staples, Inc. “This year, we’re excited to offer our customers even more amazing deals on technology and core essentials. No matter when customers shop this season, they’ll find countless ways to save at Staples.”

For a little history lesson, Staples opened its first store in Brighton, Mass. in 1986. The company’s co-founders, Leo Kahn and Tom Stemberg, were purportedly former rivals in the supermarket industry in New England — even having a price war one holiday season around turkeys. The two entrepreneurs joined forces with a vision to create an office supply superstore. And that they did, with publicly traded Staples now counting over 2,000 locations in 26 countries, and a market cap of over $10 billion.

Kahn passed away this Spring at age 94, after launching two healthy food store chains that eventually sold to and are now part of Whole Foods. After serving as CEO and Chairman for over fifteen years, Stemberg (pictured to the right) stayed in Massachusetts and joined Highland Capital in 2005. He now serves as a Managing Partner of the firm’s Consumer Fund.

This is in fact Staples’ fourth consecutive year ringing in the “First Bell” of school supply shopping season. Parneros will preside over the NASDAQ Opening Bell between 9:15am and 9:30am — and we hope dearly that an EASY button is involved. You can view a live webcast of the event here.