Exhibit 99.1

UNITED STATIONERS REPORTS

SECOND QUARTER 2012 EARNINGS

DEERFIELD, Ill., July 23, 2012 – United Stationers Inc. (NASDAQ: USTR) reported second quarter 2012 results.

Second Quarter Financial Summary

“Our growth categories and channels continued to deliver strong performance and we are making progress on our efficiency initiatives,” said Cody Phipps, president and chief executive officer. “Our industrial and janitorial/breakroom areas showed solid growth and we are pleased with our progress in the e-retail and public sector channels. The office products environment is still challenging, but we continue to pursue opportunities here to drive specific category growth initiatives.”

Second Quarter Performance

Sales for the second quarter rose 1.5% to $1.28 billion. Strong growth was seen in the industrial supplies category with sales up 13.2% while janitorial/breakroom sales grew 5.8%. Furniture grew slightly by 0.3%. Partially offsetting these gains were declines in the office products and technology categories which were down 0.8% and 2.8%, respectively.

        Gross margin for the quarter was $188.3 million, or 14.8% of sales, compared with $184.2 million, or 14.7% of sales in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin benefitted from higher inventory purchase-related supplier allowances, “War on Waste” (WOW) savings in occupancy and net freight costs, as well as higher service revenue and margin. These items were partially offset by a lower-margin mix and continued competitive pricing pressures.

- more -

United Stationers Reports Second Quarter 2012 Earnings

Page 2 of 9

Second quarter 2012 operating expenses were $137.9 million, or 10.8% of sales, compared with $136.4 million, or 10.9% of sales, in the second quarter of 2011. In the second quarter of 2011, a non-cash pre-tax $4.4 million equity compensation charge was taken with respect to a transition agreement with the company’s former chief executive officer. Excluding this item, second quarter 2011 operating expenses were $132.0 million⁽¹⁾, or 10.5%⁽¹⁾ of sales. Operating expenses in the second quarter of 2012 reflected increased employee-related costs including labor, pension, and healthcare costs.

Operating income for the quarter ended June 30, 2012 was $50.3 million, or 3.9% of sales, versus $47.8 million, or 3.8% of sales, in the second quarter of 2011. Excluding the item noted above, adjusted operating margin for the prior-year quarter was $52.2 million⁽¹⁾, or 4.2%⁽¹⁾ of sales.

Diluted earnings per share for the latest quarter were $0.66, compared with $0.54 in the prior-year period. Excluding the item noted above, adjusted earnings per share were up 11.9% compared with $0.59⁽¹⁾ in the prior-year quarter. Earnings per share in the 2012 quarter were favorably affected by a lower effective tax rate. The ongoing share repurchase program also benefited earnings per share by reducing average shares outstanding by nearly 5.5 million or 11.8%.

Six-Month Performance

Sales in the first half of 2012 were $2.55 billion, up 2.1% compared with the prior-year period. This was led by a 17.1% increase in industrial supplies and an 8.8% increase in janitorial/breakroom. Office products were up slightly by 0.5%, furniture sales were up 0.6% and technology sales declined 4.5%.

Gross margin for the first half of 2012 was $369.2 million, or 14.5% of sales, compared to $366.6 million or 14.7% of sales in the same prior-year period. The declining margin rate was due to a lower-margin mix and continued competitive pricing pressures. These items were partially offset by higher inventory purchase-related supplier allowances, higher inflation related inventory margin, and WOW savings particularly within occupancy costs.

Operating expenses in 2012 were $287.3 million, or 11.3% of sales, including a charge of $6.2 million for facility closures and severance costs, compared with $278.8 million, or 11.2% of sales, last year, which included a non-cash $4.4 million equity compensation charge as well as a $1.6 million non-deductible, asset impairment charge with respect to the company’s equity investment in a managed print services business. Excluding these items, operating expenses in 2012 were $281.0⁽¹⁾, or 11.0%⁽¹⁾ of sales, compared with the prior year of $272.8 million⁽¹⁾ or 10.9%⁽¹⁾ of sales. Operating expenses in the first half of 2012 reflected increased labor and pension costs.

Operating income for the first half of 2012 was $81.9 million or 3.2% of sales, compared with $87.8 million or 3.5% of sales in the prior year period. Excluding the items mentioned above, operating income through the first six months of 2012 was $88.2⁽¹⁾ million, or 3.5%⁽¹⁾ of sales, compared with $93.9 million⁽¹⁾ or 3.8%⁽¹⁾ of sales, in the same period last year.

Diluted earnings per share for the first half of 2012 were $1.01 versus $0.97 in the first half of 2011. Excluding the items mentioned above, diluted earnings per share for the first half of 2012 were up 3.7% to $1.11⁽¹⁾, compared with $1.07⁽¹⁾ in the prior-year period.

Cash Flow, Debt Trends and Share Repurchases

Net cash provided by operating activities for the six months ended June 30, 2012 was $48.3 million, compared with $73.3 million in the same period last year. This year-over-year decline resulted primarily from reduced payables leverage due to timing of payments and purchases in the prior year. Cash flow used in investing activities totaled $10.2 million in 2012, compared with $16.2 million in the same period last year. Capital spending is expected to be in the range of $30 million to $35 million for all of 2012.

The company currently has approximately $985 million of total committed debt capacity and $527 million outstanding at June 30, 2012. Debt-to-total capitalization rose to 43.3% at June 30, 2012 from 37.0% at June 30, 2011. During the latest six months, the company paid $54.3 million to acquire approximately 1.8 million shares and paid cash dividends of $10.8 million to common shareholders.

- more -

United Stationers Reports Second Quarter 2012 Earnings

Page 3 of 9

Outlook

“The broader economic environment is not showing signs of improvement so it is even more important that we deliver on our growth and margin improvement initiatives, said Phipps. “We see attractive opportunities to grow our wholesale model in many categories and are making sure we invest to keep the momentum going in these areas. We are also working various initiatives to improve operating margin to ensure strong cash flows that we can reinvest in the business and return to shareholders,” concluded Phipps.

Conference Call

United Stationers will hold a conference call followed by a question and answer session on Tuesday, July 24^th, at 10:00 a.m. CDT, to discuss second quarter 2012 results. To participate, callers within the U.S. and Canada should dial (888) 771-4371, and international callers should dial (847) 585-4405 approximately 10 minutes before the presentation. The passcode is: 32716914. To listen to the webcast, participants should visit the Investor Information section of the company’s website at ir.unitedstationers.com several minutes before the event is broadcast and follow the instructions provided to ensure that the necessary audio application is downloaded and installed. This program is provided at no charge to the user. In addition, interested parties can access an archived version of the call, also located on the Investor Information section of United Stationers’ website, about two hours after the call ends. This news release, along with a financial slide presentation and other information relating to the call, also will be available on United’s website.

- more -

United Stationers Reports Second Quarter 2012 Earnings

Page 4 of 9

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements, including references to goals, plans, strategies, objectives, projected costs or savings, anticipated future performance, results or events and other statements that are not strictly historical in nature. These statements are based on management’s current expectations, forecasts and assumptions. This means they involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied here. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to the following: prevailing economic conditions and changes affecting the business products industry and the general economy; United’s ability to effectively manage its operations and to implement growth, cost-reduction and margin-enhancement initiatives; United’s reliance on key customers, and the risks inherent in continuing or increased customer concentration; United’s reliance on key suppliers and the supplier allowances and promotional incentives they offer; United’s reliance on independent resellers for a significant percentage of its net sales and, therefore, the importance of the continued independence, viability and success of these resellers; continuing or increasing competitive activity and pricing pressures within existing or expanded product categories, including competition from product manufacturers who sell directly to United’s customers; the impact of a loss of, or substantial decrease in, the availability of products or service from key vendors at competitive prices; United’s ability to maintain its existing information technology systems and the systems and eCommerce services that it provides to customers, and to successfully procure, develop and implement new systems and services without business disruption or other unanticipated difficulties or costs; the creditworthiness of United’s customers; United’s ability to manage inventory in order to maximize sales and supplier allowances while minimizing excess and obsolete inventory; United’s success in effectively identifying, consummating and integrating acquisitions; the risks and expense associated with United’s obligations to maintain the security of private information provided by United’s customers; the costs and risks related to compliance with laws, regulations and industry standards affecting United’s business; the availability of financing sources to meet United’s business needs; United’s reliance on key management personnel, both in day-to-day operations and in execution of new business initiatives; and the effects of hurricanes, acts of terrorism and other natural or man-made disruptions.

Shareholders, potential investors and other readers are urged to consider these risks and uncertainties in evaluating forward-looking statements and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. For additional information about risks and uncertainties that could materially affect United’s results, please see the company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The forward-looking information in this news release is made as of this date only, and the company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement. Investors are advised to consult any further disclosure by United regarding the matters discussed in this release in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in other written statements it makes from time to time. It is not possible to anticipate or foresee all risks and uncertainties, and investors should not consider any list of risks and uncertainties to be exhaustive or complete.

Company Overview

United Stationers Inc. is a leading wholesale distributor of business products, with 2011 net sales of $5.0 billion. The company stocks a broad and deep line of approximately 100,000 items on a national basis, including technology products, traditional office products, janitorial and breakroom supplies, office furniture, and industrial supplies. A network currently comprised of 61 distribution centers allows it to deliver these products to over 25,000 reseller customers. This network, combined with United’s depth and breadth of inventory, enables the company to ship most products overnight to more than 90% of the U.S. and major cities in Mexico. For more information, visit www.unitedstationers.com.

United Stationers’ common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol USTR.

- tables follow -

United Stationers Reports Second Quarter 2012 Earnings

Page 5 of 9

United Stationers Inc. and Subsidiaries

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income

(unaudited)

(in thousands, except per share data)

- tables continue -

United Stationers Reports Second Quarter 2012 Earnings

Page 6 of 9

United Stationers Inc. and Subsidiaries

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(dollars in thousands, except share data)

- tables continue -

United Stationers Reports Second Quarter 2012 Earnings

Page 7 of 9

United Stationers Inc. and Subsidiaries

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(unaudited)

(in thousands)

- tables continue -

United Stationers Reports Second Quarter 2012 Earnings

Page 8 of 9

United Stationers Inc. and Subsidiaries

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Adjusted Operating Income, Net Income, and Diluted Earnings Per Share

(unaudited)

(in thousands, except per share data)

Note: Adjusted Operating Expenses, Operating Income, Net Income and Earnings Per Share in the second quarter of 2011 excludes the effects of an equity compensation charge related to a transition agreement with the former chief executive officer. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles require that the effects of this item be included in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income. Management believes that excluding this item is an appropriate comparison of its ongoing operating results to last year. It is helpful to provide readers of its financial statements with a reconciliation of these items to its Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income reported in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

- tables continue -

United Stationers Reports Second Quarter 2012 Earnings

Page 9 of 9

United Stationers Inc. and Subsidiaries

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Adjusted Operating Income, Net Income, and Diluted Earnings Per Share

(unaudited)

(in thousands, except per share data)

Note: Adjusted Operating Expenses, Operating Income, Net Income and Earnings Per Share for the six months ended June 30, 2012, exclude the effects of a $6.2 million charge related to facility closures and severance cost. In addition, the results for the six months ended June 30, 2011, were adjusted to exclude the effects of an equity compensation charge related to a transition agreement with the former chief executive officer and a non-deductible asset impairment charge. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles require that the effects of this item be included in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income. Management believes that excluding this item is an appropriate comparison of its ongoing operating results to last year. It is helpful to provide readers of its financial statements with a reconciliation of these items to its Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income reported in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

- ## -