OfficeMax Inc. on Thursday said it would close 109 underperforming stores nationwide, including six stores in California and three in the Los Angeles area, as part of its recently announced turnaround plan to strengthen company performance.

The three stores in L.A. County are in Van Nuys, Signal Hill and Santa Fe Springs. The other three stores in California are in Milpitas, Chico and Merced. OfficeMax said its 74 other stores in California will remain open.

On Tuesday, the Istaca, Ill., office-supplies retailer announced an all-encompassing turnaround plan developed to help it attain stronger operating and financial performance, and drive value to its stock, which has been sinking steadily since the middle of 2004. Part of the plan was the closure of 109 U.S. retail stores by the end of March, which it said would cost nearly $100 million before taxes.

OfficeMax said its plan aimed to reverse the company’s flagging sales and losses by focusing on three key areas: improving corporate infrastructure; turning around its retail and contract businesses; and launching cost-cutting initiatives. The company predicted 2006 sales would be flat to up slightly and that same store sales growth would be in the low single digits.

In December, one of its biggest shareholders, hedge fund K Capital, which owns about 6.4 percent of OfficeMax’s stock, implored management to put the company up for sale. The fund also expressed frustration with Chief Executive Sam Duncan, who took over last April after an accounting scandal.

In early 2005, Chief Executive Christopher Milliken resigned after less than four months on the job and the company terminated six employees as a result of an internal investigation. The nation’s No. 3 office products retailer said it overstated operating income for first quarter fiscal 2004 by failing to record certain rebates and payments to vendors. The accounting error led to the understatement of income in the second and third quarters.