In one aspect of the present disclosure a surgical stapling apparatus (10) is disclosed including a cartridge assembly (20). The cartridge assembly includes at least one cartridge (206,208) having a first half (226) and a second half (228), a first row (234) of retention slots (230) disposed in the first half, a second row (238) of retention slots disposed in the second half, a third row (236) of retention slots being alternately disposed in the first half and the second half of the at least one cartridge between the first and second rows of staple receiving slots, a plurality of fasteners (110) disposed in the retention slots of the first, second and third rows, and a plurality of pushers (108) disposed in each of the first and second halves of the cartridge.
