Home Depot Research:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Home_Depot#History
The Home Depot (NYSE: HD) is an American retailer of home improvement and
construction products and services. Headquartered in Vinings, just outside Atlanta, The
Home Depot employs more than 331,000 people and operates 2,193 big-box format
stores across the United States (including the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam), Canada (ten provinces), Mexico and China.
The world's second-largest Home Depot (as of the end of 2007[update]) opened
November 14, 2007 on the island of Guam.
The Home Depot is the largest home-improvement retailer in the United States, ahead of
rival Lowe's, and the second-largest general retailer in the United States, behind only
Wal-Mart.
History
Founded by/when/vision
The Home Depot was founded in 1978 by Bernie Marcus, Arthur Blank, Ron Brill, and
Pat Farrah.
The Home Depot's proposition was to build home-improvement warehouses, larger than
any of their competitors' facilities. Investment banker Ken Langone helped Marcus and
Blank to secure the necessary capital.
"Bernie and I founded [The Home Depot] with a special vision -- to create a company
that would keep alive the values that were important to us. Values like respect among all
people, excellent customer service and giving back to communities and society."
—Arthur Blank
First store/headquarters
In 1979, the first two stores, built in spaces leased from J. C. Penney that were originally
Treasure Island "hypermarket" (discount department and grocery) stores, opened in metro
Atlanta on June 22. Two more opened not long after, and all four shared the space under
the "squiggly" zig-zag roof with Zayre on its right side. The first headquarters was on
Terrell Mill Road on the southeast side of Marietta, Georgia, just down from one of the
stores at the corner of Cobb Parkway. (former location of The Home Depot's first store
(1979))], in the Marietta Plaza strip mall, became Value City, changing to Burlington
Coat Factory in 2008; part was also a short-lived Little Bucks, in which Brill had a stake.)
Current headquarters/ownership status/stock value
Since the 1990s, its current headquarters (The Home Depot, headquarters) is a pair of
high-rise buildings on Paces Ferry Road, on the western edge of the Cumberland/Galleria
edge city in unincorporated Cobb County, Georgia, across Interstate 285 from the town
of Vinings, and served by mail from Atlanta. Many of the company's employees refer to
the headquarters as the "Taj Mahal" because of the luxurious look on the interior and
exterior of the buildings.
In 2000, after the retirement of Marcus and Blank, Robert Nardelli was appointed
chairman, president, and CEO. Nardelli was replaced in January 2007 by Frank Blake.
In 2007 the Home Depot sold its USD $13 billion revenue wholesale division, HD
Supply, to a consortium of three private equity firms, The Carlyle Group, Bain Capital
and Clayton, Dubilier and Rice (with each agreeing to buy a one-third stake in the
division). Home Depot sold their wholesale construction supply business to fund a stock
repurchase estimated at $40 billion.
Home Depot Today
Home Depot stores are large, averaging 105,000 ft² (9,755 m²) and organized warehousestyle, stocking a large range of supplies. The company color is a bright orange (PMS 165,
CMYK 60M100Y), on signs, equipment and employee aprons.
Sales/ EXPO Design Center
Its 2005 sales totaled US$91.8 billion (US$77.0 billion in retail sales). Despite the 10%
increase in revenue, it dropped three spots to #17 on the 2007 FORTUNE magazine's
FORTUNE 500 list (it was #13 in 2005 and #14 in 2006). The Home Depot also owns
EXPO Design Center, a chain of higher-end home decorating and appliance stores, but it
announced in January 2009 that the chain will be shut down.
Contractors
In 2006, the Home Depot acquired Hughes Supply which was assimilated into HD
Supply serving contractors, which it eventually sold in June 2007. In September 2005,
Home Depot Direct launched its high-end online home-furnishings store, 10 Crescent
Lane, shortly followed by the launch of Paces Trading Company, its high-end online
lighting store. In mid 2006, the Home Depot acquired Home Decorators Collection which
was placed as an additional brand under its Home Depot Direct Division. Home Depot
Landscape Supply, with only a few stores each in metro Atlanta and Dallas/Fort Worth,
was founded in 2002 and closed in late 2007.
Re-design
On January 2, 2007, the Home Depot and Robert Nardelli mutually agreed on Nardelli's
resignation as CEO after a six-year tenure. Nardelli resigned amid complaints over his
heavy-handed management and whether his pay package of $123.7 million, excluding
stock option grants, over the past 5 years was excessive considering the stock's poor
performance versus its competitor Lowe's. His golden parachute severance package of
$210 million has also been criticized because when the stock went down his pay went up.
His successor is Frank Blake, who previously served as the company's vice chairman of
the board and executive vice president. Blake agreed to a much more conservative
compensation package than his predecessor that is very heavily dependent upon the
success of the company.
Marketing/slogan/website/Toys
The slogan "You can do it. We can help." has been used by the Home Depot since 2003.
Other slogans used in the past 25 years include "The Home Depot, Low prices are just the
beginning" in the early 1990s and "When you're at the Home Depot, You'll feel right at
home" in the late 1990s and "The Home Depot: First In Home Improvement!" from
1999-2003.
The domain homedepot.com attracted at least 120 million visitors annually by 2008
according to a Compete.com survey.
The Home Depot also has its own brand of construction toys, which include plastic
hammers, wrenches, and screwdrivers, but are sold exclusively at Toys R Us.
Brands
The Home Depot exclusively carries several major brands, including:
* BEHR Paint
* Chem-Dry (carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning, tile and grout services)
* Distinctions Cabinetry
* Feather River Doors
* G.E. (water heaters)
* Glacier Bay (faucets and bath)
* Husky (tools, store brand)
* Millstead
* Pegasus (kitchen and bath items)
* Ryobi (power tools)
* Thomasville cabinetry
* Vigoro (fertilizer, store brand)
Additionally, the retailer has its own house brands:
* Commercial Electric (lighting and electrical)
* Eco Options (store brand)
* Hampton Bay (lighting, ceiling fans & patio furniture)
* n:vision (compact fluorescent bulbs, formerly part of Commercial Electric)
* Workforce