The Home Depot Inc. E-Portfolio

The Home Depot Inc.

"You can do it. We can help "

You might recognize this slogan, and it's no wonder why. It belongs to The Home Depot – Ranked No. 29 in 2010 Fortune 500 U.S list and the current world’s largest home improvement retailer. Among those accomplishments they are also currently ranked the fourth largest retailer in the U.S. and fifth in the world[1]. How does a company earn such success? What makes the Home Depot stand out more than Rona or Lowes?

The Home Depot Inc. was founded in 1978 by Arthur Blank and Bernie Marcus in Atlanta, Georgia.

Bernie and Arthur would team up with banker Ken Langone who invested in the business idea and with the aid of Pat Farrah, merchandising guru; they opened the first one-stop shopping stores for the do-it-yourself renovator on June 22^nd, 1979. The first two stores were around 60,000 square feet. These stores dwarfed the competition and stocked around 25,000 SKUs. They would stock empty boxes piled high on the shelves to give the illusion of even more products.[2]

The philosophy of customer service at the Home Depot is “whatever it takes”. The store believes in cultivating customer relationships rather than fast transactions. Associates at the Home Depot offer the best customer service in the industry. They are knowledgeable in guiding customers through their project plans and providing them with the right tools and know-how.

Here's a video from The Home Depot youtube channel on Retail Management and what it means to work at The Home Depot.

The Home Depot is the fastest growing home renovation retail centre in U.S. history. The company went public in 1981 and in 1984 was available on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1989 they celebrated their 100^th store opening.

1994 marks the year when Home Depot was introduced to Canada. The Home Depot opened in Mexico in 2001. By 2006 the company had extended its reach to China by purchasing a pre-existing 12 store chain – The Home Way.

The Home Depot set a standard from the beginning – Striving to bring innovative merchandise to their DIY customers they   made product alliances with industry leading manufacturers to ensure they would bring the best quality and an exclusive   assortment of products to their consumers. Brands in this alliance include: Ryobi® tools, RIDGID® tools, BEHR® paint, LG® appliances, and Toro®, Cub Cadet® lawn equipment.

Today, The Home Depot is in the hands of Frank Blake, Chairman and CEO. He joined the team in 2002 as executive vice president of business development and corporate operations and in 2007 was appointed chairman and CEO.[3]

The Home Depot currently has more than 2,200 retail stores in the United States (including Puerto Rico, the territory of Guam and the Virgin Islands), Canada, Mexico and China. And they employ more than 300,000 associates.

In 2011 The Home Depot paved the way as the world’s largest home improvement specialty retailer earning sales of $70.4 billion and earnings of $3.9 billion.[4] For the second quarter in the 2012 fiscal year The Home Depot has reported sales totaled at $20.6 billion, a 1.7 percent increase compared to 2011. Their net earnings for the second fiscal quarter in 2012 are reported to be $1.5 billion compared to $1.4 billion in 2011.[5]

Operating expenses in the six month ended period of July 29th 2012 were in the range of $8,152 million. These operating expenses covers fixed costs such as: Buildings, land, machinery and equipment for operations, insurance, permits, and rent. These costs also fall into more variable expenses such as wages, retail supplies, ultilities, employee benefits and promotional advertising.

The Home Depot Foundation was formed in 2002 and since then has granted more than $270 million to non-profit organizations aimed at improving homes and the lives of people in local communities. Since 2008 The Home Depot’s Framing Hope Program has donated $100 million worth of building supplies to over 1,400 local charitable partners to aid in the renovation and rebuilding of homes.

In order to maintain a strong presence in direct competition with other home renovation stores such as Rona and Lowes, The Home Depot offers other services outside their inventory which consists of up to 40,000 different kinds of building materials.

Other services they provide include[6]:

With more than 40,000 different kinds of building materials on hand it’s no wonder that stores are on average of 105,000 square feet with an additional 23,000 square feet of outside garden area. You might be thinking that’s a lot of utilities – and you’re right. In 2010 The Home Depot made an announcement goal to commit to cutting energy in stores by another 5% by 2015. This will bring the total reduction of energy use to 20% since 2004.

Whether you’re young or old, seasoned or green, there is someone ready and available to help you start your first – or next project at The Home Depot.