The Home Depot, Inc.

Type	Public (NYSE: HD)
Founded	1978 (Atlanta, Georgia)
Location	Atlanta, Georgia
Key people	Robert Nardelli, CEO & Chairman
Industry	Retail (Home Improvement)
Products	Home improvement products such as appliances, tools, hardware, and garden supplies & plants.
Revenue	$81.511 billion USD (2005)
Employees	325,000
Website	www.homedepot.com

The Home Depot (NYSE: HD), headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is a big-box home improvement retailer that aims for both the do-it-yourself consumer and the professional in home improvement and construction. It is the largest home improvement retailer in the world, the second largest retailer in the United States, behind Wal-Mart, and the third largest retailer in the world, behind Wal-Mart and French company Carrefour. The Home Depot operates about 2,000 stores across North America. The company operates stores in the United States (including the 50 U.S. states, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands), Canada, and Mexico. The Home Depot also operates EXPO Design Center stores in select U.S. markets, providing high-end home design products and services, and 10 Crescent Lane, an online home-furnishings store. The Home Depot logo, claiming fair use This is a copyrighted and/or trademarked logo. ... A public company is a company owned by the public rather than by a relatively few individuals. ... New York Stock Exchange (June 2003) The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) , also nicknamed the Big Board, is the largest stock exchange in the world in dollar volume and second largest by number of companies listed. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... Flag Seal Nickname: Hotlanta, The Big Peach Location Location in Fulton and DeKalb counties in the state of Georgia Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Georgia Fulton County, Georgia DeKalb County, Georgia Mayor Shirley Franklin (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 132. ... Flag Seal Nickname: Hotlanta, The Big Peach Location Location in Fulton and DeKalb counties in the state of Georgia Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Georgia Fulton County, Georgia DeKalb County, Georgia Mayor Shirley Franklin (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 132. ... As Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer of The Home Depot, Robert (Bob) L. Nardelli is at the helm of the world’s largest home improvement retailer. ... A drawing of a self-service store Retailing consists of the sale of goods/merchandise for personal or household consumption either from a fixed location such as a department store or kiosk, or away from a fixed location and related subordinated services (Definition of the WTO (last page). ... The word appliance has several different areas of meaning, all usually referring to a device with a narrow function: One class of objects includes items that are custom-fitted to an individual for the purpose of correction of a physical problem, such as prosthetic and orthotic appliances. ... A modern hammer is directly descended from ancient hand tools A tool is a device that (most commonly) provides a mechanical advantage in accomplishing a physical task. ... Hardware is the general term that is used to describe physical artifacts of a technology. ... A gardener Gardening is the art of growing plants with the goal of crafting a purposeful landscape. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Green up arrow for a positive change in revenue from last fiscal year. ... This article is about general United States currency. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ... This page as shown in the AOL 9. ... New York Stock Exchange (June 2003) The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) , also nicknamed the Big Board, is the largest stock exchange in the world in dollar volume and second largest by number of companies listed. ... Flag Seal Nickname: Hotlanta, The Big Peach Location Location in Fulton and DeKalb counties in the state of Georgia Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Georgia Fulton County, Georgia DeKalb County, Georgia Mayor Shirley Franklin (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 132. ... Big-box store is a colloquial term used to describe a style of retail store, and by extension to the company behind the store. ... Home Improvement was an American television sitcom starring actor/comedian Tim Allen, and loosely based on his stand-up comedy routine that ran on ABC for eight seasons from September 1991 to May 1999. ... A drawing of a self-service store Retailing consists of the sale of goods/merchandise for personal or household consumption either from a fixed location such as a department store or kiosk, or away from a fixed location and related subordinated services (Definition of the WTO (last page). ... Large hardware stores have fueled the DIY ambitions of America Do it yourself or DIY refers to the practice of fabricating or repairing things on ones own rather than purchasing them or paying for professional repair. ... Construction on the North Bytown Bridge in Ottawa, Canada. ... Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. ... The Carrefour supermarket at Faaa, Tahiti, French Polynesia Carrefour SA (Euronext: CA) is an international supermarket group, headquartered in France, with a global network of supermarkets. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... A state of the United States (a U.S. state) is any one of the fifty states (four of which officially favor the term commonwealth) which, along with the District of Columbia, form the United States of America. ...

The Home Depot employs over 325,000 people.

History

Home Depot stores are large, averaging 109,000 ft² (10,000 m²) and warehouse-style, stocking a large range of supplies. The company color is a bright orange (PMS 165, CMYK 60M100Y), on signs, equipment and employee aprons.

The company was founded in 1978 in Atlanta, Georgia by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank, and grew rapidly, with sales topping $1 billion annually by 1986. 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... Flag Seal Nickname: Hotlanta, The Big Peach Location Location in Fulton and DeKalb counties in the state of Georgia Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Georgia Fulton County, Georgia DeKalb County, Georgia Mayor Shirley Franklin (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 132. ... Bernard Marcus (born 1929 in Newark, New Jersey) is a founder of the Home Depot. ... Arthur Blank (born 1942) was one of the founders of Home Depot. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In 2000, Marcus and Blank retired. Robert (Bob) L. Nardelli became chairman, president & chief executive officer of The Home Depot. He had previously spent almost 30 years at General Electric, his career culminating as president and CEO of GE Power Systems. This article is about the year 2000. ... As Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer of The Home Depot, Robert (Bob) L. Nardelli is at the helm of the world’s largest home improvement retailer. ... GE redirects here; for other uses, see GE (disambiguation). ...

The Home Depot today

Its 2005 sales totaled US$81.5 billion. Despite the 11% increase in revenue, it dropped one spot to #14 on the 2006 FORTUNE magazine's FORTUNE 500 list (it was #13 in 2005 on $73.1 billion sales in 2004). The Home Depot also owns EXPO Design Center, a chain of higher-end home decorating and appliance stores. and online home-furnishings store 10 Crescent Lane. 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The 2004 Fortune 500 issue The magazine Fortune was founded by Time Magazine co-founder Henry Luce in 1930 at the outset of the Great Depression. ... The Fortune 500 is a ranking of the top 500 United States corporations as measured by gross revenue. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Corporate governance

Current members of the board of directors of Home Depot are: Greg Brenneman, Richard H. Brown, John Clendenin, Claudio González, Milledge Hart, Bonnie Hill, Laban Jackson, Lawrence R. Johnston, Ken Langone, Robert Nardelli, and Tom Ridge. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Greg Brenneman is the current CEO of the Burger King corporation. ... Richard H. Brown was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Electronic Data Systems Corporation from 1999 to 2003; Chief Executive Officer of Cable & Wireless plc from 1996 to 1998; Member of the Board of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company since 2001 and Home Depot. ... Milledge Hart serves as Managing Director of Pagemill Partners. ... Kenneth Langone, co-founder of Home Depot, is a former director of the New York Stock Exchange. ... As Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer of The Home Depot, Robert (Bob) L. Nardelli is at the helm of the world’s largest home improvement retailer. ... Tom Ridge Thomas Joseph Ridge (born August 26, 1945) is a U.S. political figure who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives (1983–1995), Governor of Pennsylvania (1995–2001), Assistant to the President for Homeland Security (2001–2003), and the first United States Secretary of...

Exclusive brands

Home Depot carries several exclusive brands:

• RIDGID (power tools and professional plumbing tools)
• Ryobi (power tools)
• Workforce (Home Depot house-brand hand tools)
• Thomasville cabinetry
• Ralph Lauren paint
• Mill's Pride
• Hampton Bay (Home Depot house-brand lighting and ceiling fans)
• Glacier Bay (Home Depot house-brand faucets)
• Behr Paint
• Vigoro Fertilizer

Self-checkout

Home Depot has recently added self checkout registers at most of its stores in North America. These automated kiosks allow the customer to scan the barcode of the item they wish to purchase, then insert money to pay for the items, and receive any change automatically. The customer no longer needs to interact with a store employee during checkout, which has allowed Home Depot to redeploy more staff onto their store floors to assist shopping customers in some situations, and reduce overall staff in its stores in others, cutting labor costs and increasing the overhead. Home Depot was a pioneer of these kiosks, although about 50% of customers do not approve of them. It is still a matter of controversy over whether these registers have increased or decreased the store's level of customer service. A woman operates the FastLane self-checkout by NCR at a Wal-Mart store. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... An example of Money. ...

Controversies

Shareholder Controversy

At Home Depot's annual shareholder's conference [1] on May 29, 2006, in Wilmington, Delaware, many of the companies shareholders expressed anger and confusion about CEO Nardelli's pay package of $123.7 million, excluding stock option grants, over the past 5 years. Nardelli was awarded this package while Home Depot's stock sunk about 9%, and competitor Lowe's saw a 185% increase on a split-adjusted basis. While some stockholders were prepared to ask some tough and pointed questions to the board of directors, they were hindered by the fact that only one of the board's members actually showed up to the meeting, Nardelli himself. Their comments were kept to a strict time limit, displayed on a large clock. Nardelli refused to acknowledge any shareholder's comments, answer any questions, and he promptly left after only thirty minutes, causing an uproar of anger and rage. Votes on shareholder proposals afterward showed an unusually high level of dissent, with over one third withholding their support for Nardelli's re-election as CEO. Flag Seal Motto: A Place To Be Somebody Location Coordinates , Government County New Castle County incorporated 1739 Mayor James M. Baker (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 44. ... Lowes NYSE: LOW is a United States-based chain of home improvement and major appliance retail stores. ...

The company's "official" excuse for the absence of the board on the day of the meeting was that "many" of the directors were at headquarters over the past few days for their quarterly meeting and remain there today on company business. But directors had over a month's notice of the meeting, with the date and location of the meeting being posted on April 14th, 2006. Directors are also paid for travel expenses to and from shareholder meetings by the company, with full access to a corporate jet.

Home Depot stock has sunk further since the debacle, from about $43 a share in April to just under $37 a share in early June.

Illegal Drugs Found in Merchandise

Recently, there have been several cases where illegal drugs were found inside of some Home Depot merchandise from stores in Massachusetts. One customer found two fifty pound bricks of marijuana with a street value of nearly $145,000 inside a bathroom vanity that he had purchased from Home Depot. Another customer found three kilograms of cocaine and about 40 pounds of marijuana inside another vanity he had purchased. In this case the street value of the drugs was nearly $250,000. A third customer also found a large amount of illegal drugs inside merchandise he had purchased from Home Depot as well. Official language(s) English Capital Boston Largest city Boston Area  Ranked 44th  - Total 10,555 sq mi (27,360 km²)  - Width 183 miles (295 km)  - Length 113 miles (182 km)  - % water 13. ... Species Cannabis indica Cannabis ruderalis Cannabis sativa Cannabis is a genus of flowering plant that includes one or more species. ... This article is about the drug cocaine. ...

Searches by law enforcement at stores throughout the state of Massachusetts uncovered additional cases where drugs were found in Home Depot merchandise. Law enforcement had found that the merchandise containing the drugs had originated from Texas and were distributed to the stores from a warehouse in Massachusetts. They believed that the merchandise was supposed to be intercepted and the drugs removed beforehand, but either the person was not on duty or the packages had been mislabeled. Home Depot announced its intent to fully cooperate with law enforcement.[2] Official language(s) See: Languages of Texas Capital Austin Largest city Houston Area  Ranked 2nd  - Total 268,581 sq mi (695,622 km²)  - Width 660 miles (1,065 km)  - Length 790 miles (1,270 km)  - % water 2. ...

Major sponsorships

Home Depot storefront, older design, New York

Home Depot storefront, newer design

Since 1991, the company has become a large supporter of athletics, sponsoring the United States and Canadian Olympic teams, and launching a program to offer employment to athletes that fully allowed for their training and competition schedules. While remaining supportive of Canadian Olympians, Home Depot ceased to be a sponsor of the Canadian Olympic Team in 2005. Company co-founder Blank also purchased the Atlanta Falcons franchise of the National Football League in February 2002. The Home Depot is also the primary sponsor of Joe Gibbs Racing. NASCAR driver Tony Stewart drives The Home Depot #20 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS. Image File history File linksMetadata HomeDepotStorefront. ... Image File history File linksMetadata HomeDepotStorefront. ... Image File history File links Homedepotcalifornia. ... Image File history File links Homedepotcalifornia. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... City Atlanta, Georgia Other nicknames Dirty Birds Team colors Black, Red, Silver, and White Head Coach Jim L. Mora Owner Arthur Blank General manager Rich McKay Mascot Freddie Falcon Local radio Flagship stations: WZGC (92. ... The National Football League (NFL) is the largest professional American football league, consisting of thirty-two teams from American cities and regions. ... 2002 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December February 27, 2002 Alicia Keys wins five Grammys. ... Joe Gibbs Racing (also known as JGR) is a group of NASCAR racing teams owned by Joe Gibbs. ... The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States. ... Anthony Wayne Tony Stewart (born May 20, 1971), is an auto racing driver who has won championships in sprint cars, Indy cars, and stock cars. ...

Home Depot Canada

Home Depot Canada is the Canadian unit of Home Depot and one of Canada's top home improvement retailers. The Canadian operations consists of more than a hundred stores and employs over 23,000 people in Canada. Home Improvement was an American television sitcom starring actor/comedian Tim Allen, and loosely based on his stand-up comedy routine that ran on ABC for eight seasons from September 1991 to May 1999. ... A drawing of a self-service store Retailing consists of the sale of goods/merchandise for personal or household consumption either from a fixed location such as a department store or kiosk, or away from a fixed location and related subordinated services (Definition of the WTO (last page). ...

The Canadian unit was created with the purchase of Aikenhead Hardware. Home Depot management has an ambitious plan to overtake its biggest competitor, Rona, which has about four times as many stores. However, many of Rona's stores are smaller than the typical Home Depot store. In terms of big box stores, Home Depot has many more stores than Rona. Categories: Stub | Companies of Canada ...

External links

• Home Depot USA (English website)
• Home Depot USA (Spanish website)
• Home Depot Canada (English and French website)
• Home Depot Mexico
• EXPO Design Center
• 10 Crescent Lane
• Paces Trading Company
• Bernie Marcus
• Home Depot, Scholarly article
• Home Depot is Not Always Welcomed in Some Communities