BY

ABHISHEK CHAUDHARY AND AJINKYA DARNE

The Home Depot, Inc.

 Website www.homedepot.com

Public (NYSE: HD)

Type
Dow Jones Industrial Average component

Industry Retail (home improvement)

Founded Marietta, Georgia (1978)

Headquarters Cobb County, Georgia, U.S.

Frank Blake (Chairman and CEO)

Key people Matt Carey (CIO and Executive Vice President)
Carol Tomé (CFO and Executive Vice President - Corporate Services)

Home improvement products such as home appliances, tools, hardware, lumber, building
Products
materials, paint, plumbing, flooring, garden supplies & plants

Revenue ▲ US$71.3 Billion (FY 2009)

Operating income ▲ US$4.38 Billion (FY 2009)

Net income ▲ US$2.26 Billion (FY 2009)

Total assets ▼ US$41.2 Billion (FY 2009)

Total equity ▲ US$17.8 Billion (FY 2009)

Employees 322,000 (Dec 2009)

History
The Home Depot was founded in 1978 by Bernie Marcus and Arthur
Blank. Along with investment banker Ken Langone and merchandising guru
Pat Farrah, the founders’ vision of one-stop shopping for the do-it-yourselfer
came to fruition when they opened the first two Home Depot stores on June
22, 1979, in Atlanta, Georgia. The first stores, at around 60,000 square feet
each, were cavernous warehouses that dwarfed the competition and stocked
25,000 SKUs, much more than the average hardware store at that time.
Empty boxes piled high on the shelves gave the illusion of even more
product.
From the start, associates were able to offer the best customer service in the
industry, guiding customers through projects such as laying tile, changing a
fill valve or handling a power tool. Not only did store associates undergo
rigorous product knowledge training, but they also began offering clinics so
customers could learn how to do it themselves. The Home Depot
revolutionized the home improvement industry by bringing the know-how
and the tools to the consumer and by saving them money.
According to Bernie and Arthur, the customer has a bill of rights at The Home
Depot, and this entitles the customer to the right assortment, quantities and
price, along with trained associates on the sales floor who want to take care
of customers. Their philosophy of customer service – “whatever it takes” –
means cultivating a relationship with customers rather than merely
completing a transaction. As Bernie says in Built from Scratch, “At the end of
the day, we’re in the people business.”

The Home Depot® is the world's largest home improvement specialty

retailer,
with more than 2,200 retail stores in the United States (including Puerto
Rico,
the U.S. Virgin Islands and the territory of Guam), Canada, Mexico and China.
The Home Depot’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:
HD) and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard &
Poor's
500 index.

At A Glance
• First Store: June 22, 1979 in Atlanta, Ga.

• Headquarters: Atlanta Store Support Center, 2455 Paces Ferry Road,

Atlanta, GA 30339

• The Home Depot: 2,244, including 1,976 stores in the U.S. and the
territories of Puerto Rico, U.S Virgin Islands, Guam, 179 stores in
Canada, 10 stores in China and 79 stores in Mexico

• Associates: more than 300,000

• Fortune 500 rank: No. 29 in the U.S. (As of end of Fiscal 2009)

• World’s largest home improvement retailer

Founded in 1978, The Home Depot, Inc. is the world's largest home
improvement specialty retailer and the fourth largest retailer in the United
States with fiscal 2009 retail sales of $66.2 billion and earnings from
continuing operations of $2.6 billion. The Home Depot has more than 2,200
retail stores in the United States (including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin
Islands and the territory of Guam), Canada, Mexico and China. The Home
Depot's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: HD) and is
included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500
index.