The Home Depot facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
The Home Depot, Inc.

Type	Public
Traded as	NYSE: HD DJIA component S&P 100 component S&P 500 component
Industry	Retailing
Founded	February 6, 1978; 47 years ago (1978-02-06) in Marietta, Georgia, U.S.
Founders	Bernard Marcus Arthur Blank Ron Brill Pat Farrah Ken Langone
Headquarters	Unincorporated Cobb County, Georgia , U.S.
Number of locations	2,335 (January 2024)
Areas served	United States Puerto Rico (since 1998) Guam (since 2007) US Virgin Islands (since 2003) Canada (since 1994) Mexico (since 2001)
Key people	Ted Decker (chairman, president & CEO)
Products	Home appliances, tools, hardware, builders hardware, lumber, building materials, lighting, electrical supplies, paint, plumbing, flooring, furniture, home decor, bedding, curtains, garden supplies and plants
Revenue	US$152.7 billion (2023)
Operating income	US$21.69 billion (2023)
Net income	US$15.14 billion (2023)
Total assets	US$76.53 billion (2023)
Total equity	US$1.044 billion (2023)
Number of employees	463,100 (January 2024)
Subsidiaries	The Home Depot Pro HD Supply

The Home Depot, Inc. is a huge company that sells things for home improvement. You might know it as just Home Depot. It's a multinational company, meaning it operates in many countries. They sell tools, building materials, appliances, and offer services like renting out trucks.

Home Depot is the biggest home improvement store in the United States. In 2021, the company had almost 500,000 employees. They also made over $151 billion in sales. The main office is in Cobb County, Georgia, near Atlanta.

You can find Home Depot stores all over the United States. This includes places like Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. They also have stores in all 10 provinces of Canada and all 32 states of Mexico. Home Depot also owns a company called The Home Depot Pro. This company has 70 distribution centers across the U.S. Home Depot is one of the largest employers in the United States.

History of Home Depot

How it Started (1978–1999)

The Home Depot was started in 1978 by five people: Bernard Marcus, Arthur Blank, Ron Brill, Pat Farrah, and Ken Langone. Their idea was to open very large stores for home improvement. These stores would be much bigger than any other stores at the time. Ken Langone, who worked in finance, helped Marcus and Blank get the money they needed.

Arthur Blank, one of the founders, said they wanted to create a company with important values. These values included respecting everyone, giving great customer service, and helping communities.

The Home Depot main office in Atlanta, 2018.

The first two Home Depot stores opened on June 22, 1979, in Atlanta, Georgia. They were in buildings that used to be large discount stores. On September 22, 1981, Home Depot became a public company. This means people could buy shares of the company. They raised over $4 million. The company's shares then started trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 1984.

Home Depot began to grow outside of Georgia in 1981. They opened stores in Florida. By 1984, Home Depot had 19 stores and sales of over $256 million. They bought another company called Bowater Home Center to expand into the Dallas area. Growing so fast caused some money problems in the mid-1980s. Their earnings went down, and their debt went up. To fix this, they opened fewer new stores in 1986. They also sold more shares to help pay off their debts.

A Home Depot store in Blairsville, Georgia.

In 1989, Home Depot became the biggest home improvement store in the United States. They passed another big store called Lowe's. In the 1990s, Home Depot looked for new ways to serve customers. They started a program in 1991 called EXPO. This program helped customers get quality home improvement items like windows or carpets installed. In 1995, they published a large book called Home Improvement 1-2-3.

Home Depot also bought a Canadian hardware chain called Aikenhead's Hardware in 1994. All of these stores were later changed into Home Depot stores. By 1995, Home Depot's sales reached $10 billion. They were operating 350 stores by then.

In 2000, Robert Nardelli, who used to work at General Electric, became the CEO and president of Home Depot.

Growing and Changing (2000–2007)

Home Depot bought a company called Maintenance Warehouse in 1997. This company sold supplies for maintenance and repairs by mail. This helped Home Depot reach customers they couldn't reach with their stores. They also bought Apex Supply in 1999. Apex Supply sold plumbing and heating supplies. Both Maintenance Warehouse and Apex Supply were later renamed "The Home Depot Supply" in 2004.

In 2004, employees at a Home Depot store in Michigan voted against joining a labor union. This meant the store would not have union representation.

Home Depot bought Your Other Warehouse in 2001. This company was a large plumbing supplier. It helped Home Depot with special orders. The "EXPO Design Center" part of Home Depot was also reorganized in 2001.

In 2002, Home Depot started doing business in Mexico. They bought a home improvement chain called Del Norte. They also started building new stores in Mexicali and Tijuana. In the same year, they launched Home Depot Landscape Supply. This was a chain of stores for professional landscapers and fancy plants. However, this idea only lasted five years. Home Depot closed all Home Depot Landscape Supply stores in 2007.

In 2005, Home Depot started selling home furnishings online with "10 Crescent Lane." Soon after, they launched "Paces Trading Company" for lighting. In 2006, they bought Home Decorators Collection, another online home goods company.

In 2006, Home Depot bought Hughes Supply for $3.2 billion. Hughes Supply was a big supplier to businesses. It became part of The Home Depot Supply. In 2007, The Home Depot Supply was renamed HD Supply. Five months later, Home Depot sold HD Supply to three private investment companies.

Recent Years (2007–Present)

Center aisle of a Home Depot store in 2014.

On January 2, 2007, Robert Nardelli stepped down as CEO of Home Depot. There were complaints about his management style and his large pay package. His replacement was Frank Blake. Blake had a more modest pay package. He also preferred to make decisions by working with others.

In 2008 and 2009, the housing market slowed down. Home Depot had to lay off thousands of employees. They also closed 54 stores across the country, including all the EXPO Design Centers. Employees from EXPO could apply for other jobs at Home Depot. In 2009, sales were much lower than two years before. This was partly because they sold HD Supply and partly due to less income from their remaining business. In 2012, they closed their large stores in China. However, smaller stores that focused on custom products and closer customer service stayed open there.

In 2013, Home Depot opened two large distribution centers. These were in Atlanta and Los Angeles.

Interline Brands headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida, 2016.

In August 2014, Frank Blake announced he would step down as CEO. Craig Menear took over on November 1, 2014. Menear had worked at Home Depot since 1997 in many different roles.

In September 2014, the company had a data breach. This meant that some customer credit card numbers were stolen. Home Depot offered free credit monitoring to any customers who wanted it.

On July 22, 2015, Home Depot bought Interline Brands for $1.6 billion. Interline Brands became fully part of Home Depot in August 2016. Its website merged with Home Depot's.

In 2017, Home Depot bought the online part of The Company Store. This company sold home decor items.

In January 2022, Craig Menear stepped down as CEO and president. Ted Decker took his place.

In February 2023, Home Depot announced it would spend $1 billion to increase hourly employee wages.

Finances

Home Depot is a very large company. In 2020, it was ranked #26 on the Fortune 500 list of largest U.S. companies by total sales. In 2023, it was ranked 67th in the Forbes Global 2000 list.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, many Americans stayed home. This led to a big increase in home improvement projects. Home Depot's sales grew a lot during this time.

Carbon Footprint

Home Depot keeps track of its carbon footprint. This means they measure the amount of greenhouse gases they release into the air. They have been working to reduce these emissions.

Mascot

Home Depot rental van in Oshawa, Ontario.

Home Depot's mascot is named Homer D. Poe. He has been used in advertising since 1981. The person who drew him, Gwyn Raker, said she wanted him to be a friendly, funny neighbor. Homer D. Poe is a big part of Home Depot's culture. You can see him on signs, in ads, and even as a life-size costume. There's also a charity for employees called The Homer Fund, named after the mascot. Homer even has a wife named Daisy!

How Home Depot Works

Home Depot stores are usually very large, about 105,000 square feet. They are set up like warehouses and hold a huge variety of products. The company's main color is a bright orange. You can see it on their signs, equipment, and the aprons employees wear.

Home Depot's two biggest stores are in Vauxhall, New Jersey, and Anaheim Hills, California.

Serving Contractors

Even though contractors are only a small part of Home Depot's customers, they buy a lot. They account for almost half of the company's yearly sales. To help these contractors, Home Depot is building special distribution centers. These centers are designed for builders who arrive in large flatbed trucks.

Marketing Slogans

Home Depot has used different slogans over the years.

• In 2019, they announced "How Doers Get More Done."
• Before that, from 2009, it was "More saving. More doing."
• From 2003, their slogan was "You can do it. We can help."
• In the early 1990s, they used "The Home Depot, Low prices are just the beginning."
• In the late 1990s, it was "When you're at the Home Depot, You'll feel right at home."
• From 1999 to 2003, they used "The Home Depot: First In Home Improvement!"

US Stores Leadership

In 2014, Marc Powers became the head of Home Depot's U.S. stores. He was replaced in 2016 by Ann-Marie Campbell. Ms. Campbell had worked for Home Depot for over 30 years, starting as a cashier.

Distribution Centers

The Home Depot distribution center in Lake Park, Georgia.

Home Depot has over 90 distribution centers across the United States. These centers help supply the more than 2,000 Home Depot stores.

Online Shopping

The Home Depot website, homedepot.com, gets over 120 million visitors each year. They have call centers in several U.S. cities to help online customers. You can also order things online and pick them up at a store. You can return online purchases at the store too.

Fuel Centers

In 2006, Home Depot tried out having gas stations at some of its stores. These "Home Depot Fuel" convenience stores were mostly in Tennessee and Georgia. However, in 2012, Home Depot said they didn't plan to build any more fuel centers.

Rental Vehicles

Most Home Depot stores offer vans and trucks for rent. This is helpful for customers who need to transport large items.

Other Companies and Brands

Home Depot owns several other companies. These are called subsidiaries.

Companies Home Depot Owns

• Blinds.com: This company sells window blinds and coverings online. Home Depot bought Blinds.com in 2014.
• Compact Power Equipment Inc.: This company rents out power equipment. Home Depot bought it in 2017.
• Interline Brands: This company, now called The Home Depot Pro, has many distribution centers. They supply maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) products to businesses. Some of its brands include Wilmar Industries, Barnett, and SupplyWorks.
• The Company Store: This company sells home decor items like textiles online. Home Depot bought its online division in 2017.
• Redbeacon: This was an online service that helped people find contractors. It's now called THD Pro Referral.
• HD Supply: This company provides industrial supplies and distribution services to businesses. Home Depot bought it back in 2020.

Exclusive Brands

Home Depot sells products from several well-known brands only in their stores. These include:

• Behr paints
• Homelite outdoor and power tools
• Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia outdoor furniture and home organization items
• Ryobi and Ridgid power tools
• American Woodmark cabinetry
• Thomasville Furniture Industries cabinetry

Thomasville Carpentry cabinets at The Home Depot.

Home Depot's Own Brands

Home Depot also has its own brands, which are called "house brands." They don't make these products themselves, but they sell them under their own names.

• Commercial Electric
• Glacier Bay (kitchen sinks, faucets)
• Hampton Bay (ceiling fans, lighting, outdoor furniture)
• HDX (a low-cost brand)
• Home Decorators Collection
• Husky (tools)
• Everbilt

Corporate Affairs

Ownership

Most of Home Depot's shares are owned by large investment companies. The biggest shareholders include The Vanguard Group and BlackRock.

Helping Communities (Philanthropy)

The Home Depot Foundation is the company's charity. It was started in 2002. They have given over $200 million in money, time, and supplies to many good causes. These include Habitat for Humanity and building playgrounds with KaBOOM!.

Home Depot also supports the U.S. Military. They offer a 10% discount to military members. Since 1993, their "Team Depot" program has given money to groups that help veterans. Local store employees also volunteer to help veterans.

In 2018, the company gave $50 million to train 20,000 people to become construction workers. This money helps veterans, high school students, and young people who need a chance. This helps with the shortage of construction workers.

Caring for the Environment

Home Depot says they are committed to being sustainable. They believe that good environmental practices are also good for business. In 2007, they put a special label on almost 3,000 products. This label showed that the products helped save energy, supported sustainable forestry, and kept water clean.

Because Home Depot buys so many building materials, they can influence many suppliers and builders to be more eco-friendly. They have worked with environmental groups on many green programs. For example, they planted thousands of trees at their main office to help reduce carbon emissions. The Home Depot Foundation also promised to invest $100 million to build green homes and plant 3 million trees.

Home Depot also encourages people to use compact fluorescent light bulbs. They even created the largest recycling program in the U.S. for these bulbs. However, in 2013, Home Depot stores in Canada stopped accepting them for recycling.

Television Appearances

In 2002, Home Depot became a sponsor for the TV shows This Old House and Ask This Old House on PBS. In 2003, they also became a sponsor for Trading Spaces.

Sports Sponsorships

Arthur Blank, one of Home Depot's founders, bought the Atlanta Falcons football team in 2002. He also started a soccer team, Atlanta United FC, in 2014. Home Depot later bought the naming rights to a park next to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. This park is called The Home Depot Backyard. It's used for parking and tailgating during games and as a public green space on other days.

From 2003 to 2013, Dignity Health Sports Park was known as The Home Depot Center.

Since 1991, Home Depot has supported sports. They sponsored the U.S. and Canadian Olympic teams. They also had a program that offered jobs to athletes. These jobs were flexible to fit their training schedules. Home Depot stopped sponsoring the Canadian Olympic Team in 2005 and the U.S. Olympic team in 2009.

Home Depot was a big sponsor for Joe Gibbs Racing in NASCAR from 1999 to 2014. They sponsored the No. 20 car, driven by famous racers like Tony Stewart and Joey Logano. In 2014, the company announced it would stop its NASCAR sponsorship.

ESPN College GameDay has been sponsored by The Home Depot since 2007.

Home Depot was also the name sponsor for The Home Depot Center in Carson, California. This stadium is home to the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team. It's now called Dignity Health Sports Park.

In 2006, Home Depot worked with Duke University to create "The Home Depot Smart Home." This is a special house where engineering students live and work. They try to find new ideas for homes, like better security, energy use, and entertainment.

In 2007, Home Depot became the official home improvement sponsor of ESPN's College Gameday.

Home Depot Around the World

Canada

The Home Depot in Waterloo, Ontario, provides horse and buggy parking for customers from the nearby Mennonite community.

Home Depot Canada is the company's Canadian branch. It's one of Canada's top home improvement stores. There are 182 stores in Canada, and they employ over 28,000 people. Home Depot Canada has stores in all ten Canadian provinces. They also serve the northern territories through online sales. The main office for Canada is in Toronto.

Home Depot entered Canada by buying Aikenhead's Hardware. They wanted to become bigger than their main competitor, RONA. Home Depot now has more large stores than RONA. However, RONA has more stores overall because some of theirs are smaller. In 2007, RONA had more total sales than Home Depot in Canada. This was partly because Home Depot sold its HD Supply division. Home Depot also faces competition from Lowe's, which entered the Canadian market in 2007.

In Quebec, where French is spoken, Home Depot is simply called "Home Depot" without "The."

Mexico

The Home Depot store in Mexico City, Mexico.

Home Depot has 126 stores in Mexico. They have become one of the biggest retailers there since starting in 2001. In 2004, Home Depot grew its presence in Mexico by buying Home Mart, another large home improvement retailer.

Home Depot Mexico employs over 15,000 people. They have had sales growth for 50 quarters in a row as of 2016.

China

In 2006, Home Depot bought a Chinese home improvement company called The Home Way. This gave Home Depot 12 stores in six Chinese cities right away.

However, Home Depot didn't do very well in China. In 2011, they closed their last store in Beijing. By September 2012, all seven of their large stores in China were closed. Home Depot kept only two smaller specialty stores there.

Home Depot's problem in China was that Chinese people prefer to have others do home improvement work for them. They call it a "do-it-for-me" culture. Home Depot's business model is based on "do-it-yourself." The company realized they had misunderstood the market.

United Kingdom

There were talks that Home Depot wanted to buy B&Q. B&Q is the largest DIY (Do-It-Yourself) store in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and China. Home Depot would have had to buy B&Q's parent company, Kingfisher plc. However, the talks ended in 2005, and no deal was made.

South America

In 1993, Home Depot opened its first and only store in Peru. But it didn't sell well and closed the next year. In 1997, Home Depot tried to enter the markets in Chile and Argentina. The founders were very hopeful, but it didn't make money. In 2001, Home Depot's partners in Chile bought out Home Depot's share. The stores were renamed Home Store and later Sodimac. In 2002, the Home Depot stores in Argentina were bought by a Chilean company and renamed Easy stores. These companies have grown very successfully in South America.

See also

In Spanish: The Home Depot para niños

• Menards, another large home improvement store in the Midwestern United States.

Images for kids

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  Blinds.com logo

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  Interline Brands distribution center in Jacksonville, Florida.

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  Home Depot online order pickup lockers.