The Home Depot has 1,890 stores nationwide including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico with over 300,000 employees. With global competition heavy amongst home improvement industries today, Home Depot recently decided to expand retail operations into China. Its stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange and is included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Standard & Poor's 500 Index. The Home Depot strives to be the best corporate partner possible in our communities. Home Depot makes positive contributions as a neighbor, an employer, a retailer and as a profitable investment opportunity through successful and strategic operations of the company (Home Depot, 2006). The Home Depot helps people fulfill dreams by helping them:
? To live in a clean, safe and caring community
? To be part of a challenging, diverse, and inclusive workplace
? To build and live in the house of their dreams
? To create wealth and financial security
Home Depot recently redesigned its home page and their store catalog (www.homedepot.com) in an attempt to "streamline" its web site and "improve sales and traffic. Home Depot continues to target a wealthier audience, with its newest home page, Outdoor Living, writes multi-channel Merchant. The new home page, which launched earlier this month, features Home Depot's name and targets consumers earning a minimum income of $75,000. The items featured in Outdoor Living are sold in Home Depot stores and on its website (Home Depot, 2006).
The website and catalog differs from the two titles Home Depot launched fall 2005 - lighting catalog Paces Trading Co. and furniture catalog 10......