THE HOME DEPOT EXTERNAL ANALYSIS
The Home Depot is the largest home-improvement retailer in the United States, ahead of rival Lowe's, and the second-largest general retailer in the United States, behind Wal-Mart. The Home Depot is an American retailer of home improvement and construction products and services. This company was formed in 1979 by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank in Atlanta, Georgia. The Home Depot employs more than 331,000 people and operates 2,234 stores throughout the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and China, offering products and services to end consumers as well as to professional builders, tradesmen and repairmen The Home Depot stores sell an assortment of building materials, home improvement, and lawn and garden products, which are sold to do-it-yourself customers, do-it-for-me customers and professional customers with a broad product assortment up to 45,000 items. In addition, the Company operates EXPO Design Center stores (EXPO), which offer products and services primarily related to design and renovation projects.
Home Depot emerged from a small town in Vinings, near Atlanta, Georgia to dominate the retail home improvement business market for nearly three decades. It’s signature of "You can do it. We can help” is based on its cost leadership strategy and economy of scale. Unfortunately, during the past year, the weak housing market gave The Home Depot Inc. its first annual sales decline and lowered profit by about 24 percent. Recently, Home Depot reported fiscal 2008 second quarter consolidated net earnings of $1.2 billion, compared with $1.6 billion, in the same period in fiscal 2007. Earnings per diluted share from continuing operations in the second quarter of fiscal 2008 were $0.7 ...