The Home Depot (NYSE:HD) , the world's largest home improvement retailer, today announced plans to consolidate its New England division with its Eastern division that is headquartered in Atlanta, GA. The expanded Eastern Division will support more than 600 Home Depot stores and have over 110,000 associates.
The company said its decision to consolidate the divisions was the result of the success it had in combining its Southeast and Mid-Atlantic divisions last fall. "Since creating the larger Eastern Division, we have made substantial improvements in our operations and execution," said Bob Nardelli, chairman, president & CEO of The Home Depot, Inc. "Based upon that experience, and the similarities of markets, we see a lot of opportunities for incremental improvement that will drive sales and shareholder value."
The consolidation, which is expected to take place over the next 60 days, will result in the transfer of merchandising and core support functions from the company's Canton, Massachusetts office to its South Plainfield, New Jersey office. "We are making every effort to assist our associates who may be impacted by the move, including exploring other Home Depot opportunities through job fairs and career development seminars," said Tom Taylor, president, Eastern Division.
The company also said the consolidation would not have any impact on its customers or result in any store closings or reduction of store jobs. In fact, the company says it plans to add 10 new Home Depot stores in the New England area, including five stores in Massachusetts, which will result in creating more than 2,000 new jobs for the region.
In a related move, the company announced that Dan Kneip, formerly the New England Division President, is taking a new position with the company as senior vice president, Business Process Improvement, based in Atlanta. "We're excited to have Dan, a fifteen year Home Depot veteran, taking on this important new position," said Bob Nardelli. "His vast experience in our stores will be invaluable as we rollout enterprise-wide process and service improvement initiatives."
Founded in 1978, The Home Depot is the world's largest home improvement specialty retailer and the second largest retailer in the United States with fiscal 2001 sales of $ 53.6 billion. The company employs more than 270,000 associates and has more than 1,500 stores across the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico. The company was named the sixth Most Admired Company in America by Fortune magazine and America's Most Admired Specialty Retailer for eight consecutive years. Its stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:HD) and is included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.
Source: The Home Depot
CONTACT: Investors & Analysts, Bob Burton, Vice President of Investor
Relations, +1-770-384-2666, or [email protected] , or Media, Jerry
Shields, Sr. Public Relations Manager, +1-770-384-2741, or
[email protected]
Web site: http://www.homedepot.com/
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