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The Home Depot, Inc. Type Public (NYSE: HD) Founded 1978 (Marietta, Georgia) Headquarters Vinings, Georgia Key people Frank Blake, CEO & chairman Industry Retail (home improvement) Products Home improvement products such as appliances, tools, hardware,lumber, building materials, paint, plumbing, flooring and garden supplies The Home Depot (NYSE: HD) is an American retailer of home improvement and construction products and services. Headquartered in Vinings, just outside Atlanta, The Home Depot employs more than 331,000[1] people and operates 2,193 big-box format stores across the United States (including the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam), Canada (ten provinces), Mexico and China.[2] The world's second-largest Home Depot (as of the end of 2007[update]) opened November 14, 2007 on the island of Guam. 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 only Wal-Mart.[3] Contents [hide] 1 History 2 The Home Depot today 2.1 Board of directors 2.2 Marketing 2.3 Online 2.4 Exclusive brands 2.5 Fuel centers 2.6 Home Depot construction toys 3 Social and community philanthropy 4 Environmental record 5 Major sponsorships 6 The Home Depot internationally 6.1 Canada 6.2 Mexico 6.3 China 6.4 United Kingdom 7 Labor union policies 8 Criticism 8.1 Whistleblower case 9 References 10 History Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (December 2007) The Home Depot was founded in 1978 by Bernie Marcus, Arthur Blank, Ron Brill, and Pat Farrah. The Home Depot's proposition was to build home-improvement warehouses, larger than any of their competitors' facilities. Investment banker Ken Langone helped Marcus and Blank to secure the necessary capital. “ "Bernie and I founded [The Home Depot] with a special vision -- to create a company that would keep alive the values that were important to us. Values like respect among all people, excellent customer service and giving back to communities and society."[4] ” —Arthur Blank In 1979, the first two stores, built in spaces leased from J. C. Penney that were originally Treasure Island "hypermarket" (discount department and grocery) stores, opened in metro Atlanta on June 22. Two more opened not long after, and all four shared the space under the "squiggly" zig-zag roof with Zayre on its right side. The first headquarters was on Terrell Mill Road on the southeast side of Marietta, Georgia, just down from one of the stores at the corner of Cobb Parkway. (That store [33°54'23?N 84°29'14?W? / ?33.9065°N 84.4872°W? / 33.9065; -84.4872? (former location of The Home Depot's first store (1979))], in the Marietta Plaza strip mall, | ||||
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