60 Fun Facts About Home Depot

In which year was The Home Depot founded?

Its founders had just been fired from a rival chain a few months earlier.

In which metro area did the first two stores open in June 1979?

The stores in Doraville and Decatur were built in spaces leased from J. C. Penney that had been Treasure Island hypermarkets.

Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank founded The Home Depot after being fired from which chain?

Marcus had been CEO of the Los Angeles-based home improvement chain and Blank was its vice president of finance.

Which investment banker organised the financing that let Marcus and Blank start the company?

He had earlier persuaded Ross Perot to let his firm handle the IPO of Electronic Data Systems.

What is the company's signature colour, used on signs, equipment and employee aprons?

It is officially PMS 165, hex FF6600; British rival B&Q even copied the shade for its warehouse stores in the 1990s.

What is the name of the cartoon character used in the company's advertising since 1981?

Illustrator Gwyn Raker designed him to be a funny guy next door who wasn't intimidating; he has a wife named Daisy and a dog named Carl.

On which exchange did The Home Depot first go public, in September 1981?

The offering raised just $4.093 million; the company moved to the New York Stock Exchange in April 1984.

In which year did the company overtake Lowe's as the largest US hardware and DIY retailer?

Ten years earlier it had only two stores.

Which US state was the first outside Georgia to get Home Depot stores, in 1981?

The first out-of-state stores opened in Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale.

The company entered Canada in 1994 by buying a 75% stake in which hardware chain?

The $150 million deal created Home Depot Canada, which now has stores in all ten provinces.

Where is The Home Depot headquartered?

It uses an Atlanta mailing address.

Roughly how much revenue did the company report for fiscal 2024?

The company employed roughly 470,100 associates that year.

Where does The Home Depot rank among US-based employers globally?

It is the largest home improvement retailer in the United States.

Which former General Electric executive became Home Depot's CEO in December 2000?

Nicknamed 'Little Jack', he had been one of three men competing to succeed Jack Welch at GE.

The CEO's departure in January 2007 drew criticism over a severance package of roughly how much?

Critics noted that his pay had gone up while the stock went down against Lowe's.

After leaving the retailer in 2007, its former CEO became chairman and CEO of which automaker?

He held the job from August 2007 to April 2009, through the company's bankruptcy.

Which lawyer, a former GE colleague of his predecessor, became CEO in 2007?

He had been Editor-in-Chief of the Columbia Law Review and took a far more modest pay package.

Who became CEO and president of The Home Depot in 2022?

He was announced in January 2022 after 22 years with the company, and became chairman that October.

How many credit card numbers were stolen in the 2014 payment-system breach?

Security reporter Brian Krebs first spotted the stolen numbers being sold online in September 2014.

Which slogan did The Home Depot adopt in December 2019?

It replaced 'More saving. More doing.', which had been introduced in a March 2009 circular.

Which of these was the company's slogan from 1999 to 2003?

'Low prices are just the beginning' dates from the early 1990s; the other two were Lowe's slogans.

How large is an average Home Depot store?

The two biggest, in Vauxhall, New Jersey and Anaheim Hills, California, top 200,000 square feet.

Where is the largest Home Depot store, at 217,000 square feet?

Anaheim Hills is second at 204,000 square feet.

Contractors make up about 5% of customers but account for what share of the company's annual sales?

The company is building flatbed distribution centres specifically for builders who arrive in trucks.

Which of these paint brands is sold exclusively at The Home Depot?

Husky tools, Homelite outdoor equipment and Hampton Bay are among its other exclusive brands.

Which of these tool brands is a Home Depot house brand?

It also served as the secondary sponsor of the No. 20 NASCAR car after Dollar General took over as primary.

The Homer Fund, a charity for associates, is named after what?

The Homer Fund takes its name from Homer D. Poe, who has been in company ads since 1981.

Which NASCAR driver won two of his three championships in the Home Depot No. 20 for Joe Gibbs Racing?

He drove the car until 2008, when Joey Logano took over and won twice in it.

Between which years was The Home Depot a major sponsor of Joe Gibbs Racing in NASCAR?

Its arrival coincided with Tony Stewart's move from the Indy Racing League to the Cup Series.

The Home Depot Center in Carson, California, was home to which MLS team?

The venue, also once home to Chivas USA, is now called Dignity Health Sports Park.

Which NFL franchise did co-founder Arthur Blank buy in February 2002?

He later added Atlanta United FC of MLS, which began play in 2017 and won the 2018 MLS Cup.

The 11-acre tailgating park beside Mercedes-Benz Stadium sits on the site of which demolished venue?

The company bought the naming rights in April 2017 for the park beside Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Bernard Marcus's roughly $250M gift largely launched which downtown attraction in 2005?

Marcus, who died in November 2024, planned to give away 90% of his fortune.

In which New Jersey city was Bernard Marcus born in 1929?

His parents were Russian Jewish immigrants; his father was a cabinet maker.

Arthur Blank was born in which New York City borough?

He grew up in Flushing and graduated from Babson Institute in 1963 before becoming an accountant.

For how many years was Arthur Blank the company's president before he succeeded Marcus as CEO?

He retired from the company in 2001 as co-chairman.

The high-end EXPO Design Center chain, launched in 1991, was shut down entirely in which period?

It fell victim to the housing downturn along with 54 other store closures and thousands of layoffs.

What was the title of the 480-page DIY book the company published in 1995?

It came out the year sales hit $10 billion across 350 stores.

Hughes Supply, the country's largest home construction wholesaler, was bought in 2006 for how much?

The unit was rebranded HD Supply and sold to three private-equity firms just months later.

In March 2024 the company announced its largest deal ever, buying which distributor for $18.25B?

The roofing and building-products distributor is based in McKinney, Texas.

Which window-coverings e-commerce retailer did The Home Depot acquire in January 2014?

Founded by Jay Steinfeld in 1993, it had won the American Marketing Association's Marketer of the Year award in 2009.

The Home Depot Pro, its maintenance and repair supply arm, was known until 2018 by what name?

The $1.6 billion acquisition was completed in August 2015.

In 2004 the Mexican unit bought which chain, then Mexico's second-largest DIY retailer?

The company had entered Mexico a few years earlier and by 2025 ran around 140 stores there.

Which Chilean company bought out the Argentine stores in 2002 and rebranded them as Easy?

The South American venture, launched in 1997, never turned a profit; the Chilean stores were sold to Falabella in 2001.

Home Depot's 2006 purchase of The Home Way gave it an immediate presence in which country?

The 12 stores in six cities were later closed as big boxes in 2012, leaving only small specialty stores.

Which British DIY chain copied the Home Depot store design and even its corporate colour in the 1990s?

Home Depot was reportedly interested in buying the chain, which would have required acquiring parent Kingfisher.

Which two PBS shows did The Home Depot begin sponsoring in 2002?

The following year it added TLC's Trading Spaces.

Since 1993, the Team Depot programme has provided grants to organisations serving which group?

Store associates also volunteer on projects that benefit them.

In 2018 the company pledged $50M to train how many people as construction workers over a decade?

The Home Builders Institute runs the programme, aimed partly at ex-servicemembers.

Where does Home Depot rank on the 2020 Fortune 500 list of largest US corporations by revenue?

Its 2020 sales jumped as Americans stayed home during the pandemic and took on projects.

How many Canadian provinces have Home Depot stores?

The territories are served only through online sales.

Where were the first two 'Home Depot Fuel' convenience stores located?

The company began testing fuel centres in 2006 but said in 2012 it had no plans to grow the idea.

Lowe's, the rival overtaken in 1989, opened its first store in 1921 in which state?

Lucius Smith Lowe's hardware store was in North Wilkesboro; the company moved its headquarters to Mooresville in 2003.

The chain the founders were fired from went out of business in which year?

It had grown to 30 stores across five states by 1972 under founder Amnon Barnes.

Home Depot ended its sponsorship of the United States Olympic team in which year?

Since 1991 it had offered jobs to athletes on schedules built around their training and competition.

What is the name of the wife of Home Depot's cartoon mascot?

The mascot also has a dog named Carl, and stores can rent a life-size costume of him for events.

Who succeeded Frank Blake as CEO of The Home Depot in November 2014?

Menear had joined the company in 1997 and worked his way up through merchandising jobs; Blake stayed on as chairman.

The first two stores opened in 1979 in spaces leased from which department store company?

The buildings had originally been Treasure Island hypermarkets, and both sat near the I-285 perimeter road around Atlanta.

In December 2020, The Home Depot bought back HD Supply for roughly how much?

It had sold the same business to a trio of private-equity firms in 2007, only months after rebranding it from The Home Depot Supply.

Which chain was acquired for $40 million in 1984 to enter the Dallas market?

That mid-1980s expansion strained the company, with earnings falling 42% and debt climbing to $200 million.