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Home Depot

Home Depot is a publicly traded home improvement retailer headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and was co-founded in 1978 by Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank. The company is recognized as the largest DIY and home improvement retailer in the world, operating over 2,300 stores across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and employing approximately 500,000 individuals. Home Depot offers an extensive product range, with more than 35,000 items available in its stores and over a million products accessible online. The company gained significant attention with its initial public offering in 1981 and has consistently ranked among the top companies in the Fortune 500 list.

Notable for its commitment to customer service, Home Depot has established a "customer bill of rights," ensuring a wide variety of products at competitive prices, along with expert guidance for DIY customers. The company has also been involved in philanthropy, supporting various community initiatives, disaster relief efforts, and military veterans. Co-founders Marcus and Blank are active in charitable giving, having committed to the Giving Pledge. With a strong emphasis on employee welfare and community engagement, Home Depot continues to be a prominent player in the retail industry.

Full Article

Company information

  • Date founded: 1978
  • Industry: Retail; home improvement
  • Corporate headquarters: Atlanta, Georgia
  • Type: Public

Overview

The Home Depot is the world’s largest home improvement specialty retailer headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, that has built significant brand recognition with its iconic orange-and-white color scheme. The Home Depot opened its first two stores in Atlanta in June 1979, the year after it was co-founded by entrepreneurs Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank. The Home Depot is the world’s largest do-it-yourself (DIY) and home improvement retailer.

By early 2026, the company operated more than 2,359retail stores throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico, in addition to the 1,250 SRS locations, employing over 470,000 employees, or as The Home Depot calls them, “orange-blooded associates.” The Home Depot stocks over 35,000 products at its physical retail locations and offers consumers access to more than one million products through its website.

History

The Home Depot story began in April 1978, when Marcus and Blank were both fired from their executive positions at a regional home improvement retail chain. According to The Home Depot’s corporate website, Marcus and Blank conceived their vision for The Home Depot at a Los Angeles coffee shop, intending to build a network of large, well-stocked stores that would be staffed by specially trained DIY experts and offer a wide range of merchandise at low prices. They incorporated The Home Depot in Delaware on June 29, 1978. One year later, after securing venture capital and merchandising support, Marcus and Blank opened two Home Depot locations in Atlanta, which would become the first of thousands of stores. In 1981, after two years of strong sales growth, The Home Depot marked two major achievements. The retailer opened its first locations outside of Georgia by launching two new stores in neighboring Florida. It also completed an initial public offering (IPO) of company stock in September 1981, which originally traded for $12 per share on the NASDAQ exchange before moving to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in April 1984. The IPO raised approximately $4.1 million. Expansion into California followed in 1985, and by 1988, The Home Depot was included in the Standard and Poor 500 (S&P 500) index that tracks the financial fortunes of 500 major US companies.

By the end of the 1980s, The Home Depot had expanded to more than one hundred locations. It established its position as the world’s largest home improvement and DIY retailer by the early 1990s and entered the Canadian market in 1994 when it acquired the Toronto, Ontario-based retail chain Aikenhead’s Hardware. In 1996, The Home Depot marked another milestone when it posted a string of record financial results extending across forty consecutive financial quarters, or ten full years. Marcus retired as The Home Depot’s chief executive officer (CEO) in 1997, handing leadership of the company to Blank. Blank remained The Home Depot CEO until his retirement in 2001.

In 2002, The Home Depot completed another international expansion when it opened its first locations in Mexico after buying out a small Mexican regional DIY chain, Del Norte. By 2005, The Home Depot counted 2,000 locations in its portfolio. That year, the company also completed an aggressive series of acquisitions by buying out more than twenty suppliers and home services companies. In 2007, The Home Depot began its move into the online retail sphere, updating its information technology (IT) capabilities and developing mobile applications. Three years later, the company debuted one of its most successful marketing ploys by launching its Spring Black Friday promotion, an extended sale intended to replicate the post-Thanksgiving Black Friday retail event in spring.

In 2020, The Home Depot elected to cancel its annual Spring Black Friday event amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. In its review of The Home Depot for the 2021 edition of its Fortune 500 list, Fortune magazine noted the company’s decision received a positive response, while competitors such as Lowe’s invited backlash by going ahead with their in-store spring sales. In 2023, The Home Depot announced that despite slowing sales and record inflation, the company invested $1 billion, focusing solely on raising employee wages. Also in 2023, The Home Depot completed its integration of HD Supply, a maintenance, repair, and operations product distributor the company acquired in 2020, expanding the company’s reach in multifamily housing, hospitality, and institutional markets.

During this time, The Home Depot focused on serving professional customers, or “Pro” customers, such as contractors, remodelers, repair specialists, and large-scale professional clients, which spurred major investments in tailored services, exclusive product lines, and digital tools. The company also significantly modernized its supply chain infrastructure and invested in e-commerce capabilities, offering a variety of purchase options—buy online, pick up in-store, curbside pickup, a mobile application, and direct-to-job site delivery.

In 2024, Home Depot announced the acquisition of SRS distribution, a specialty trade distributor across various industries.

Impact

The company regularly ranks well on Fortune magazine’s Fortune 500 list and Forbes annual World’s Most Valuable Brands review, owing to its positive work environment, commitment to promoting from within, prioritization of gender representation at all levels of the company, and provision of thorough training in keeping with its founding mission of providing exceptional, expert customer service. Marcus and Blank developed a unique “customer bill of rights,” which guaranteed consumers would find a wide assortment of products at the industry’s most competitive prices every time they visited a Home Depot location. The mandate also included a pledge to offer complete instruction to DIY customers of all skill levels, with store associates providing detailed product handling and installation demonstrations, instructional clinics and workshops, and one-on-one learning sessions.

Over its history, The Home Depot has also displayed a strong commitment to philanthropy and community service. Among many disaster relief initiatives, including responses to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Hurricane Ian in 2022, and other recent natural disasters, the Home Depot Foundation has continued to provide strong support through rapid response grants, rebuilding efforts, and volunteer mobilization. Co-founders Marcus and Blank committed to the Giving Pledge, a campaign among the globe’s wealthy elite members to give at least half their fortunes to charitable causes and philanthropic enterprises. Marcus joined the Giving Pledge in 2010 and has since donated more than $1 billion of his wealth, and by the mid-2020s, Blank also reached over $1 billion since joining in 2012.

The Home Depot has also committed to environmental sustainability as part of its long-term corporate strategy, including pledging to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 42 percent between 2020 and 2030. The Home Depot has continually expanded its selection of energy-efficient and environmentally friendly products and continues investing in renewable energy. These investments support the company’s shift to energy-efficient operations in its stores, supply chain facilities, and delivery services.

The Home Depot also supports multiple employee resource groups that foster community, mentorship, and professional development for underrepresented groups, including veterans, women, LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning) associates, and employees of diverse cultural backgrounds. The company promotes inclusive hiring practices and provides unconscious bias training to improve fairness and equity in recruitment and advancement. Executive leaders are accountable for diversity, equity, and inclusion progress. In the 2020s the company adopted the slogan “WeAreTHD” to signify its welcoming and empowering culture.


Bibliography

“About Us.” The Home Depot, corporate.homedepot.com/page/about-us. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.

“Arthur Blank.” Forbes, forbes.com/profile/arthur-blank/. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.

“Bernard Marcus.” Forbes, forbes.com/profile/bernard-marcus/. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.

“Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion.” The Home Depot, corporate.homedepot.com/page/diversity-equity-inclusion. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.

“Fueling Growth: The Home Depot Acquires SRS Distribution Inc.” The Home Depot, 18 June 2024, corporate.homedepot.com/news/company/the-home-depot-acquires-srs-distribution-inc. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.

“The Home Depot Announces Latest Carbon Emission Reductions, New Supplier Diversity Spending Goal and Progress on Community Investments in 2022 ESG Report.” The Home Depot, 28 July 2022, corporate.homedepot.com/newsroom/2022-esg-press-release. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.

“The Home Depot Boosts Pro Productivity with Industry’s First Real Time Delivery Tracking for Big & Bulky Materials.” PR Newswire, 5 Mar. 2026, www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-home-depot-boosts-pro-productivity-with-industrys-first-real-time-delivery-tracking-for-big--bulky-materials-302704498.html. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.

“Home Depot Inc. Company Profile.” CNN Money, www.cnn.com/markets/stocks/HD. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.

The Home Depot, Inc. Form 10-K Annual Report for the Fiscal Year Ended Feb. 2, 2025. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 2025.

“The Home Is Where Our Story Begins.” The Home Depot, corporate.homedepot.com/page/home-where-our-story-begins. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.

“More Convenience, More Value: The Home Depot Expands On-Demand Delivery Capabilities for Customers Nationwide.” The Home Depot, 22 Jan. 2025, corporate.homedepot.com/news/partnerships/home-depot-expands-delivery-capabilities. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.

Mullaney, Tim. “What Home Depot’s Billion-Dollar Pay Raise May Help Prove about Workers.” CNBC, 30 Apr. 2023, cnbc.com/2023/04/30/what-home-depots-billion-dollar-pay-raise-can-prove-about-workers.html. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.

Svensson, Philip. “The Home Depot: The World’s Largest Home Improvement Retailer.” Quartr, 8 Sept. 2025, quartr.com/insights/company-research/the-home-depot-the-worlds-largest-home-improvement-retailer. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.

“WeAreTHD.” The Home Depot, corporate.homedepot.com/page/we-are-thd. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.

Full Article

Company information

  • Date founded: 1978
  • Industry: Retail; home improvement
  • Corporate headquarters: Atlanta, Georgia
  • Type: Public

Overview

The Home Depot is the world’s largest home improvement specialty retailer headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, that has built significant brand recognition with its iconic orange-and-white color scheme. The Home Depot opened its first two stores in Atlanta in June 1979, the year after it was co-founded by entrepreneurs Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank. The Home Depot is the world’s largest do-it-yourself (DIY) and home improvement retailer.

By early 2026, the company operated more than 2,359retail stores throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico, in addition to the 1,250 SRS locations, employing over 470,000 employees, or as The Home Depot calls them, “orange-blooded associates.” The Home Depot stocks over 35,000 products at its physical retail locations and offers consumers access to more than one million products through its website.

History

The Home Depot story began in April 1978, when Marcus and Blank were both fired from their executive positions at a regional home improvement retail chain. According to The Home Depot’s corporate website, Marcus and Blank conceived their vision for The Home Depot at a Los Angeles coffee shop, intending to build a network of large, well-stocked stores that would be staffed by specially trained DIY experts and offer a wide range of merchandise at low prices. They incorporated The Home Depot in Delaware on June 29, 1978. One year later, after securing venture capital and merchandising support, Marcus and Blank opened two Home Depot locations in Atlanta, which would become the first of thousands of stores. In 1981, after two years of strong sales growth, The Home Depot marked two major achievements. The retailer opened its first locations outside of Georgia by launching two new stores in neighboring Florida. It also completed an initial public offering (IPO) of company stock in September 1981, which originally traded for $12 per share on the NASDAQ exchange before moving to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in April 1984. The IPO raised approximately $4.1 million. Expansion into California followed in 1985, and by 1988, The Home Depot was included in the Standard and Poor 500 (S&P 500) index that tracks the financial fortunes of 500 major US companies.

By the end of the 1980s, The Home Depot had expanded to more than one hundred locations. It established its position as the world’s largest home improvement and DIY retailer by the early 1990s and entered the Canadian market in 1994 when it acquired the Toronto, Ontario-based retail chain Aikenhead’s Hardware. In 1996, The Home Depot marked another milestone when it posted a string of record financial results extending across forty consecutive financial quarters, or ten full years. Marcus retired as The Home Depot’s chief executive officer (CEO) in 1997, handing leadership of the company to Blank. Blank remained The Home Depot CEO until his retirement in 2001.

In 2002, The Home Depot completed another international expansion when it opened its first locations in Mexico after buying out a small Mexican regional DIY chain, Del Norte. By 2005, The Home Depot counted 2,000 locations in its portfolio. That year, the company also completed an aggressive series of acquisitions by buying out more than twenty suppliers and home services companies. In 2007, The Home Depot began its move into the online retail sphere, updating its information technology (IT) capabilities and developing mobile applications. Three years later, the company debuted one of its most successful marketing ploys by launching its Spring Black Friday promotion, an extended sale intended to replicate the post-Thanksgiving Black Friday retail event in spring.

In 2020, The Home Depot elected to cancel its annual Spring Black Friday event amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. In its review of The Home Depot for the 2021 edition of its Fortune 500 list, Fortune magazine noted the company’s decision received a positive response, while competitors such as Lowe’s invited backlash by going ahead with their in-store spring sales. In 2023, The Home Depot announced that despite slowing sales and record inflation, the company invested $1 billion, focusing solely on raising employee wages. Also in 2023, The Home Depot completed its integration of HD Supply, a maintenance, repair, and operations product distributor the company acquired in 2020, expanding the company’s reach in multifamily housing, hospitality, and institutional markets.

During this time, The Home Depot focused on serving professional customers, or “Pro” customers, such as contractors, remodelers, repair specialists, and large-scale professional clients, which spurred major investments in tailored services, exclusive product lines, and digital tools. The company also significantly modernized its supply chain infrastructure and invested in e-commerce capabilities, offering a variety of purchase options—buy online, pick up in-store, curbside pickup, a mobile application, and direct-to-job site delivery.

In 2024, Home Depot announced the acquisition of SRS distribution, a specialty trade distributor across various industries.

Impact

The company regularly ranks well on Fortune magazine’s Fortune 500 list and Forbes annual World’s Most Valuable Brands review, owing to its positive work environment, commitment to promoting from within, prioritization of gender representation at all levels of the company, and provision of thorough training in keeping with its founding mission of providing exceptional, expert customer service. Marcus and Blank developed a unique “customer bill of rights,” which guaranteed consumers would find a wide assortment of products at the industry’s most competitive prices every time they visited a Home Depot location. The mandate also included a pledge to offer complete instruction to DIY customers of all skill levels, with store associates providing detailed product handling and installation demonstrations, instructional clinics and workshops, and one-on-one learning sessions.

Over its history, The Home Depot has also displayed a strong commitment to philanthropy and community service. Among many disaster relief initiatives, including responses to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Hurricane Ian in 2022, and other recent natural disasters, the Home Depot Foundation has continued to provide strong support through rapid response grants, rebuilding efforts, and volunteer mobilization. Co-founders Marcus and Blank committed to the Giving Pledge, a campaign among the globe’s wealthy elite members to give at least half their fortunes to charitable causes and philanthropic enterprises. Marcus joined the Giving Pledge in 2010 and has since donated more than $1 billion of his wealth, and by the mid-2020s, Blank also reached over $1 billion since joining in 2012.

The Home Depot has also committed to environmental sustainability as part of its long-term corporate strategy, including pledging to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 42 percent between 2020 and 2030. The Home Depot has continually expanded its selection of energy-efficient and environmentally friendly products and continues investing in renewable energy. These investments support the company’s shift to energy-efficient operations in its stores, supply chain facilities, and delivery services.

The Home Depot also supports multiple employee resource groups that foster community, mentorship, and professional development for underrepresented groups, including veterans, women, LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning) associates, and employees of diverse cultural backgrounds. The company promotes inclusive hiring practices and provides unconscious bias training to improve fairness and equity in recruitment and advancement. Executive leaders are accountable for diversity, equity, and inclusion progress. In the 2020s the company adopted the slogan “WeAreTHD” to signify its welcoming and empowering culture.


Bibliography

“About Us.” The Home Depot, corporate.homedepot.com/page/about-us. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.

“Arthur Blank.” Forbes, forbes.com/profile/arthur-blank/. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.

“Bernard Marcus.” Forbes, forbes.com/profile/bernard-marcus/. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.

“Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion.” The Home Depot, corporate.homedepot.com/page/diversity-equity-inclusion. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.

“Fueling Growth: The Home Depot Acquires SRS Distribution Inc.” The Home Depot, 18 June 2024, corporate.homedepot.com/news/company/the-home-depot-acquires-srs-distribution-inc. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.

“The Home Depot Announces Latest Carbon Emission Reductions, New Supplier Diversity Spending Goal and Progress on Community Investments in 2022 ESG Report.” The Home Depot, 28 July 2022, corporate.homedepot.com/newsroom/2022-esg-press-release. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.

“The Home Depot Boosts Pro Productivity with Industry’s First Real Time Delivery Tracking for Big & Bulky Materials.” PR Newswire, 5 Mar. 2026, www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-home-depot-boosts-pro-productivity-with-industrys-first-real-time-delivery-tracking-for-big--bulky-materials-302704498.html. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.

“Home Depot Inc. Company Profile.” CNN Money, www.cnn.com/markets/stocks/HD. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.

The Home Depot, Inc. Form 10-K Annual Report for the Fiscal Year Ended Feb. 2, 2025. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 2025.

“The Home Is Where Our Story Begins.” The Home Depot, corporate.homedepot.com/page/home-where-our-story-begins. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.

“More Convenience, More Value: The Home Depot Expands On-Demand Delivery Capabilities for Customers Nationwide.” The Home Depot, 22 Jan. 2025, corporate.homedepot.com/news/partnerships/home-depot-expands-delivery-capabilities. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.

Mullaney, Tim. “What Home Depot’s Billion-Dollar Pay Raise May Help Prove about Workers.” CNBC, 30 Apr. 2023, cnbc.com/2023/04/30/what-home-depots-billion-dollar-pay-raise-can-prove-about-workers.html. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.

Svensson, Philip. “The Home Depot: The World’s Largest Home Improvement Retailer.” Quartr, 8 Sept. 2025, quartr.com/insights/company-research/the-home-depot-the-worlds-largest-home-improvement-retailer. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.

“WeAreTHD.” The Home Depot, corporate.homedepot.com/page/we-are-thd. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.

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