According to an item published online on the Yahoo!Finance website, The Home Depot Incorporated was founded in 1978 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia. It operates as a home improvement retailer primarily in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company's stores offer building materials, home improvement supplies and lawn and garden products that are sold to do-it-yourself (DIY) customers, home improvement contractors, tradespeople and building maintenance professionals. The company also operates EXPO Design Center stores that provide products and services primarily related to design and renovation projects. In February of 2008, it operated 2,234 stores, including 1,950 The Home Depot stores, 34 EXPO stores, 5 Yardbirds stores, and 2 THD Design Center stores in the United States, in addition to 165, 66, and 12 stores in Canada, Mexico, and China respectively. Its key competitors include Lowe's Companies, Inc., Menard, Inc., and True Value Company (The Home Depot, Inc.).
According to the company's most recent Form 10-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, some of the stakeholders of The Home Depot include the company's 331,000 employees, of whom approximately 26,000 are salaried with the remainder being paid on an hourly basis. To remain successful, The Home Depot must attract, train and retain a large number of highly qualified associates while controlling labor costs. Another group of stakeholders would be the company's shareholders. According to the Form 10-K annual report, as of March 24, 2008, there were approximately 160,000 shareholders of record and approximately 1.4 million additional shareholders holding stock under nominee security position listings. Another group of stakeholders are the company's customers. Customer satisfaction is high because of factors including The Home Depot's convenient store locations, its long hours of operation, large and diverse inventories, and low prices. ...