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Bob Vereen, DIY in Europe USA
Will Home Depot go international – beyond Canada and Mexico? And if so, when?
This seems to be a question very much on the minds of many European DIY industry executives, especially with so many rumours about the potential interest of Home Depot in acquiring Kingfisher, parent of both B&Q and Castorama.
In its current annual report, Home Depot mentions a US $ 900 bn global home improvement market, which makes its US $ 64.8 bn current sales look like it has only tapped a fraction of the global potential.
Noone really knows what the long-range plans of the Home Depot executives are. However, it would seem the company has so many different initiatives currently underway, including refurbishing about a thousand older stores, that something as challenging as acquiring another company with different systems, computers, vendors and assortments, might not be a high priority at this particular time.
Focused as he is on the stock market’s perception of Depot, CEO Bob Nardelli knows that there is much to be done domestically before Depot’s stock price recovers to its once-lofty price. And with Lowe’s nipping at its heels and acquiring market share in major metro markets, Home Depot must first of all protect its existing market share. Also, with so many of its stores in metro markets, it must seek new markets to enter. It seems quite likely that it will look to secondary US cities for new store openings, particularly because its inclusion of major home appliances allows it to enter smaller markets and gain enough volume to support a big-box outlet.
It might be that European retailers can relax – at least for a year or so.
Will Home Depot go international – beyond Canada and Mexico? And if so, when?
This seems to be a question very much on the minds of many European DIY industry executives, especially with so many rumours about the potential interest of Home Depot in acquiring Kingfisher, parent of both B&Q and Castorama.
In its current annual report, Home Depot mentions a US $ 900 bn global home improvement market, which makes its US $ 64.8 bn current sales look like it has only tapped a fraction of the global potential.
Noone really knows what the long-range plans of the Home Depot executives are. However, it would seem the company has so many different initiatives currently underway, including refurbishing about a thousand older stores, that something as challenging as acquiring another company with different systems, computers, vendors and assortments, might not be a high priority at this particular time.
Focused as he is on the stock market’s perception of Depot, CEO Bob Nardelli knows that there is much to be done domestically before Depot’s stock price recovers to its once-lofty price. And with Lowe’s nipping at its heels and acquiring market share in major metro markets, Home Depot must first of all protect its existing market share. Also, with so many of its stores in metro markets, it must seek new markets to enter. It seems quite likely that it will look to secondary US cities for new store openings, particularly because its inclusion of major home appliances allows it to enter smaller markets and gain enough volume to support a big-box outlet.
It might be that European retailers can relax – at least for a year or so.
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