Direct Answer
The Home Depot was founded by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank after they were fired from Handy Dan Home Improvement Centers in 1978. With backing from investor Ken Langone and retail expert Pat Farrah, they opened the first two Home Depot stores in Atlanta, Georgia on June 22, 1979. The company pioneered the warehouse-format home improvement concept, offering deep inventory and knowledgeable staff at discounted prices. Home Depot went public on NASDAQ in 1981, moved to the NYSE in 1984, and surpassed $1 billion in annual sales by 1989. The 2024 acquisition of SRS Distribution for approximately $18.25 billion is the largest in company history and has transformed Home Depot into a major professional contractor distribution platform alongside its retail stores.
Origins
The Home Depot's founding story begins with a firing. In 1978, Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank were dismissed from Handy Dan Home Improvement Centers, a chain owned by Daylin Corporation. Rather than seeking positions elsewhere in retail management, Marcus and Blank began developing a concept for a new kind of home improvement store: a warehouse-scale format that would carry a much deeper inventory than conventional hardware retailers, staffed by employees with genuine trade knowledge who could help customers with complex projects.
They secured critical backing from Ken Langone, an investment banker who had previously taken the New York Stock Exchange public, and from Pat Farrah, a merchandise expert who joined as a founding partner and helped shape the store's product mix. The four founders planned stores large enough to stock tens of thousands of items at prices made possible by buying direct from manufacturers rather than through distributors.
The first two Home Depot stores opened in Atlanta, Georgia on June 22, 1979, in the Doraville area. The concept caught on quickly. Customers who had previously driven to multiple specialty stores for plumbing, electrical, lumber, and paint supplies found everything available at a single location with staff prepared to explain how to use it.
Key milestones
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1978 | Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank fired from Handy Dan Home Improvement Centers; begin planning a new warehouse-format home improvement concept with Ken Langone and Pat Farrah |
| June 22, 1979 | First two Home Depot stores open in Atlanta, Georgia (Doraville area) |
| 1981 | Home Depot initial public offering on NASDAQ |
| 1984 | Home Depot moves listing to the New York Stock Exchange |
| 1989 | Home Depot surpasses $1 billion in annual sales |
| 1994 | Home Depot launches EXPO Design Center stores, a higher-end format targeting kitchen and bath remodeling customers |
| December 2000 | Robert Nardelli becomes CEO, recruited from General Electric; introduces Six Sigma operational discipline and centralized purchasing |
| 2001 | Home Depot acquires Maintenance Warehouse, expanding into MRO (maintenance, repair, and operations) supply distribution |
| 2002 | Home Depot acquires Home Mart Mexico, expanding into the Mexican market |
| 2006 | Home Depot acquires Hughes Supply for $3.2 billion, adding professional contractor supply distribution |
| 2007 | Home Depot sells Hughes Supply; Robert Nardelli resigns; Frank Blake becomes CEO and reverses many Nardelli-era policies; Home Depot sells HD Supply (its professional distribution subsidiary) for $8.5 billion |
| 2009 | Home Depot closes all EXPO Design Center locations |
| 2014 | Craig Menear becomes CEO; September 2014 data breach exposes approximately 56 million payment card records; settlement approximately $180 million |
| 2016 | Home Depot acquires Interline Brands for $1.6 billion, adding MRO supply and facilities maintenance distribution to the professional business |
| 2020 | Ted Decker becomes President and COO; COVID-19 pandemic drives a major home improvement boom as consumers spend more time at home and invest in renovations |
| 2022 | Ted Decker becomes CEO; Craig Menear becomes Executive Chairman |
| 2024 | Home Depot acquires SRS Distribution for approximately $18.25 billion, the largest acquisition in company history, adding roofing, landscaping, and pool supply distribution to professional contractors |
| Present | Home Depot operates approximately 2,340 stores in the United States, Canada, and Mexico |
CEO timeline
| CEO | Tenure | Key focus |
|---|---|---|
| Bernie Marcus | 1979 to 1997 (co-founder) | Launched the warehouse-format concept; expanded from Atlanta to a national chain |
| Arthur Blank | 1997 to 2000 (co-founder) | Continued expansion; later purchased the Atlanta Falcons NFL franchise |
| Robert Nardelli | 2000 to 2007 | GE executive; brought Six Sigma operational discipline; centralized purchasing; controversial pay packages; resigned amid shareholder pressure |
| Frank Blake | 2007 to 2014 | Reversed Nardelli-era centralization; refocused on customer service and store experience; divested non-core businesses |
| Craig Menear | 2014 to 2022 | Digital transformation; expanded Pro customer segment; led through COVID boom; became Executive Chairman in 2022 |
| Ted Decker | 2022 to present | SRS Distribution acquisition; supply chain investment; professional contractor platform buildout |
Four eras of Home Depot history
Founding and growth (1979 to 1999)
The Home Depot's founding proposition was straightforward: give serious do-it-yourself homeowners access to the same product selection and trade expertise previously available only to professional contractors, at prices made possible by warehouse-scale buying. The warehouse-format stores, which measured 100,000 square feet or more, held more SKUs than entire traditional hardware chains. Staff were hired for trade knowledge, not just retail experience, so a customer installing a bathroom could get genuine technical guidance alongside the right products.
The concept expanded rapidly through the 1980s. Home Depot reached the Southeast, then moved into the Northeast and Midwest. By 1989, the company had crossed $1 billion in annual sales. The 1981 NASDAQ IPO and 1984 move to the NYSE provided capital for accelerated expansion. Through the 1990s, Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank built Home Depot into the dominant home improvement retailer in the United States, with the company reaching a scale that made it one of the largest U.S. retailers overall.
The Nardelli era (2000 to 2007)
Robert Nardelli arrived in December 2000 recruited from General Electric, where he had competed to succeed Jack Welch as CEO. He brought GE's operational methods with him: Six Sigma process discipline, centralized purchasing that replaced store-level buying autonomy, military-veteran hiring programs, and a focus on measurable efficiency metrics. Cost reduction and process standardization improved margins in some respects, but critics argued these changes came at the expense of the customer service culture the founders had built, with fewer full-time floor associates who knew the trades.
The Nardelli era also saw significant diversification. Home Depot acquired Maintenance Warehouse in 2001 for MRO supply distribution, entered Mexico via the Home Mart acquisition in 2002, and made the major Hughes Supply acquisition for $3.2 billion in 2006. Hughes Supply was sold in 2007, and the broader professional distribution subsidiary HD Supply was divested for $8.5 billion that same year after Nardelli's departure, suggesting the strategic case for the diversification had not been fully resolved before it was reversed.
Nardelli resigned in January 2007. His departure followed years of controversy over compensation packages that included tens of millions of dollars in a period when Home Depot's stock underperformed its primary competitor, Lowe's. The 2006 annual meeting, at which Nardelli limited questions to one minute each and no board members appeared, became a reference point in corporate governance discussions about executive accountability.
Refocus and digital transformation (2007 to 2020)
Frank Blake became CEO in 2007 and set about restoring the customer-service culture that had distinguished Home Depot under its founders. He reversed the centralization of store-level decision-making, reinvested in staffing, and brought the board into closer engagement with shareholders. The divestiture of HD Supply in 2007 refocused Home Depot on its core retail and contractor-serving business. EXPO Design Centers, the higher-end format launched in 1994 for kitchen and bath remodeling customers, were closed entirely in 2009 as part of the strategic simplification.
In September 2014, Home Depot disclosed a major data breach: attackers had installed malware on point-of-sale terminals and collected approximately 56 million payment card records over several months. The breach was one of the largest retail data breaches to that point, and Home Depot reached settlements totaling approximately $180 million covering financial institutions and consumer claims. The incident prompted the company to accelerate chip-card terminal deployment across its stores.
Craig Menear, who succeeded Blake as CEO in 2014, led a significant investment in digital capabilities: a redesigned website, improved inventory visibility, and technology connecting online ordering to in-store fulfillment. The 2016 acquisition of Interline Brands for $1.6 billion added MRO supply and facilities maintenance distribution, building out the professional contractor service capability that would become a central strategic priority.
Professional customer buildout and the SRS acquisition (2020 to present)
The COVID-19 pandemic created an unexpected growth event for Home Depot. As consumers spent more time at home in 2020 and received stimulus support, spending on home improvement surged. Home Depot's same-store sales growth accelerated sharply, and the company benefited from both do-it-yourself demand and professional contractor activity driven by a booming housing renovation market. Ted Decker, who became President and COO in 2020, led operations through this period before becoming CEO in 2022 when Craig Menear moved to Executive Chairman.
The defining transaction of Decker's early tenure as CEO came in 2024: the acquisition of SRS Distribution for approximately $18.25 billion. SRS is a distributor of roofing, landscaping, and pool supplies to professional contractors, operating a network of branches that serve contractors rather than retail customers. The acquisition moved Home Depot beyond its retail store model into direct professional contractor distribution, giving the company a route to serve professional contractors through a branch network that parallels but does not replace the retail store footprint. At approximately $18.25 billion, SRS is by a wide margin the largest acquisition in Home Depot's history and represents a structural expansion of the business model, not simply the addition of a complementary retail format.
Home Depot now operates approximately 2,340 stores across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, while its professional distribution network through Interline Brands and SRS Distribution extends its reach into channels that retail stores alone cannot fully serve.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was Home Depot founded?
The Home Depot was founded in 1978 when Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank began planning a new retail concept after being fired from Handy Dan Home Improvement Centers. The first two Home Depot stores opened in Atlanta, Georgia on June 22, 1979, in the Doraville area. The company went public on NASDAQ in 1981 and moved to the New York Stock Exchange in 1984.
Who founded The Home Depot?
The Home Depot was co-founded by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank, who were fired from Handy Dan Home Improvement Centers in 1978. Investor Ken Langone provided critical early funding and became a board member. Pat Farrah, a retail merchandise expert, joined the founding team and helped shape the store concept. Marcus served as CEO from 1979 to 1997 and Blank from 1997 to 2000.
What happened during the Robert Nardelli era at Home Depot?
Robert Nardelli became CEO in December 2000, recruited from General Electric where he had been a Jack Welch protege. He introduced Six Sigma operational discipline, centralized purchasing, and a professional supply business. His tenure was controversial: cost-cutting and operational focus strained the customer experience and stock performance lagged competitors. Nardelli resigned in January 2007. His replacement, Frank Blake, reversed many of his policies and refocused the company on customer service and the core retail business.
What was the 2014 Home Depot data breach?
In September 2014, Home Depot disclosed a data breach that compromised approximately 56 million payment card records, making it one of the largest retail data breaches at the time. Attackers used malware installed on point-of-sale systems to collect card data. Home Depot reached a settlement of approximately $180 million covering financial institutions and consumer claims. The breach prompted the company to accelerate chip-card terminal adoption and improve its cybersecurity infrastructure.