Atlanta, GA, Jan 29--Home Depot is consolidating two regional divisions that serve stores on the East Coast. The firm will merge its New England division, which includes stores from New York to Maine, into its Eastern division, which includes stores from Pennsylvania to Florida and Puerto Rico.
As a result of the move, Home Depot's expanded Eastern division, which is based in Atlanta, will service more than 600 stores and have more than 110,000 employees.
According to the firm, the consolidation will not result in any store closings or job reductions. But merchandising and other support functions would be transferred to South Plainfield, New Jersey, from Canton, Massachusetts.
Home Depot CEO Robert Nardelli has pared management layers, consolidated divisions and made other moves to cut costs and improve operations since he arrived to take over the company in December 2000.
Home Depot now has six store divisions, compared with nine when Nardelli joined the firm.
According to Nardelli, the combination of divisions has brought "substantial improvements in our operations and execution."
Home Depot, which has more than 1,500 stores in the United States, Canada and Mexico, also said it planned to build 10 Home Depot stores in the New England area this year, creating 2,000 jobs.
The retailer said Dan Kneip, former president of the New England division, was named to the position of senior vice president, business process improvement, based in Atlanta. Kneip, who has worked at Home Depot for 15 years, will work on service improvement programs.
Home Depot is seeking to reverse weak sales trends amid increasing competition in its most lucrative markets from smaller rival Lowe's, which is in the midst of a national expansion.
Earlier this month, Home Depot lowered its profit and sales estimates for the coming year and said it would devote millions of dollars to remodel older stores, upgrade technology and boost worker training in a bid to enhance customer service.
