Home Depot to Abandon Floor Store Concept

Atlanta, GA, February 14, 2007--Home Depot is closing a 9-month-old call center that coordinated flooring installations and is shutting down its Floor Store concept as it shifts resources back into the stores, the company said Wednesday.

The largest U.S. home-improvement retailer notified 550 workers Tuesday that it would close the call center in Addison, Texas, on March 12, Home Depot said in a statement. It is one of 12 call centers operated by the company, and it opened in May 2006, spokesman Ron DeFeo said.

Affected employees will receive job-placement help and pay for 60 days after they leave, Home Depot said.

At this time, we feel it's in the best interests of our customers to have our flooring associates resume these duties," DeFeo said. "It provides our customers with one local point of contact for flooring purchases."

Home Depot also said it has notified 80 workers in its Floor Store locations that those stores will close. Floor Store sells carpet, tile, wood flooring and installation services to professionals and consumers.

Home Depot is under pressure from investors to focus on improving its retail stores, and the company on Monday said it will explore strategic alternatives for its $12 billion wholesale-supply business, HD Supply. Options include a possible sale, spinoff or initial public offering, Home Depot said.

Home Depot opened its first Floor Store in 2000 in Plano, Texas. The company later added five satellite showrooms in that area and in 2003 added a store in Margate, Fla.

"We felt these resources can be better used inside our traditional retail stores," the company said in a statement.
DeFeo said he couldn't provide financial details on the changes.
DeFeo played down a suggestion the closings are related to weakness in flooring sales, saying they are specifically tied to efforts to provide local, store-based contact for customers. Home Depot reports fourth-quarter results Tuesday.