Atlanta, GA, April 25, 2006--Home Depot announced a definitive agreement to acquire Home Decorators Collection, a leader in catalog and online sales of home decor merchandise.
Home Decorators Collection (HDC) will become part of Home Depot Direct, the direct-to-consumer division of The Home Depot. Home Depot Direct provides customers with an "endless aisle" of home improvement and decor merchandise through in-store catalogs, mail-order catalogs and Web sites that enhance and extend the special order offerings in The Home Depot's retail stores.
The acquisition provides many benefits to Home Depot Direct:
- HDC has built the third largest house file in the catalog industry with 3.3 million targeted buyers, which provides access to a whole new customer base for The Home Depot.
- Home Depot Direct will immediately double in size and significantly increase its presence in the affordable home decor category with approximately 65,000 new home decor products and approximately 185 new global sourcing relationships.
- HDC provides industry-leading, critical catalog capabilities in analytics, merchandising, sourcing and production, which can be extended across the Home Depot Direct platform.
- The acquisition will deliver purchasing and technology synergies; enhance overall operating effectiveness through scale, simplification and knowledge transfer; and accelerate growth by providing customers with exceptional value, convenience and choice.
"Home Decorators Collection is an ideal strategic and operational fit for Home Depot Direct by giving us immediate scale and core skills to expand our direct-to-consumer platform," said Harvey Seegers, president, Home Depot Direct. "We are excited about the company's reputation for operational excellence and talented leadership, and look forward to welcoming its associates into The Home Depot family."
HDC will enhance Home Depot Direct's multi-channel retailing strategy, adding to an already growing array of online and catalog offerings to customers. Home Depot Direct's current offerings include homedepot.com, as well as a targeted group of The Home Depot-branded specialty catalogs, like Outdoor Living, Holiday and Tools. It also includes uniquely branded offerings of high-end merchandise through the 10 Crescent Lane and Paces Trading Company catalogs.
"The U.S. market for direct home decor retail spending is about $18 billion today, with growth rates approaching 20 percent annually," said Seegers. "Our goal is to take advantage of this market by allowing customers to shop for a wide range of distinctive products from their neighborhood The Home Depot store, our mail order catalogs or the Internet, and enjoy the convenience of delivery directly to their homes."
"Our promise to the customer has always been very similar to The Home Depot's promise," said Gil Kemp, founder and president of HDC. "We are excited about joining forces with The Home Depot and expanding our capability to provide a wide selection of high-quality home decor merchandise at everyday low prices for our customers."
Kemp will remain in his position, reporting to Harvey Seegers. The other members of HDC's leadership team will also remain and be an integral part of Home Depot Direct's operations and growth.
Grant Williams, chairman of Knight's Direct, a private holding company, and chairman/co-founder of HDC, will remain in his role with Knight's Direct and has also agreed to provide advisory services to Home Depot Direct and HDC for the remainder of 2006. "We are excited to join Home Depot Direct, and we look forward to helping the combined business grow even faster with the talent, experience, processes and relationships of our associates and vendors," said Williams.
Completion of the acquisition is subject to customary conditions. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
