Atlanta, GA, November 8, 2006--The Home Depot has pledged to spend $350 million in the second half of this year to lure more customers in the midst of a cooling U.S. housing market that is crimping business at home improvement retailers.
At its highest-traffic stores, Home Depot is adding workers, expanding merchandise and installing call boxes that shoppers can use to summon staff help.
"In a down economy, what's going to drive sales is your ability to interact with customers," said Jose Lopez, chief customer officer.
The latest refurbishing effort is reminiscent of 2003, when Home Depot vowed to spend $880 million to remodel aging stores, upgrade technology and improve worker training.
