Atlanta, GA, Jun. 11--Home Depot Inc. CEO Bob Nardelli doesn't like to talk about his company's chief rival, but that doesn't mean he's ignoring it--he tours Lowe's stores when he travels around the United States.
He doesn't go incognito, and so he's sometimes asked to leave. "For the record, they were not personal visits," Nardelli said, laughing, during a recent interview with The Associated Press.
Nardelli is checking out the competition as he leads Home Depot's efforts to give its stores a new look and revamp customer service, a move that began amid a charge into its turf by North Carolina-based Lowe's Cos.
Still, he'd rather not link Home Depot's makeover to its rival.
"He has suffered with the comparison with Lowe's," said former General Electric Co. chairman and CEO Jack Welch, who used to be Nardelli's boss. "Lowe's has a fraction of the stores he has. His stores are older. It's the law of size and age, but he's fixing that."
Nardelli, who had headed GE Power Systems, was a candidate to replace Welch at GE, but didn't get the job, instead landing the top position at Atlanta-based Home Depot in 2000. Welch said it wasn't a consolation prize for Nardelli, but rather a perfect fit--Nardelli gave the mostly decentralized Home Depot some direction.
"He's got an engine inside him," Welch said.
Analysts agree that Nardelli is setting a better path for Home Depot, the world's largest home improvement retailer and second largest retailer in the United States. It has dozens of locations across Canada.
Colin McGranahan, an analyst with Bernstein & Co. in New York, said the company has made its stores cleaner and brighter and is trying to appeal to a wider base of customers.
"If there is a negative, it's that their strategy needs to be flexible," he said.
Those who know the 56-year-old Nardelli describe him as determined.
"He's always been very sure of the course that needs to be taken," said Larry Mortier, who played football with Nardelli at Western Illinois University. "I see a lot of the intensity Bob had as a player in the way he approaches his professional life."
By all accounts, Nardelli is a workaholic. He has moved 13 times and worked in numerous fields, particularly during his years at GE, from medical systems to locomotives to lighting to power plants.
Working seven days a week and staying late each night, Nardelli said he developed his strong work ethic from his father, a longtime General Electric employee. At Home Depot, Nardelli tours 300 stores a year.
"I don't try to manage an 8-to-5," Nardelli said. "You measure yourself in accomplishments, not time."
That includes record financial results for Home Depot under his watch. However, the company's stock price has fallen during his 3 1/2 years as CEO. Now trading in the $35 range, it's still down $16 from its early 2001 level.
Nardelli wants to lift the stock price, but also said, "I'm not kicking the dirt, dragging my feet over this thing."
The stock has struggled as Home Depot lost some of its star quality. In recent years investors and customers have complained about inconsistent service at its 1,766 stores. And Lowe's is giving Home Depot serious competition--the kind that Home Depot used to give small, independent hardware and home improvement stores.
That caused some soul-searching at the company.
"I'd like to think we're 99.99996 perfect," Nardelli said. "The fact is we're not."
When he took over in December 2000, the company had had eight consecutive quarters of declining comparable store sales--those from stores open at least a year.
Its problems included the fact that as it grew, it was no longer able to uphold the high standard of customer service it was known for in its formative years. Nardelli says Home Depot is working to improve service.
