Two Home Depot stores in Ohio will be among 15 the company will close as it attempts to rein in expenses. The cost-cutting will include eliminating 1,300 jobs and reducing its store expansion plans.
The Atlanta-based home improvement retailer said Thursday the measures will cost it $586 million in charges, $547 million of which will hit in the first quarter of fiscal 2008. It hopes the revised expansion plan and store closures will improve free cash flow, provide stronger returns for the company and allow it to invest in existing stores.
Home Depot (NYSE:HD) will shutter underperforming stores in Findlay and Lima. Others to be closed are in Fort Wayne and Marion, Ind.; Frankfort, Ky.; Opelousas, La.; Cottage Grove, Minn.; East Brunswick and Saddle Brook, N.J.; Rome, N.Y.; Bismarck, N.D.; Brattleboro, Vt.; and Milwaukee, Beaver Dam and Fond du Lac, Wis. (more…)
