A Home Depot store in Pasadena, CA; photo credit: Oxana Melis on Unsplash
Home Depot has named president and COO Ted Decker, a 22-year veteran of the company, as its new CEO, replacing the retiring Craig Menear, who has guided the company through a phenomenal growth period, especially during the pandemic, while making over its supply chain operations.
There are some concerns about Home Depot maintaining the same upward trajectory as home spending cools somewhat in an inflationary period, and consumer investments shift elsewhere. For the third quarter of 2021, Home Depot had sales of $36.8 billion, up 9.8%, with comp sales growing 6.1%, and store sales up 10%.
Menear, himself a 20-year veteran of the company, will remain as chairman of the board. Decker, who has been president and COO since last October, previously served as chief merchant and executive vice president of merchandising.
“Ted has grown with the company by taking on expanded roles of leadership from his time in strategic business development, finance and merchandising to leading our day-to-day interconnected operations in his role as president and COO,” Menear said in a release. “His ability to blend the art and science of retail is exactly what is needed in the next phase of growth for The Home Depot. I have tremendous confidence that he will guide our company to new heights.”
Home Depot was well ahead of main competitor Lowe’s in terms of rolling out pickup lockers chain wide at its stores. Last fall, it was again a first mover in signing up with Walmart’s new fulfillment service GoLocal. In 2018, the home improvement giant announced plans to spend $1.2 billion to upgrade its supply chain and fulfillment network through 2023, including 170 new distribution facilities enabling it to reach 90% of the U.S. population in a day or less.
Last year, former Home Depot CFO Carol Tome was tapped to lead UPS as its new CEO, replacing longtime head David Abney. More recently, former executive vice president of supply chain and product development Mark Holifield was poached by regional carrier LaserShip to be its new CEO in October.