>Disney is definitely a "gorilla" (did you see reviews on the book?)
>and I'm not sure Home Depot is.
freeus.
i've only got a modicum of background on the book but i gather it's oriented towards high-tech gorillas, i.e., finding the next microsoft, intel, cisco, et al. however, i believe one can definitely make the analogy to hd given its buffettesque characteristics: persistent, competitive advantage due to its brand name and repetitive service (of sorts), since home improvement, to me, is really an addiction.
regarding market share, the last number i have on hd circa jan of this year, is 14% which is over double its nearest competitor (lowe's?). so, while hd doesn't fully dominate the niche … la intel with 90% of the world's cpu's, it's clearly farther ahead than the rest of the gang. remember, there are still thousands of mom&pop ops out there. despite this, the good news (if you don't mind that they've probably put a lot of mom&pop's out of bidnez), is that management is aggressively opening stores and now moving into the international market. in addition, while it's still early to tell, the expo concept is clearly in its infancy and could be another engine of growth.
btw, do you find it remotely ironic that hd is developing plans to prototype a new hardware convenience store format designed to serve the small-project DIYer? putting aside the fact that it'll probably be a hit, it strikes me as regressive, practically contrary to the superstore concept they essentially invented.
debris de blanc depot? (translation: white trailer trash depot?)
sorry.
don't get me wrong, i'm remain long for the long-term,
-chris. |
