Home Depot to add South American stores - CEO
May 17, 1999 02:14 PM
ATLANTA, May 17 (Reuters) - Arthur Blank, president and chief executive officer of Home Depot Inc. (HD) said on Monday the U.S. home improvement retailer will open as many as 12 new stores in South America over the next 19 months.
"We plan to open two stores in Chile this year, and two to three more stores in the year 2000," Blank said in an interview. "It depends on the pace of construction, but we expect to open four to seven in the Buenos Aires area over next year."
Blank said Home Depot has no current commitments to build elsewhere in South America, but expects to continue to expand its business on a regional basis there. Home Depot, the largest U.S. home improvement chain, opened its first two South American stores last year in Chile.
Founded in 1978, Home Depot has 798 stores in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Chile. The company has announced plans to have 1,600 stores by 2002.
Blank cautioned that no one should expect Home Depot to set up shop around the globe in the foreseeable future.
"We are not going to be in the flag collecting business," Blank said. "We will very carefully go to a region -- not a country, but a region -- just as we have in the southern part of of South America. he said." |
