News March 10, 08:30 Eastern Time
The Home Depot(R) Acquires Three Sites From Sam's Club Company Committed to Growth in Argentina and Chile
BUENOS AIRES, Mar 10, 2000 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The Home Depot (NYSE:
HD), the world's largest home improvement retailer, today announced it has
signed an agreement to acquire the property and buildings of three SAM'S Clubs
in Argentina. The agreement is pending all local approvals. Financial terms of
the sale were not disclosed.
The three sites are Avellaneda, San Justo and Constituyentes. All facilities
will be converted into Home Depot stores.
"We are looking forward to opening our first Home Depot in Barracas in the third
quarter of this year," said Bill Pena, president, Argentina and Chile. "We have
great confidence in the home improvement market in Argentina and look forward to
offering thousands of products and many services to the people of greater Buenos
Aires.
"The opportunity to purchase these three additional sites from SAM'S Club will
allow us to accelerate our expansion plans for Argentina," Pena explained. "This
purchase gives Home Depot at least six locations within the first year of our
opening the first store."
Home Depot will launch four stores by the end of 2000 in Argentina and plans for
four more by the end of 2001. Details of the additional sites were not
disclosed. Home Depot's first announced locations are Barracas, Don Torcuato and
Quilmes. The Barracas store, now under construction, will open in the third
quarter of 2000 and is located at the intersection of Herrera and Suarez streets
in the former Aguila Saint building. Pena explained that the retailer will
introduce the concepts of do-it-yourself and buy-it-yourself projects for home
improvement and will serve the consumer and contractor markets, all under one
roof.
Don Bland, president and CEO, Wal-Mart Argentina, said the company is
concentrating on expanding its Supercenter business, which has been successful
and widely accepted by consumers.
"We are opening our 11th Supercenter in Mendoza this year, and are aggressively
pursuing other locations," Bland said. "Wal-Mart has invested more than $300
million in Argentina and employs about 5,000 people. We will continue investing
in our operations, improving our merchandise assortments and providing every day
low prices and great service to customers."
Bland added that the SAM'S Club concept is performing very well in all other
parts of the world, especially in Latin America, but the five-year experience in
Argentina shows that customers prefer the Supercenter format.
"We appreciate the hard work for all of our SAM'S Club people, and will do our
best to find them jobs both inside and outside Wal-Mart. We also will refund
memberships consumers purchased, honor all product warranties and continue
serving our SAM's members at our adjacent Supercenters," he said.
Committed to Expand in Chile
Pena said that the home improvement warehouse concept has been received
overwhelmingly by customers in Chile. He added that Home Depot is committed to
opening four additional stores in Chile within the next 24 months. Currently
there are three Home Depot stores in Santiago and one in Concepcion.
"Not only do we offer 35,000 products in every store that are dedicated to home
improvement projects," Pena said. "We also offer education and service in
completing the project. Our free how-to clinics will help customers learn how to
do everything from laying ceramic tile to installing a faucet. The public has
embraced Home Depot in Chile."
In addition, Home Depot is making additional investments in both Argentina and
Chile in systems, technology and people. Pena said that each new store in
Argentina will employ more than 250 Home Depot associates from the communities
in which we serve.
"Home Depot has been working closely with manufacturers and suppliers in
Argentina to ensure we offer quality products at the best prices every day,
backed with exceptional customer service," he added.
The Home Depot has more than 950 home improvement stores in North and South
America. The company's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (HD) and
is listed in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor's Index.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) operates more than 2,400 stores and 460 Sam's
Clubs in the United States. Internationally, the Company operates units in
Argentina (10), Brazil (14), Canada (166), China (6), Germany (95), Korea (5),
Mexico (462), Puerto Rico (15), and United Kingdom (232). Wal-Mart employs more
than 885,000 associates in the U.S. and 255,000 internationally. Its securities
are listed on the New York and Pacific stock exchanges.
SOURCE The Home Depot
(C) 2000 PR Newswire. All rights reserved.
http://www.prnewswire.com
CONTACT: Jerry Shields, 770-384-2741, or Carol Schumacher,
+541-148-464702, both of The Home Depot; or Federico Ovejero, Wal-Mart
Argentina S.A., +54-4573-6740
KEYWORD: Argentina
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: REA
SUBJECT CODE: TNM
URL: homedepot.com
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