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Article Last Updated: 9/24/2005 12:16 PM



Home Depot's Colores Origenes line of paints is based on images of food and icons popular in Latin culture. (Knight Ridder News Service )



A publication explaining Home Depot's Colores Origenes, a line of paints based on images in Latino culture is on display this week at a store in Miami, Fla.


Home Depot speaks language of customers

By Elaine Walker
Knight Ridder News Service
Salt Lake Tribune

MIAMI - Mention the color Hunter Green to Martha Kruse and the Peruvian can't relate.

But tell her Verde Amazonas and there is an immediate visual association.

Reaching out to Latino consumers through color and culture is the idea behind Home Depot's launch of Colores Origenes, a line of more than 70 paint colors.

It's an example of the increasing importance to major national retailers of having a strategy to capture the business of what is the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population.

Earlier this year, Publix launched two Latino-themed Publix Sabor stores featuring an extensive selection of Latin products. Sears has converted about 100 locations to ''multicultural stores'' geared to appeal to Latino, black and Asian shoppers. Also, talk-show hostess Cristina Saralegui launched a furniture line, Casa Cristina.

Not all efforts have been successful. Men's Wearhouse pulled the plug earlier this year on Eddie Rodriguez, a chain of stores by the namesake Miami native that aimed to create a Latino lifestyle brand of menswear, women's wear and home furnishings.

Home Depot already has bilingual signs and how-to clinics in many of its stores. The company is a sponsor of the Mexican National Soccer Team and has partnered with Telemundo as the official sponsor of ''Mi Primer Hogar,'' a home improvement show.

But Colores Origenes is the first product line the retailer has come up with catering to a specific market.

Colores Origenes is being unveiled at more than 400 stores nationwide that cater to large Latino populations, but all stores will be able to mix the colors on request.

''These are copies of colors that we know Hispanics love,'' said Kruse.

At first glance, the interior and exterior paints made by Behr look like any other color chart. A closer examination of the Spanish names reveals an edited color palette designed to evoke images of food and icons popular in Latin culture like Horchata (a Mexican rice drink), Mango Jugoso (Juicy Mango), Rojo Torero (Bullfighter Red) and Cafe Expreso (Espresso Coffee).

Michelle Calondres liked the variety of colors she saw on the display, but she wasn't swayed by the Latino names.

''I pick colors that I like,'' said Calondres, who was looking for two shades of green for her aunt's house. ''It doesn't matter the name.''

Home Depot decided to launch the new line because consumer research found that painting was one of the most popular home improvements projects among Latinos.

Spending on home improvement projects by Latino households has increased 75 percent over the past seven years, triple the rate of non-Latino households, according to Home Depot. Latino homeowners spent a total of $4 billion on home improvements last year.

''It's a force that can't be ignored,'' said Roger Adams, senior vice president of marketing for Home Depot. ''We need to find ways to serve that market better so we can continue to grow our business.

''America is a multicultural environment and a mainstream solution is often not the best,'' Adams said. ''Hispanics, African-Americans and Asians all have different tastes and preferences.''

Hispanic advertising agency executive Manny Machado thinks Home Depot's paint line effort is one that will work.

''It's very much on target with where the market is heading,'' said Machado, chief executive of the Coral Gables, Fla.-based Machado Garcia-Serra. ''It brings home something that is near and dear to Hispanics.''

Machado is a perfect example. In every house he owns, Machado paints a mamey-colored room. But getting someone to custom mix just the right blend of red and orange has always been a challenge.

Next time Machado will have it easy. Mamey is one of the featured colors in the new Home Depot line.