Published: March 23, 2011
Updated: March 24, 2011 7:32 a.m.

Home Depot wants to hire about 350 more in O.C.

By HANG NGUYEN
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
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Home Depot recently kicked off its spring shopping season – its biggest selling period of the year.

Below is a Q&A with Joe McFarland, president of western division for Home Depot, and Kathryn Gallagher, spokeswoman for the chain.

They talk about hiring in Orange County for its spring season, buying trends and a potential future store for the local market.

Q: What were the buying trends at Home Depot stores for spring 2009 vs. spring 2010?

A: Numbers below compare 2009 spring (sales) to 2010 spring (sales) for Southern California.

We have seen triple-digit increase in organic/natural chemicals in 2010 over 2009. This is most likely due to the fact that people want to save money by doing it themselves, so they have fired their landscapers and are taking on gardening/yard maintenance themselves. We continue to expand this category to meet this growing trend.

Seed packets, vegetables and herbs have been up double digits each year for the past four years. This points to the fact that people want to save money by growing it themselves ...

Succulents, drought-tolerant plants, (are) up double digits. (They are the) most popular in-store plant. (The) next most popular are indoor plants/orchids. Indoor plants (are) up double digits. Orchids have become more affordable than cut flowers and bloom for up to 30 days. Succulents aren't just cactus anymore. They come in all shapes, (textures) and colors. A hot trend here is mixed containers ... these plants thrive without a lot of water and help cut back on water consumption/bills. Perennials (are) up double digits. People are seeking plants that last. Many can't afford to replace flowers every year.

(Sales of its edible plants such as ones that bear fruit and vegetables are up double digits.) Healthy diet trends have driven sales of plants like pomegranate, blueberries and guava.

Plants express special order (is the) most successful program last spring; (it's) up triple digits. When people don't find what they want in-store, this service offers customers the ability to order from more than 3,000 fresh off the farm right there in the store and it is delivered to their homes. These farms are local and this service has almost quadrupled in the Southern California market since introduced. (Home Depot) started the program in 2009 in 9 stores; 2010, (it was offered in) 53 stores; this year, (it's) in 130 stores, 85 (of which are) in Southern California.

Q: How many additional employees will you hire for your 23 O.C. stores for spring?

JM: The Home Depot will be hiring more than 60,000 seasonal, part-time associates throughout the country ahead of its second annual Spring Black Friday. In this market, we'll be hiring approximately 700 (approximately 30 per store). This is in line with the rest of the country.
We have hired close to half of the spring hires. If people want to apply they should go to careers.homedepot.com.

Q: For fiscal 2010, sales at U.S. stores opened at least a year rose 2.5 percent. Can you tell me what those figures were for Orange County's 23 stores?

JM: Unfortunately, (Home Depot) cannot break out store comps, but Orange County continues to be a great market for us!

The states that have been the most impacted by the housing crisis, specifically Florida and California, performed in line with the company's overall performance in the U.S. So while they are not leading us out of the downturn, they are at least no longer an anchor. The markets with underperformance to the company average in the fourth quarter tended to be those with significant weather impacts during the quarter and particularly January, such as in the Northeast.

Last quarter we mentioned that we were seeing a tighter range of performance across our top markets. That continued to be the case in the fourth quarter. So the overall picture is one of a stabilizing business. This is a source of some confidence for 2011, because it is occurring despite the continued weakness of the housing markets.

In 2011 our U.S. businesses will be lapping the expiration of a series of 2010 tax incentives, the new homeowner tax credit, the cash for clunkers appliance credit, and the $1,500 energy tax credit. But we believe the growth in GDP and improving consumer sentiment will continue to lift our presence in 2011. For the year, we are anticipating approximately 2.5 percent sales growth and 9.5 percent growth in earnings per share. We have some difficult comparisons in the first quarter, but we expect each quarter to show positive growth, with sales momentum gaining in the back half.

Q. Home Depot previously said it is in negotiations to open a store in San Juan Capistrano. Are you still in negotiations?

KG: We are still negotiating the exclusive right to negotiate (ERN) with the city. Basically, (it) means we are still working through the process with the city, first comes the ERN then once that is done we will work on price, timing, terms, etc.

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