Growing Home

Though continuing to express optimism about growth, The Home Depot (Atlanta) announced that it has reduced its expected earnings growth over the next three years to 18-20 percent a year. Last year, the country's largest home improvement retailer had predicted that its growth rate would be in the 23-25 percent-a-year range.

“We recognize that the economy is not going to provide the lift that it provided in the past,” said chairman and ceo Robert Nardelli. “Fundamentally, we see the industry as flat for next year, with modest growth in 2003 and 2004.”

Though the company will be slashing costs, it said it still expects to open hundreds of stores, many of which will be smaller than the prototypical 120,000-square-foot Home Depot warehouse model. Among those smaller store models will be two Home Depot Urban stores, 10 Expo Design Centers and four Home Depot Pro stores. There will be, as well, 184 new traditional Home Depot stores opening across North America.