Based just outside of Atlanta, Georgia, The Home Depot (NYSE: HD), launched its first store in 1978 and has been associated with home improvement ever since.  Currently, The Home Depot exists all over the United States and its territories, Canada, Mexico and more recently, opened its doors in China.  In the US, The Home Depot is the second-largest “big box store,” behind only Wal-Mart.

The Home Depot changed the way people improved their homes. No longer did people have to visit several different stores to get what they needed.  They could get their wood, paint, wallpaper, bathroom-related pieces and even linens, small appliances and furniture, all in one stop.  For each inventory category offered, HD is also able to carry a wide range of choices for customers to pick.  Hence, there is no need for customers to visit multiple shops and to park and re-park.  It saved shoppers a fair bit of time.

Of course, The Home Depot, like other big box stores, lacks the intimacy that the smaller, traditional stores had.  It is also such a big space that first timers can get lost.  Like Wal-Mart, it has also been criticized for taking business away from smaller, independent stores, and in some cases, even ruining the ambiance of the neighbourhood – especially if they were opening up in a historical area.  But at the same time, many people find the one-stop shopping more convenient, better than anything an independent store can do, no matter how hard they tried.

On Tuesday, December 9, The Home Depot opened at 23.89 and closed at 23.20  Their 52-week high was 31.08 and the low was 17.05.