Marcus Bernard conceived the idea for a new store in 1978, while he was lying awake at night after being fired as president of Handy Dan, a California-based home improvement chain.
“It was a brutal kind of firing. It wasn’t nice. We had guards following us around,” he said.
So Marcus decided at his next company, he would be nicer to his employees.
The result was Home Depot, which helped invent the concept of the warehouse superstore, a concept that has been borrowed by companies such as Office Depot, Builders Square and Baby Superstore. Today it’s a $9.2 billion company, with 315 stores.
Home Depot is nationally recognized for a progressive employee benefits package, which includes a stock plan.
“It was the same business for 50 years,” Marcus said of the hardware industry. “It never really progressed like other retail businesses did.”
Marcus was speaking at American Free Enterprise Day at Palm Beach Atlantic College in West Palm Beach. The college gave a medal to David Mahoney, a Palm Beach resident and former chairman of Norton Simon Inc. and current chairman of the Charles A. Dana Foundation. He was honored for his work in business and in the community.
Home Depot donates $6 million worth of building supplies a year, mostly to affordable housing and disadvantaged children’s groups.
In the past year, the company launched Crossroads, which is a smaller store geared to rural areas. It also opened its Expo store in Atlanta, which sells upscale decorating items.
By 1999, Home Depot expects to have 850 stores, and it could be a $40 billion company, Marcus said.
By that time, the company expects to build 15 to 20 more stores in South Florida, up from 13 now.
