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Is this the start of a fall for this home improvement retailer? Home Depot is closing 15 of its namesake stores, affecting 1,300 employees (according the cbcsnews.ca). The Atlanta-based company said Thursday that the underperforming U.S. stores being closed represent less than one per cent of its existing stores. They will be shuttered within the next two months.

A little bit of online PR management, non? (Smart move, our company does stuff like this too!))
It just yells “Shareholders need not worry, it’s less than 1% of our stores.“ Umm, hello! I’d start worrying if I were you.

The stores to be closed consist of three in Wisconsin, two in Ohio, two in New Jersey, two in Indiana and one in each of Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, North Dakota, New York and Vermont. New York? They’re closing a store in New York? This is a major setback if you ask me. This obviously has a lot to do with the U.S. housing market, which continues to feel for a bottom and has prevented many homeowners from taking on home-improvement projects.

Q: So, what do we think they should have done about it? (If we’re so all knowing):
A: Set up online marketing that specifically targets these under performing stores!
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