After his first year at the helm of Home Depot, his record on stock price hasn't been good, Home Depot CEO Frank Blake said Thursday at the company's annual meeting.

The company's stock price has dropped from $37.51 on May 21, 2007, to close at $26.93 Wednesday.

"This is my first report card on stock price in the past year, and it's not a good one," Blake said. "It's not one I'm pleased with."

Blake said he believes the share price will rally as the country emerges from a tough housing economy.

Bernie Marcus, a founder of the Atlanta-based home improvement chain, although no longer a board member, was on hand for the meeting. Afterward, he said that Home Depot's stock woes have been largely a result of the depressed housing industry, oil prices and market conditions in general.

Said Marcus: "I don't know what the hell's going to happen in this market."

But he expressed confidence in Blake's plan to invest $180 million to help put more store workers on the floors, while competitor Lowe's is cutting back.

Nonetheless, Atlanta shareholder Sally White was one of 13 shareholders who rose to speak. Like many of the speakers, she had complaints about customer service.

She said what she heard from Blake about improving customer service was "lip service ... but you don't do it."

She said after two negative experiences with Home Depot in the past two years — one with a faulty door and one with a dishwasher that Home Depot installed backward — she divested some of her stock in the company.

"You have missed what your base customer is," she said. "And your competition is just about as bad as you are."

Still, at the meeting five shareholder proposals were defeated, and the board's proposals on executive compensation and new board members were approved.