Young shareholder gets CEO's attention

By Rachel Tobin Ramos

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Emma Allison, 12, may have been the youngest shareholder at Home Depot’s annual meeting Thursday, but she got CEO Frank Blake’s attention.

“I’m going to be thinking of you when I go back to my office,” said Blake, “and hoping those shares will get you through college.”

Emma’s Home Depot shares haven’t done too well since the girl’s grandmother bought them for her several years ago. Blake promised at the meeting that improved share price is a priority for the retailer, which has suffered through the housing downturn.

Shares are down about 14 percent over the past five years, despite gaining 36 percent in the past year.

Blake’s encounter with Emma came after the short and sparsely attended meeting at Cobb Galleria Centre.

During his presentation, Blake noted Home Depot gained 1 percentage point in market share in 2009, an improvement he attributed to better customer service training and merchandising.

A shareholder proposal allowing shareholders to take action via written consent rather than calling for a meeting passed with 53 percent of the vote, despite management’s opposition. The measure is nonbinding, and Blake said the board of directors will take it under consideration.

Emma, a Girl Scout cadet from Lawrenceville, has been to every meeting since Blake became CEO in 2007 and moved the events back to Cobb County. They were held in other cities for several years.

Blake spotted the Home Depot pin on her scout vest Thursday and offered to send her some pins and patches.

Emma’s dad, Doug Allison, said no meeting has been as exciting as her first, when gadfly shareholder activist Evelyn Y. Davis talked so long Home Depot finally shut off her microphone.

This year, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals voiced an annual plea for Home Depot to stop selling glue traps to catch rodents.

Asked if PETA should give up the cause, Emma said, “No, they shouldn’t give up. But maybe (the PETA representative) could shorten her speech.”