Home Depot is closing four under-performing stores, the second time the Atlanta-based company has closed some of its flagship locations.
The four stores -- in Holland, Mich.; Gentilly, La.; and Rocky Mount and Greenville, N.C. -- were not expected to meet "targeted long-term financial returns," spokesman Stephen Holmes said. While Holmes said he cannot speculate on what will happen in the coming years, he said the company currently has no plans to close other stores.
For the past four years, Home Depot has been shutting locations, but they were mostly of ancillary businesses -- the 34 Home Depot Expo stores for example, 11 landscape supply stores, two floor stores or the three small format stores that were closed in 2010.
In 2008, Home Depot closed 15 of its warehouse stores, the first time it shut down some of its primary locations.
The company has 1,976 stores, and has plans to open 10 locations this year. Seven of those stores will be in Mexico.
The four stores that are closing began liquidation sales in late January and will close when their merchandise is gone, in about six weeks. Among the four stores, 346 employees will be displaced, though Holmes said the company makes every effort to transfer them to other stores or positions. Employees at the stores were notified about the closings Jan. 25.
Those who do not receive other jobs with the company will receive a severance package, he said.
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