Home Depot isn’t building many new stores anymore, but the surging home improvement chain is sticking with its goal of $101 billion in annual revenue by 2018.
CEO Craig Menear, speaking at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in Cobb County, said the Atlanta-based company is about $12 billion shy of that target today.
But growing business from the housing recovery, booming online sales and last year’s purchase of Interline Brands — which sells maintenance and upkeep supplies to hospitals, apartment complexes and schools — makes the goal feasible, he said.
“This target is a challenge, but we think it is achievable,” he said.
Menear said it would take 350 new stores to reach the revenue goal simply through expansion. Instead, the chain aims to boost sales at existing stores and through the internet.
Home Depot was opening a store almost every 48 hours at the turn of the century but has dramatically pulled back, opening only a handful over the last few years, mostly in Mexico and Canada.
The home improvement sector has been one of the few bright spots in what has been a dismal retail environment over the past few years, especially for big box store operators such as Kohl’s, Macy’s, Kmart, Sears and H.H. Gregg.
Home Depot hit $88.5 billion in sales in 2015 and saw its online business grow 25 percent or by about $1 billion, Menear said Thursday.
On Tuesday, the company posted first quarter 2016 revenue of $22.76 billion, beating Wall Street expectations. The company earned $1.8 billion, or $1.44 per share.
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