The Home Depot deftly navigated the pandemic disruption under former CEO Craig Menear, riding the home improvement boom to annual sales growth in the tens of billions of dollars. Before Menear, who stepped down last year, was Frank Blake, who successfully guided the retailer from 2007 to 2014 through the housing market crisis. In short, both CEOs are tough acts to follow.
Under CEO Ted Decker, appointed last year, sales have edged down after rising 43% to $157 billion between 2019 and 2022, as consumers shift spending back to leisure and away from home improvement. What's more, home remodels are projected to decline in 2024 after a decade of continuous growth, according to a report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. But Decker says getting Home Depot through this slump is not by any means a turnaround story. Nor does he want to be a "caretaker" CEO.
