Retail

Home Depot

The Home Depot was founded in 1979 by Bernard Marcus, Arthur Blank, Ron Brill, and Pat Farrah in Atlanta, Georgia. They had the goal to build home-improvement warehouses that were bigger than any of their competitors.

The first two stores in the greater Atlanta, Georgia, area were leased from J.C. Penny.

The company became popular and quickly began opening new stores. In the first ten years of business, the company opened 100 new stores.

Home Depot went public on the NASDAQ in 1981 an on the New York Stock exchange in 1984.

By 1989, Home Depot had become the largest home improvement store in the US, surpassing their competitor, Lowes.

In 1994 Home Depot expanded to Canada, and in 2001 to Mexico.

In 2006, the company began testing fueling stations and car washes at some of their locations in Tennessee and Georgia.

The downturn in the housing market in 2008-2009 caused the company to close 54 low performing stores nationwide, as well as laying off several thousand associates. Also, most of the big box stores in China were forced to close, however, smaller, specialty type Home Depot stores in China remain open.

In December of 2009, former US President Barack Obama held a meeting to discuss the economic impact of energy-saving home retrofits with labor, manufacturing, and small business leaders at a Northern Virginia Home Depot store in Alexandria, Virginia.

The Home Depot has more than 2,250 stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Canada, and Mexico. Previous ventures into China and South America proved unsuccessful.

The company planned to cut costs wherever possible to avoid price increases that could stem from the Trump administration’s tariffs on imported goods.

Democrats are calling for a boycott of Home Depot after discovering that co-owner Bernie Marcus plans to donate to Trump’s reelection campaign for 2020.

In July 2021, the corporate office for Home Depot decided to fight organized tool theft by requiring BlueTooth activation for certain power tools.

Home Depot is the largest home improvement retailer in the United States, with more than 2,274 locations. It is listed as is #106 on the Fortune Global 500, is part of the S&P 500, has 406,000 employees worldwide, and had $88.5 billion in revenue in 2016.

The Home Depot Corporate Office is located in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Home Depot

The first two stores in the greater Atlanta, Georgia, area were leased from J.C. Penny.

History

The company became popular and quickly began opening new stores. In the first ten years of business, the company opened 100 new stores.

Home Depot went public on the NASDAQ in 1981 an on the New York Stock exchange in 1984.

By 1989, Home Depot had become the largest home improvement store in the US, surpassing their competitor, Lowes.

In 1994 Home Depot expanded to Canada, and in 2001 to Mexico.

In 2006, the company began testing fueling stations and car washes at some of their locations in Tennessee and Georgia.

The company planned to cut costs wherever possible to avoid price increases that could stem from the Trump administration’s tariffs on imported goods.

Democrats are calling for a boycott of Home Depot after discovering that co-owner Bernie Marcus plans to donate to Trump’s reelection campaign for 2020.

In July 2021, the corporate office for Home Depot decided to fight organized tool theft by requiring BlueTooth activation for certain power tools.

The Home Depot Corporate Office is located in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dollar General Corporate Office

In October of 1939, former farmers James and Cal Turner opened J.L. Turner and Son with an initial investment of $5,000 each. The switch to retailing from farming resulted in annual sales above $2 million by the early 1950s. By the mid-1950s, this father and son team had 35 department stores in Kentucky and Tennessee. The first store actually called Dollar General wasn’t opened until 1955, with the idea that all items in the store would be $1 or less. The idea took off quickly and all J.L. Turner stores were changed to Dollar Generals. The chain reached 29 stores by 1959.

J.L. Turner died in 1964 and Dollar General went public in 1968. In 1977, Cal Turner, Jr. took over as president of the company, making him the third generation to run the company. Cal ran Dollar General until 2002.

In 2007, Dollar General was acquired by private equity firms and taken private. 2 years later, in 2009, the company was made public via IPO.

In 2014, the company was fined $52,000 by OSHA for health and safety violations in a Brooklyn store for blocking fire exit doors with merchandise. The company was fined again in 2016 also for blocking fire exits, as well as for exposing employees to possible electrocution by removing or not replacing face plates on electrical outlets.

In mid-2015, CEO Rick Dreiling announced his retirement and was replaced by COO Todd Vasos. That same year, the company posted annual revenue of $20.369 billion.

The company announced in September of 2016 that they had plans to hire an additional 10,000 employees and open 900 new stores in the next year, as well as an additional 1,000 in fiscal 2017.

The company acquired Family Dollar in 2017 and has stated that at least half of these stores will be rebranded to the Dollar General name.

Due to Trump’s tariff’s on Chinese goods, Dollar General stated that they would be forced to raise prices once the items stored in warehouses have been depleted.

In June 2019 FedEx and Dollar General announced a partnership which would allow customers to drop off packages at Dollar General stores for FedEx pickup and drop-off.

Dollar General settled a lawsuit in Vermont, which found more than 300 cases of stores listing one price on the shelf but charging a different price. The company agreed to pay $1.75 million but did not admit to any errors.

In 2016, the company has over 12,500 stores in 43 US states. The Dollar General corporate office is located in Goodlettsville, Tennessee.

Jeff Owen was promoted to CEO of the company in November 2022.

Dollar General

History

In 2007, Dollar General was acquired by private equity firms and taken private. 2 years later, in 2009, the company was made public via IPO.

In mid-2015, CEO Rick Dreiling announced his retirement and was replaced by COO Todd Vasos. That same year, the company posted annual revenue of $20.369 billion.

The company announced in September of 2016 that they had plans to hire an additional 10,000 employees and open 900 new stores in the next year, as well as an additional 1,000 in fiscal 2017.

The company acquired Family Dollar in 2017 and has stated that at least half of these stores will be rebranded to the Dollar General name.

Due to Trump’s tariff’s on Chinese goods, Dollar General stated that they would be forced to raise prices once the items stored in warehouses have been depleted.

In June 2019 FedEx and Dollar General announced a partnership which would allow customers to drop off packages at Dollar General stores for FedEx pickup and drop-off.

In 2016, the company has over 12,500 stores in 43 US states. The Dollar General corporate office is located in Goodlettsville, Tennessee.

Jeff Owen was promoted to CEO of the company in November 2022.

Chanel Corporate Office

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel was an orphan who learned all about sewing and dressmaking from the nuns at the orphanage where she lived. When she was 18, she opened a hat-making shop on the ground floor of the Parisian flat of the textile businessman Etienne Balsan. Because the Balsan flat also was a salon for the French hunting and sporting élite, Chanel had the opportunity to meet many mistresses and wives, who became fans of her hats and, soon afterward, her dresses.

At a time when corsets and large feathered hats were still in style, Chanel was unique in that she was more interested in comfort than style. She instantly did become a fashion icon, as women everywhere began ditching their corsets and wearing “the little black dress” and the Chanel suit dress.

The color black was only worn by widows or those in mourning until Chanel introduced it as an acceptable fashion statement with “the little black dress. Chanel is also known for using jersey cloth, which was commonly used for men’s underwear.

In 1921, Chanel asked a perfume maker to create a new fragrance to match her clothing. This perfume, which she named Chanel #5, is now the best-known perfume name in the world. The #5 name came simply from the perfume batch that Chanel liked best. While Chanel stores in Europe had to close during WWII, Chanel herself was allowed by the Nazi regime to continue making her perfume. After the war, she decided to retire to Switzerland.

Chanel grew bored with retirement, however, and returned to France, to find the world was enamored with a new designer, Christian Dior. Determined to get back into the business, Chanel created new suits, a line of jewelry, and what would become the infamous handbag design with the double C embossed into the leather.

Coco Chanel passed away in 1971, but her infamous stores and products continue on. The company has more than 300 stores located around the world and an untold number of upscale stores carry her designer items.

In 2016, the company had an estimated annual revenue of $5.2 billion. The corporate office for Chanel in the USA is located in New York, New York.

Chanel

History

In 2016, the company had an estimated annual revenue of $5.2 billion. The corporate office for Chanel in the USA is located in New York, New York.

Club Monaco Corporate Office

Club Monaco has it’s beginnings in Ontario, Canada. Business partners Joe Mimran, Saul Mimran and Alfred Sung opened their first store on Queen Street West in 1985. That location is still in existence today. There is a cafe below the sales floor, allowing customers to take a coffee break while shopping, which was a unique idea at the time.

The company’s first store in the USA was opened in 1989 in the beach town of Santa Monica, California, where it quickly became popular. In 1999, Ralph Lauren acquired the company, where it still operates as a subsidiary.

Club Monaco has transitioned itself into an international lifestyle brand that offers what it calls “affordable luxury with a modern sensibility. Each location has its own concept, as well as clothing style and design. In addition to their own brand of clothing, the company carries upscale, third-party accessories, such as Ray-Ban sunglasses, Mackage Leather, and Citizen of Humanity brand jeans. Other upscale clothing items include Chanel and Hermes. Since 2007, Luxottica began selling sunglasses and prescription sunglasses through the Club Monaco brand.

Beginning in August of 2013, the company launched their first footwear line consisting of all leather flats and heels made in Italy. Later that same month, the company also introduced a higher-end label simply titled ‘Collection’.

The company relies heavily on social media accounts for marketing, using sites such as Pinterest, Facebook, and Tumblr to present its “lookbooks” or “inspirations” which can also be viewed on their website through their “Culture Club” page.

Headquarters are located in the Starrett-Lehigh building in New York, New York.

Club Monaco

History

Headquarters are located in the Starrett-Lehigh building in New York, New York.

Boyds Philadelphia Corporate Office

Boyds Philadelphia was founded in 1938 by the Gushner brothers, whose father was a Russian immigrant whose corner business sold magazines, newspapers, and men’s dress shirts. His sons opened a small men’s wear store in Center City.

Today, Boyds no longer sells newspapers or cigars, but they do still offer men’s clothing. The company has expanded to include women’s clothing, hand tailored and customized clothing, as well as shoes and accessories, such as wallets, men’s and women’s fragrances, outerwear, and purses. In 2008, the company received the “Store of the Year” award from MR Magazine.

The company is still operated by the Gushner brothers, now the 4th generation to do so. The store and headquarters remain where they have been since 1990, on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. The store is undergoing major remodeling and is a late comer to the world of eCommerce, where they opened their on line site in 2017.

Boyds Philadelphia