Competition: Foreign and Domestic 3

Emerging and Foreign Markets 13

A Brief History of the Major Player 17

What started out as a simple industry case analysis turned into an exhaustive report. Home Depot, the international leader in the do-it-yourself home improvement industry is second to none. No competitor either foreign or domestic can compete with its size, buying power or brand recognition.

Started in 1978 by two poor men, Home Depot now dominates its market in Canada, The United States and South America. It's main competition in domestic markets is Lowe's and they are only 1/3 the size of Home Depot. Bernie and Arthur went on to become the CEO and chairman respectively of the company.

Over the years, Home Depot has met with some adversity. Groups such as World Forrest Foundation and sites like www.homedepotsucks.com have dragged the good name that Bernie and Arthur have worked to build through the mud.

While Home Depot has many strengths, it also has many weaknesses as sh

· Buy-it-yourself Customers: These customers are typically home owners who purchase materials themselves and hire third parties to complete the project and/or installation. Both Home Depot and Lowe's have begun offering installation services through a variety of third party contractors.

With regard to direct competition in South America, Home Depot doesn't have much. In truth the only one worth speaking of is the Swiss company Sika. This firm is a major manufacturer construction material. Currently, Sika has a 35 percent market share in Argentina. Sika has become one of the three largest commercial suppliers in South America. Sika also has plans to expand its business into wholesaling through franchises. Sika already trades its products with the Home Depot was well as Easy, a much smaller competitor. In Sika's new sales outlets, apart from selling its products it will offer advice to it customers. The franchised shops will operate under the name of Tecnosika. Sika projects to have 30 - 35 of its new stores by the end of 2003. The company has already opened one shop in Buenos Aires.

While within their own industry Home Depot and Lowe's both hold a hefty share of the market, Home Depot at 45 percent and Lowe's at 25 percent, their market shares in the grand retailing scheme are quite small. According to the U.S. Census, the approximate market share for these two retailers in the, "Do-it-yourself/Buy-it-yourself, Tradesmen, Builders/General Contractors, Heavy Industrial, Repair and remodeling and property maintenance markets,"(U.S. Census) are 8.9 percent and 3.6 percent respectfully. However, as Home Base is so fond of pointing out it is hard to calculate this information correctly.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Home Depot, Home Depot's, home depot, Outlook Demographic, Home Base, Depot's Halloween, South America, South American, Japan Germany, Forbes Magazine, Stores Alabama, home improvement, home depot's, south america, puerto rico, home base, home improvement industry, improvement industry, european countries, retail industry, depot stores, home depot stores, home depot lowe's, addition home depot, do-it-yourself home improvement,
Approximate Word count = 8029
Approximate Pages = 32 (250 words per page double spaced)