Home Depot announced Thursday that longtime CEO Frank Blake will step down on November 1. He will be replaced by Craig Menear, the company’s current U.S. retail president.
In his current role Menear oversees the company’s supply chain network, global sourcing and vendor management, as well as its marketing and digital business. Since joining Home Depot in 1997 Menear has served in various high level merchandising roles including, most recently, executive vice president of merchandising.
In a statement announcing the transition Blake noted, “Craig has taken on increasing leadership responsibility over the last several years and has excelled in all his role. As a long-time Home Depot veteran, Craig lives our values and embodies our culture. He’ll do an outstanding job leading our company in the years ahead.” Blake, who has been chairman and CEO since 2007, will stay on as chairman of the board. Menear will immediately join the board of directors.
Blake is going out on a high note. In the second quarter Home Depot handily beat Wall Street expectations and even raised its full-year earnings guidance. FORBES’ Maggie McGrath wrote Tuesday,Home Depot reported $23.8 billion in second quarter revenue, a 5.7% increase over the year-ago quarter and a figure that cleared the $23.5 billion Wall Street consensus. Comparable store sales for the quarter increased 5.8% worldwide, and within the U.S. same store sales grew 6.4%. Customer transactions increased 4.2%, while average ticket size grew 1.8% to $58.43.
The company’s net income came in at $2.1 billion, or $1.52 in earnings per share, a figure that beats the analyst consensus by 8 cents per share and marks a 22.6% improvement over the earnings per share reported this time last year.”
