The Home Depot, Inc.
Russia → USA
Retail, Logistics & E-Commerce
Summary
Home Depot was founded in 1978 in Atlanta by Bernie Marcus, born in Newark in 1929 to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, and Arthur Blank, born in Queens to a Jewish-American family. The two had been fired from a Los Angeles hardware chain and used the moment to test their idea: a vast warehouse store that offered both contractor and amateur customers everything for a home-improvement project under one roof. The first stores opened in Atlanta in 1979. Within fifteen years, Home Depot was the largest home-improvement retailer in the world.
European Contribution
Russian-Jewish immigrant family discipline and the entrepreneurial drive of a first-generation American childhood.
American Impact
Built the warehouse-format hardware store and one of the largest American retail chains.
Timeline Highlights
- Early 1900s Marcus parents emigrate from Russia
- 1929 Bernie Marcus born in Newark
- 1978 Home Depot incorporated in Atlanta
- 1979 First two stores open in Atlanta
- 1981 IPO on NASDAQ