Home Depot to Open Store for Contractors

Home Depot Inc. will open a store called Home Depot Pro, which targets professional housing contractors, in Colma on April 30 as it adds more services to its do-it-yourself home improvement business. The 80,000-square-foot store will sell more lumber, building materials and millwork than a regular Home Depot and will feature a tool rental center instead of kitchen and bathroom design centers. The store will complement a 100,000-square-foot Home Depot already open in Colma, company spokeswoman Amy Friend said. Home Depot has also been asking its suppliers to provide it with high-priced saws and other construction products, putting it in a position to compete with W.W. Grainger Inc. and other lumberyards that serve professional builders. Home Depot already holds a 16% share of the $140-billion do-it-yourself market. It has said it plans to open another 61 stores and create 10,000 jobs in the state by February 2000. It has also been keeping two Southern California stores open 24 hours a day since December, a format to which other California outlets might switch. The shares of Atlanta-based Home Depot were unchanged at $70.81 on the New York Stock Exchange.