Depot's Decker lists merchandise wins
A surge in sales among pro categories. Double-digit comps in hand tools. And a record-breaking Black Friday. These were some of the high-performance details shared by Ted Decker -- The Home Depot's merchandise point man -- during the world's largest retailer's earnings call yesterday.
Looking into the first quarter, the story will include paint, patio and more pro, he said.
Decker, executive VP of Merchandising for The Home Depot, added color to the company's fourth quarter earnings report, which included 7.9% comparable-store sales growth and net earnings increase of 36.1%
"We are pleased with our performance in the fourth quarter, as we saw broad strength across all geographies and across the entire store," Decker said.
The nine departments that had comps above the company average of 7.9% in the fourth quarter were tools, lumber, millwork, lighting, decor, building materials, kitchen, bath and hardware. The rest of the store didn't fare too badly -- mid-single digit comps across the board, he said.
Pro categories showed "tremendous growth," he said. And Black Friday in the fourth quarter was described as the retailer's biggest sales day in history.
Looking ahead, Decker promoted the retailer's plans for a new Color Solutions Center. "We worked closely with our supplier partners and leveraged consumer insights data to create a better shopping experience for our customers," he said. The new center is expected to roll out to all U.S. stores by the end of the second quarter.
Makita, DeWalt and Milwaukee will bring new and exclusive pro-focused products to Home Depot shelves in the first quarter, Decker said. And the grills and patio area will see a new exclusive brand launch with Nexgrill, as well as exclusive new models from Weber and KitchenAid.
In the fourth quarter, Home Depot set a transaction record -- more than 1.4 billion total transactions. Transactions under $50 grew 3.1%, while transactions for tickets over $900 were up 10.3%.
The retailer's average ticket was up 1.9%.
Also, Decker said the retailer is leveraging data from the online channel to bring new assortments to stores. One example is in vanity tops and storage cabinet combinations.