Home Centers

Downey, Calif.-based All American Home Center is closing after more than 50 years of business.

According to the Downey Patriot newspaper, the retailer hired Gordon Brothers Group to handle the liquidation of inventory, a process that will run into next month. 

Lowe's and Porch have been busy since announcing their strategic partnership last January. Now, the companies are making the alliance known in all 1,700+ Lowe's stores nationwide after first introducing the service in the Carolinas and Seattle areas.

That means Porch is the in-store resource at every Lowe's store in the country, there to help homeowners link up with home improvement professionals for just about every project outside of Lowe's current installation services.

The Home Depot is announcing the nomination of Wayne Hewett for election to its board of directors during its 2014 annual meeting of shareholders.

Bonnie Hill, the board's lead director, will not stand for re-election; the company's corporate governance guidelines require directors to retire upon reaching the age of 72 by the end of the calendar year preceding the annual meeting. Gregory Brenneman has been selected to succeed her as lead director.

Atlanta-based The Home Deport reported fourth-quarter total sales of $17.7 billion. That's down 3.0% from the same quarter last year, which benefited from an extra week in the calendar.

On a 13-week basis, the company's sales actually increased 3.9%. 

The world's largest home improvement retailer reported comp-store sales in the fourth quarter increased 4.4% company-wide and 4.9% in the United States. Net earnings were $1.01 billion, down slightly from $1.02 billion a year ago.

Former Home Depot executive Michael Esposito has joined HoneyBaked as its new VP, human resources, a newly created position. Esposito previously served as director of associate relations for the Home Depot’s northern division.

Home Depot will open a new customer support call center in Kennesaw, Ga., not far from its Atlanta headquarters, in 2012. 

The story first appeared in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, and was confirmed by a Home Depot spokesman yesterday. 

The customer support center will start out with 400 employees and grow to about 700 employees by 2015. It will be located in the Chastain Meadows commercial park.

An Oct.

Lowe's has teamed up with State Farm to help give consumers greater access to its proprietary cloud-based platform, Iris, a DIY safety and security home management system.

Specficially, State Farm will be offering its customers special promotions on the Iris Safe and Secure kit and the Iris Smart Home kit. Some qualifying customers will receive discounts on their home insurance as well.

Iris allows users to monitor and control smoke alarms, water sensors and more using a smart phone, PC or tablet. It also notifies users of possible water leaks or fires.