Home Depot CEO quits

[ChrisD]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16451112/

Does that mean there's a chance the BT3 will be back on the shelves???

[mschrank]

Does that mean there's a chance the BT3 will be back on the shelves???

I don't know about that...but it would be nice if they got a CEO in there that actually re-emphasized the importance of the customer (you know, the folks who give them money...?)

As I begin my kitchen remodel, I vowed not to buy so much as a box of screws from HD. But then I got $225 worth of HD gift cards for Christmas
I guess I'll use them, since they already have the money...but I won't feel good about it.

[Hellrazor]

His retirement is only worth $210million, how will he survive.....

[jAngiel]

I don't know about that...but it would be nice if they got a CEO in there that actually re-emphasized the importance of the customer (you know, the folks who give them money...?)

As I begin my kitchen remodel, I vowed not to buy so much as a box of screws from HD. But then I got $225 worth of HD gift cards for Christmas
I guess I'll use them, since they already have the money...but I won't feel good about it.

You can always go in and cash them out. I've done it when I had a few gift cards from HD and what I wanted was at Lowes... Just go to customer service and say you would like to cash them in.

[germdoc]

His retirement is only worth $210million, how will he survive.....

Gee, that's only about 1000 times the retirement money most long-term supervisors can expect. Must be because of all those long hours he put in massaging the books during his 6-year tenure.

A modern CEO doesn't need to know which end of a screwdriver is the business end, just how to make the short term profit situation look favorable to investors.

Don't get me started on the new "Gilded Age". I'd just like to know, where's Teddy Roosevelt now that we need him?

[germdoc]

I can't resist adding this comment from Kevin Drum's blog (www.washingtonmonthly.com):

CEO PAY UPDATE....Charles Munger, Warren Buffett's partner at Berkshire Hathaway, talks to the LA Times about the insane levels of CEO compensation these days:

"What makes CEO pay so difficult is that only a few of the people who are earning these huge amounts are actually worth it....I like the idea of high pay for people who are really worth it. The problem is that most of them are not. Every mediocre employee who rises through the ranks to become CEO thinks he should retire rich. It's crazy."

Do you think this might be what Munger is talking about?

Embattled Home Depot Chief Executive Robert L. Nardelli, under fire from stockholders for earning hundreds of millions at the same time the company's stock fell and market share dropped, resigned suddenly today and will walk away with a severance package of $210 million, the company announced....During his tenure, Nardelli earned $240 million in salary, bonuses and stock options.

....During his leadership of the nation's second largest retail chain after Wal-Mart, Home Depot lost market share to home-improvement rival Lowe's Cos. and its stock price declined almost 8 percent.

Let's get out our calculators. $450 million for six years of service comes to....about $75 million per year. And this is for reducing Home Depot's value and losing market share to its main rival.

I wonder what Nardelli would have been paid if he had actually increased Home Depot's value? Would there be enough money in the world?

[atgcpaul]

I don't know about that...but it would be nice if they got a CEO in there that actually re-emphasized the importance of the customer (you know, the folks who give them money...?)

I used to be a die hard HD fan. I rarely went to Lowes because it was so far
away. In my new house, both stores are the same distance and I lean
towards Lowes now. I went there this morning and the difference is
apparent. Aisles are always clean and organized. Most HDs you go to look
like a bomb went off in there. No Lowes I have gone to have self-checkout.
I don't mind using it at HD but have you ever been behind the guy who
doesn't know how to use the scanner? And then the overseeing checkout
clerk doesn't do much to help? For more serious project needs, it's usually HD,
but I don't go if I don't have a game plan and already know what I'm looking
for.

Paul

[ScottGolden]

Normally, I don't jump in to bash a company but...

I have 3 HD in a 10 mile range and 1 Lowes.

My best friend works at Lowes. (Read 10% employee discount if I ask). I still can't stand to even go into the Lowes.

There has not been a single time I went into the local store when I did not come out vowing that I would never come back.

I have had people call me a liar about the price of items when their computer comes up with a different number, I have stood on line for 20 minutes to buy 20 dollars worth of merchandise, I have been told that the sales rep would help me only to have him turn back to his employee buddy to talk about what he did this weekend.

The BORGs on the other hand generally have people who will try to help. Maybe they can, maybe they can't but they are willing to try.

Then again maybe I have be assimilated.

Scott

[parnelli]

The BORGs on the other hand generally have people who will try to help. Maybe they can, maybe they can't but they are willing to try.

I used to hate Lowe's. It's right across the street from my BORG, but it's starting to call to me lately. At first I thought of Lowe's as a female-friendly BORG- but now it's pretty much reversed.

My Borg tool section is about 35% the size it was a couple years ago. If HD has 5 different saw blades, Lowes has 10. Etc, etc. Add on the new insult of the bigger tools now just being pictures, and arrrrgh!!!

And I think you're just lucky with helpful people at your BORG. I've got 5 within about 20 minutes and none have employees anymore. Seriously. There are a small portion of what used to work there. And now that they carry phones on their belts, when you can track somebody down they're often talking to a customer on the phone. I was told by an employee that it's a rule to help them first, because you are already in the store and they aren't yet.

[MilDoc]

Never did like HD. Always seemed very disorganized. Lowes is my favorite.

And now that many CEOs earn 500 times what the average worker in their company does, Warren Buffet is right. Most aren't worth the cost.

[LinuxRandal]

If I remember right (forgive me if I don't), at Berkshire Hathaway, the pay for the CEO, and I think the board, is $100,000.

Want to make a company profitable? Cut back on your overinflated pay and (insert bonus, legal fees, etc......), and invest that money back into your company. Spend a little more for a better class of employee, etc..

I could rant, but you get the idea.

[SHADOWFOX]

I was one of the lucky ones who sold their HD shares before it started heading south. I am sorry but unless they replace the current board members that decided to give Nardelli $210MM it will be a big NO for me.

[MilDoc]

Just goes to show that if you want to be rich while still being a failure - be a CEO ...

[cabinetman]

CEO salaries are just crazy, some of these pro athletes' salaries are crazy. Did Michael Schumacher need $50 million plus per year. How much money do they need to live comfortably. Maybe if some of that corporate money was paid to the worker, we would have a happy workforce. As for the athletes, you might say they only have so many years to earn, and they get beat to heck, so they get compensated. I don't want to get into anything political, but teachers, police, firefighters, human service salaries, and military salaries should be commensurate with the times.

I shop at the big box, but I must say they have forced out many small stores. I have a mom/pop hardware store within walking distance, that I've shopped in for years, they say hello by name and it makes a pleasurable experience. There are also a few surviving independent lumber/hardware stores that I have used for 20-30 years that usually have what I want and know who I am and genuinely appreciate my business.



A THING OF BEAUTY IS A JOY FOREVER - John Keats

[jerrye]

Simple solution. Adopt the compensation plan I am on: COMMISSION. Make everyone's salary dependent on performance. Base + is OK too; many of my mill reps are on this type of plan. Give CEO numbers to hit and a base of 25%-50% of desired salary and give him/her opportunity to earn what they want only if they meet goals. If they hit their goals they have earned the company enough to afford their salary. They have proven their worth. Anything wrong with that?