Company HistoryFounded in 1978 by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank, The Home Depot is a one-stop home improvement retail store. The first two Home Depot stores opened in Atlanta, Georgia in 1979 as warehouses, each occupying 60,000 square feet of space (The Home Depot, 2013). When it first opened, Home Depot was the largest hardware store, selling over 25,000 different products and offering various home improvement services (The Home Depot, 2013). Since its inception, Home Depot has provided the best customer service in the industry, guiding its customers through various facets of home improvement projects. The company is able to provide such a service because its associates undergo product training and offer various free home improvement clinics to its customers. Home Depot has transformed the home improvement industry by providing customer expertise while delivering significant savings. ONE PEUNCH TOO!!!Currently, Home Depot operates more than 2,200 stores in the United States, Canada, China and Mexico, with each store averaging 105,000 square feet. Each of its stores carries up to 40,000 different types of inventory, including building materials, home improvement products, appliances, and lawn and garden products, and carries another 250,000 products, which can be specially ordered. Home Depot also offers its “Lowest Price Guarantee” which offers to beat the prices of any of its competitors. Characteristics of the supply chain Sourcing strategy. Home Depot maintains a global sourcing strategy to acquire products directly from various manufacturers around the world. The company has a team of merchants who identify and purchase products directly from the middle of paper.......idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=52342ec7-8554-49a1-88b5 - f7ab8125403b%40sessionmgr4001&vid=3&hid=101Reuters. (2013). http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyProfile?symbol=HD.Nhttps://ehis-ebscohost-com.csuglobal.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=52342ec7-8554- 49a1-88b5-f7ab8125403b%40sessionmgr4001&vid=7&hid=4111Journal du Commerce (2010). Home Improvements on the Supply Chain. Flight. 11 Issue 22 p.8A May 31, 2010 https://ehis-ebscohost-com.csuglobal.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=52342ec7-8554-49a1-88b5-f7ab8125403b%40sessionmgr4001&vid=9&hid=4111Bartholdi , J. and Gué, K. (2004). The best shape for a crossdock. Transportation science. Flight. 38 n°2. pp.241 ISSN0041-1655 http://www2.isye.gatech.edu/~jjb/papers/crossdock-shape.pdfRamos (2010). http://www.ajc.com/news/business/home-depot-getting-better-handle-on-products/nQdkD/