While investigating for a story on home improvement product trends, we stumbled across various unusual questions that consumers often ask when researching Home Depot. Since so many others have been seeking answers to these questions, we thought we’d explore each one and present our findings.

25 Unusual Questions About Home Depot

  1. How and where did Home Depot start?
  2. Was Home Depot always the Home Depot?
  3. Who owns Home Depot?
  4. Do Home Depot employees get paid a commission?
  5. Does Home Depot drug test employees?
  6. Does Home Depot hire felons?
  7. What is the name of the Home Depot song?
  8. In which Home Depot was the Equalizer filmed?
  9. Which is older Home Depot or Lowe’s?
  10. Are Home Depot and Office Depot related?
  11. Are Home Depot buckets food safe?
  12. Are Home Depot buckets free?
  13. Does Home Depot sell hot dogs?
  14. Does Home Depot offer free coffee?
  15. Are Home Depot paint samples free?
  16. Does Home Depot offer free online workshops?
  17. Does Home Depot offer free workshops for kids?
  18. Who does Home Depot price match?
  19. In which Home Depot am I?
  20. Where is the clearance section in Home Depot?
  21. Which Home Depot store is the biggest?
  22. Is Home Depot dog friendly?
  23. Can Home Depot look up or reprint receipts?
  24. How big is Home Depot’s addressable market and market share?
  25. What are some secret shopping tips from Home Depot employees?

 

How and where did Home Depot start?

On April 14, 1978, Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank were fired from Handy Dan Home Improvement Centers, which set into motion their eventual plans to found the Home Depot. The idea for Home Depot is said to have occurred over coffee between Marcus and Blank at a café in Los Angeles of that year, which led to the incorporation of the company in Delaware, soon after, on June 29, 1978.

The first two Home Depot stores opened on Memorial Drive and Buford Highway in Atlanta, Georgia, the following year on June 22, 1979.

Surprisingly some shoppers are still unaware that Home Depot is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, residing there since the company’s founding in 1978. Their headquarters are located at:

Home Depot Corporate Headquarters
2455 Paces Ferry Road
Atlanta, GA 30339
1-770-433-8211


 

Was the Home Depot always the Home Depot?

Yes, the name of the Home Depot has always been “The Home Depot”. However, it is more commonly and informally referred to as “Home Depot”. The name is credited to Marjorie Buckley, an early investor in the company, who got the idea while visiting a restaurant that had been converted from a train depot. The company founders instantly liked the simplistic name for its “down-to-earth, no-frills” context. The term “depot” would also help underscore the large size of their stores and selection.


 

Who owns Home Depot?

Home Depot is a publicly-traded company with its stock listed on both the New York Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange. The company is not run as a franchise-based business model, so all of its stores are owned by the corporation. The Vanguard Group, Inc. is currently the largest shareholder in Home Depot, owning approximately 8.5% of outstanding shares. According to WallStreetZen, the current percentage of ownership by investor type are:

  • Institutional Investors: 70.76%
  • Retail Investors: 25.05%
  • Home Depot Insiders: 4.18%

 

Do Home Depot employees get paid a commission?

Home Depot store employees do receive commissions on individual sales. However, employees are eligible for bonuses based on aggregate store performance. This approach is helpful to ensure that customers of all types are treated fairly no matter their reason for visiting the retailer.


 

Does Home Depot drug test employees?

Yes, Home Depot does require potential employees to undergo a drug test as a condition of employment, which can be viewed as acceptance of and compliance with their drug-free corporate policy.

In the company’s code of conduct booklet, Home Depot states that they are committed to providing a safe, healthy and drug-free workplace. Specifically, their policy declares that using illegal drugs at any time, using alcohol when on the job or on company premises or coming to work under the influence of alcohol or drugs is strictly prohibited. Any employee found in violation of this condition of employment is subject to immediate termination.

In general, Home Depot does not require random drug tests. However, drug tests can be required if there is an incident or accident at a store or corporate office, or if an employee is suspected of breaking the drug-free policy.

Also see:


 

Does Home Depot hire felons?

According to several online discussion forums, Home Depot does hire persons that have felony criminal records. However, there appears to be a lot of gray area that will determine whether or not a felon is hired. Help for Felons attests that specific category of felonies will disqualify you from being hired by Home Depot.

Since Home Depot is a “Ban the Box” company, though, they will not ask about your criminal history before a job offer has been made.

Felons who have not been convicted of a felony for several years (e.g. over at least 7 years ago), and have not been convicted of violent crimes, theft or burglary, appear to have a better chance of being hired. It is recommended that felons take a proactively transparent approach to the hiring process to improve the chances of being hired.

Based on the wide ranging answers we came across online, we suspect that Home Depot may give hiring managers some latitude when considering candidates with criminal records.

Also see:


 

What is the name of the Home Depot song?

Home Depot’s theme song is titled “The Home Depot Beat“.

There is a lot of mystery around this song, as Home Depot has not revealed who created this highly infectious tune, nor much of its history. Several years ago a reply from a Home Depot spokeperson was on shared on Adtunes, an advertising music community site:

Thank you for your patience with me while I researched the song in the “Let’s do this” commercial for you. The music in the commercial was written specifically for The Home Depot. It is an original piece of music owned by The Home Depot and unfortunately, due to the music being proprietary, we are not able to release it.

By “not able to release it“, the spokeperson was referring to the identities of the persons responsible for creating the tune. The Adtunes discussion thread tracked the earliest usage of the tune to a Home Depot TV ad that ran in 2013, called “Curb Appeal”.

The consensus is that listeners cannot get enough of it, as if it has “super productivity powers” – don’t believe us? See the comments on this 1-hour repeat version on YouTube. Here are just a few amusing examples:

I used to be the laziest person on Earth. I’d procrastinate whenever I got the chance and always do things the easy way. After listening to this for 12 hours straight, I’ve not only built my dream home, crafted my business, but also gotten diamond armor.

If they were playing this at school everyone would have no missing assignments and have everything done in a day

If this was playing, Rome could have been built in a day

Home Depot Theme Song Repeated for 1 Hour

Home Depot theme song for 1 hour


 

In which Home Depot was the Equalizer filmed?

The place of employment of the movie’s lead character, Robert McCall, is a home improvement retail store, called “Homemart”, giving the strong impression that the movie was likely filmed in an actual Home Depot store. In reality, however, the store set was converted from an abandoned Lowe’s superstore, located in Haverhill, Massachusetts, approximately 36 miles outside of Boston.

The original Lowe’s store was located in Haverhill Commons (25 Computer Drive), next to the Target, and abruptly closed in October 2011, in favor of setting up a replacement store in nearby New Hampshire, due to sales tax incentives. The empty former superstore was large enough to house the set for McCall’s apartment, as well. The location is currently being used by Amazon as a distribution center (Amazon Delivery DTB9).


 

Which is older Home Depot or Lowe’s?

No matter how you define the start of Home Depot’s primary competitor, Lowe’s is considerably older than Home Depot. Lowe’s has been operating strictly in the Home Improvement space for 30 years longer than Home Depot.

Home Depot was founded on June 29, 1978 and became a publicly-traded company on September 22, 1981. Lowe’s, on the other hand, opened their first general store way back in 1921, while later focusing on the Home Improvement sector in 1946. Lowe’s became a publicly-traded company on October 10, 1961.


 

Are Home Depot and Office Depot related?

No, Home Depot does not have any relationship to Office Depot. However, consumers have been known to be confused by the shared “Depot” naming convention, especially in mutually shared shopping centers where both have stores.

Fortunately for Home Depot, there appears to be more confusion with consumers involving the similarities of the main office retailers (Staples, Office Depot/OfficeMax, and even Best Buy). We find the 2013 merger of Office Depot and OfficeMax more confusing, as their red corporate logo contains both names, while stores are still named after their originating brand (e.g. Office Depot or OfficeMax).

Meanwhile Staples has been attempting to acquire Office Depot OfficeMax for several years. At least we will know the resultant logo will remain red.


 

Are Home Depot buckets food safe?

No, the popular and widely-used large orange Home Depot buckets should not be used with food or ingestible liquids. They are not food approved as “food safe”.

Home Depot does offer a food safe white bucket, which is made with FDA-approved material for safe food transport. When questioning if a container is safe for use with food, look for labeling, such as a cup and fork symbol, and product documentation that explicitly state that the item is approved for food. Otherwise you should assume that is not safe.


 

Are Home Depot buckets free?

No, the 5-gallon, orange Home Depot “Homer” buckets are not free, but moderately priced, likely due to the pervasive branding these iconic items provide the company.

However, if you are still determined to find free 5-gallon buckets, head over to FiveGallonIdeas.com. This is an intriguing website about the many valuable uses of 5-gallon buckets, including providing a list of stores that are known to give away 5-gallon buckets for free!


 

Does Home Depot sell hot dogs?

Yes, but many hot dog stands may have been closed over the past two years. For example, Home Depot closed all of their hot dog stands in the state of Michigan in July 2021. Keep in mind that Home Depot stores do not have a uniform approach to selling prepared foods. For example, some locations offer prepared foods through third-party businesses, available inside the main retail structure.

We recommend letting the manager of your local Home Depot know that you want their hot dog stand back. You are not alone in being a fan of the “Hot Dog Depot”, as someone even created a petition to bring back their hot dog stands.


 

Does Home Depot offer free coffee?

Yes, however, this is a perk offered to members of Home Depot’s Pro program, which caters to industry professionals. We suspect that the availability of coffee may be a store-by-store basis. However, free coffee and water was one of the top requested perks that many pros mentioned during a feedback survey conducted many years ago.


 

Are Home Depot paint samples free?

No, paint samples are available for purchase in 8 ounce sizes. However, pre-printed paint swatches provided by various paint manufacturers are free.


 

Does Home Depot offer free online workshops?

Yes, Home Depot started offering free livestream workshops over two years ago. Livestreams are hosted and enable attendees to submit questions across a wide range of home improvement topics, such as selecting tools, planning projects, and seasonal home maintenance tasks.

Workshops are grouped into the following topics:


 

Does Home Depot offer free workshop kits for kids?

Yes, Home Depot hands out free take-home Kids Workshop Kits starting at 9 a.m. on the first Saturday of the month. Be sure to get their early, as these highly in-demand kits are available on a first-come, first-served basis. They typically go quickly, within the first hour or two, but other kits can be purchased.

Historically these kits were worked on in-person at the given store location. These free workshops are aimed at kids ages 5-12, though ages are not checked. Be sure to check with your local store to see when they will be restarting the in-person workshops. Also be sure to visit Science Fair Central.


 

Who does Home Depot price match? 

According to Home Depot Customer Service, Home Depot will price match “any store that can reasonably provide for the customer.” In other words, they will “meet and beat” by 10%, the price on any identical, in-stock product at any brick-and-mortar retailer. The UPC or model number for the product must be identical. This guarantee includes another competing Home Depot store or an online retailer but excludes pricing errors and special promotions.

For online purchases, the Home Depot Price Match Guarantee includes the price of the item(s) plus shipping cost. Price Match items must be available from competitor to ship to customer’s location. They will only honor requests submitted directly from the person who made the purchase and does not include third party retailers such as Amazon, eBay etc. For online purchases, HD will only match a competitor’s price.


 

In which Home Depot am I?

In other words, how can you tell the name, store number or location of the store in which you are standing?

Using the HD app, you can identify the store by address and number. Simply open The Home Depot app, select your store, or allow the geographic locator to automatically select the location based on where you are. Verify the store number with the corresponding address. You can also locate a store number online at Home Depot’s store directory. Select your state then city. Select the store by address and the store number appears in the upper left corner next to the store name. Also, if you are on site, you can ask any store associate for the store number.


 

Where is the clearance section in Home Depot?

If you know how to read the price tag codes at Home Depot, you can find great deals on clearance across many different items. Some items retailing for almost $90 can be purchased for a penny! Yes, that’s one cent, if you know what to look for and pay attention to yellow clearance tags with numbers ending in “.00”, “.06” a and “.03”.

These are items that are undergoing price declinations, similar to the process at Filene’s Basement. At the final declination, of say $23.03, the originally priced $89.98 item has three weeks to sell for $23.03. If the item is still on the shelf in the fourth week, the price automatically becomes one cent or $.01, due to the fact that HD has written off the item for tax purposes.

Other clearance items can be found at aisle “end caps” at the end of an aisle. Look for yellow clearance tags that end in “06” which means it has six more weeks in the store or “03” which means it has three more weeks in the store. Any item left past their time automatically sell for one penny.

Home Depot Clearance Price Tag Secrets from Everyday Home Repairs

Home Depot Clearance Price Tag Secrets


 

Which Home Depot store is the biggest?

The biggest Home Depot is the Superstore located in Vauxhall, New Jersey, at 2445 Springfield Avenue, as of 2022. This Home Depot Superstore spans over 217,000 square feet (twice the size of an average Home Depot store at 105,000 square feet) and has several amenities, services, and products in-store.


 

Is Home Depot dog friendly?

According to the National Canine Research Association of America, “Yes, most Home Depot locations allow dogs inside, even though that’s not the official corporate policy.”

“The official policy for Home Depot is that only service dogs are allowed in their stores. A service dog is a dog that is specifically trained to assist people, usually those with some sort of disability.”

However, if you really want to bring your pet to Home Depot with you, then we recommend calling and speaking to a manager, as some stores are much more lax about the dog policy than others.


 

Can Home Depot look up or reprint receipts?

If you’re missing your receipt or need a copy of a receipt, Home Depot may be able to locate it in their system. Receipts for purchases made with a credit or debit card or by check may be located in their system within 30 days of purchase. Receipts for purchases made with The Home Depot Consumer Credit Card, The Home Depot Commercial Revolving Charge, or The Home Depot Commercial Account may be located in their system within 365 days of purchase.


 

How big is Home Depot’s addressable market and market share?

As of February 2022, Home Depot’s addressable market is $900+ billion, of which they command approximately 17% market share.


 

What are some secret shopping tips from Home Depot employees?

Home Depot associates have shared a number of tips for customers that will help you save time, money and headache when shopping their stores. Examples of tips, such as, do not show up at HD with only a valid driver’s license expecting to rent a truck, as you must present proof of automobile insurance and a valid credit card to rent their vehicles. Oh, and don’t forget to fill up the tank to the level it began when you started up the vehicle on their lot.

Another myth that employees dispelled is the fact that HD employees do not get a store discount. Instead, employees have access to a special website from other companies where they can purchase items only for employees. Perhaps one of the best tips is that HD empowers employees to apply on the spot discounts for specific items of up to $50.

This video by The Deal Guy gives a good summary of the top 10 (really 11) Home Depot Secrets that will save you money.

10 SHOPPING SECRETS Home Depot Doesn’t Want You to Know! from the Deal Guy

10 SHOPPING SECRETS Home Depot Doesn't Want You to Know!

10 NEW Home Depot SECRETS That Will Save You Money! from the Deal Guy

10 NEW Home Depot SECRETS That Will Save You Money!

 

Home Depot Resource Links

 

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