Home Depot gives closing date for store it’s liquidating

FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL GOULDING, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Home Depot’s oldest store in its western division is housed in a former manufacturing plant in Fullerton. That store is 27 years old and outdated.

So Home Depot is moving the store a short distance away from 601 S. Placentia Ave. to 625 S. Placentia Ave. The old store is slated to close Aug. 22 and the new store is anticipated to open the next day.

The primary reason for the move is to give “Fullerton a brand new store,” said Mike Astorino, district manager for Home Depot.

Because the home-improvement retailer wants to open its stores with new merchandise, it’s liquidating all products in the old Fullerton store.

At 150,000 square feet, the new store is about 20,000 square feet smaller than the old store. However, the new store will have a larger garden and appliance sections carrying a wider selection of merchandise in those categories.

The new expanded appliance showroom is about 3,100 square feet with about 200 appliance displays vs. 1,500 square feet and 125 displays for the appliance section in the old Fullerton store. The appliance department at the new Fullerton location will also be among a limited number of stores to sell Whirlpool, Electrolux and Frigidaire, which are new product lines the chain announced last month.

“We are always looking for ways to improve the shopping experience for customers,” said Craig Menear, executive vice president for merchandising for Home Depot.

The Fullerton relocation is the latest change to Home Depot’s Orange County store fleet. Earlier this year, Home Depot opened its first western region superstore in Anaheim Hills. During the six-month renovation, the store was expanded to 205,000 square feet — about one-third larger than a typical Home Depot – and added 50 employees. The store also now offers a wider selection in all categories, more “lifestyle vignettes” to give people design and decorating ideas and upgraded customer service areas for both consumers and home improvement professionals. It incorporates products and display elements from the defunct Expo Design Centers.

Home Depot’s sales at U.S. stores open at least a year, or dubbed comparable store sales and considered a key gauge of a retailer’s health, rose 6.1 percent in the fiscal first quarter.

“We saw a stronger-than-expected start to the year, driven by record warm weather and continued demand for core products,” said Frank Blake, chief executive for Home Depot.

While only a fraction of the population plan to pick up and move, 70 percent plan to take on a home improvement project this year, according to an American Express Spending & Saving Tracker report released in March. These homeowners expect to spend an average of $3,500 to spruce up their homes, an increase in $100 from last year.

“While confidence in the real estate market has not changed significantly year over year, we are seeing an increase in consumer intent to spend on cosmetic improvements,” said Claire Bennett, executive vice president of loyalty and membership benefits for American Express. “Purchases of new furniture, appliances and even re-doing a room or outdoor space are all part of the upgrade equation.”

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