Stepping Up Service It’s not just the names that are changing, either. All of HD Supply’s business units have been meeting quarterly to share best business practices and approaches to the pro market to “provide the ultimate in service to our customers,” Johnson says. HD Supply also is launching a sales initiative in certain markets that spans waterworks, electrical, plumbing and HVAC, building materials, and maintenance. Dubbed “360 Initiatives,” the program provides big builders, large general contractors, and developers with packages comprised of product and service offerings across HD Supply’s platforms that Llerandi says previously were sold piecemeal from stand-alone units.
Although LeClair was noted for bringing Six Sigma ideas to HD Supply when he joined the company from GE as senior director of operations in 2005, he says the only changes in the foreseeable future for HD Supply are on the bottom line as the company shoots for a pro sales target of $25 billion by 2010. The newly constituted HD Supply’s current sales total roughly $12 billion a year. But note that construction, repair, and remodeling account for only half those sales; the rest are typically non-LBM categories. Still, the remaining $6 billion is bigger than any company on the 2006 PROSALES 100—and for all that size, it doesn’t count the billions of other dollars that regular The Home Depots collect from builders, remodelers, and subcontractors.
“We are aggressively launching more truss plants, we are expanding our construction services program, we are getting into engineered wood in a big way,” LeClair says. “As we go into this down market, we think we are well positioned and it is our opportunity to accelerate and step on the gas and go even faster.”
The Williams Bros. acquisition is a big reason why The Home Depot has accelerated into the pro dealer space in recent years, and the purchase pumped just as many growth opportunities back into Williams Bros. After finding Williams Bros. financially tapped out on major acquisition opportunities, Johnson sold the business in July 2005. Less than a year into operating as an HD Supply subsidiary, he landed $400 million Cox Lumber and doubled Williams Bros. in size. “Any pro dealer who wants to grow, be aggressive, and provide opportunities for its employees certainly needs to consider HD Supply,” says Johnson.
Johnson says he doesn’t know why dealers remain naive when it comes to HD Supply’s capabilities, which now include truss manufacturing and installed sales programs developed by industry veterans at Williams Bros. and Cox. And LeClair stresses that The Home Depot won’t let those service skills fritter away.
“The things that have driven the success of Williams Bros. and Cox Lumber are the things that we carry through,” he declares.
