The Expo Design Center near the South Bay Galleria is closing. Too bad. It's a nice place. It's fun just to walk through there, although it's expensive stuff.
Home Depot to cut 7,000 jobs, close Expo chain(AP) CHICAGO - Home Depot Inc. plans to eliminate 7,000 jobs while closing four dozen stores under its smaller home improvement brands as the recession continues to batter the nation's housing market. Its shares climbed more than 5 percent in morning trading.
The nation's biggest home improvement retailer said Monday the cuts will affect about 2 percent of its 300,000 workers and cause the Atlanta-based chain to record a $532 million pretax charge, most of which will be recorded in the fourth quarter.
Most of the cuts affect workers at Home Depot's 34 Expo Design Centers, five YardBIRDS, two Design Centers and HD Bath, a bath remodeling business with seven sites.
Those stores will close in the next two months.
Home Depot said its Expo business, which sells everything from throw pillows and sconces to bathtubs and vanities, hasn't performed well financially, even during the recent housing boom. It said the chain has weakened significantly in the current economic environment.
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