Home improvement stores offering women hands-on lessons

ATLANTA - Home-improvement stores are seeking to tap into a growing female consumer base. <br> <br> They&#39;re catering to an increasing number of women who are taking on stereotypically male tasks like home improvement. <br> <br> The Home Depot&#39;s all-women classes have surged in popularity over the past year. <br> <br> An industry strategist at Kurt Salmon Associates in Atlanta -- Jim Neal -- says advertising as well as demographics have played a part. <br> <br> The National Homebuyer&#39;s Association found the number of women homebuyers has more than doubled in the past decade. <br> <br> Besides Atlanta-based Home Depot, its competitors also offer the home improvement lessons. Wilkesboro, North Carolina-based Lowe&#39;s offers coed classes at its stores. <br> <br> The emphasis on women appears to benefit the home-improvement stores at the cash register. In a recent survey, Home Depot found that 36 percent of the 162 types of home improvement products it tracked last year were bought by women.