ATLANTA - Home Depot Incorporated said Monday that Executive Vice President Larry Mercer, who led store operations in the company's 1,400 locations, will retire later this year. <br>
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The home-improvement chain said Mercer, who joined the company in 1979, was responsible for all store operations, including Home Depot Stores, Expo and other company units. <br>
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The 55-year-old Mercer will remain with Atlanta-based Home Depot as an adviser to the chairman and chief executive until February 2004. <br>
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Assuming his responsibilities will be Troy Rice, who was named senior vice president, operations. The 39-year-old Rice joined Home Depot in 1990 and was most recently president of the Northwest division in Seattle. <br>
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Fifty-three-year-old Eric Peterson will replace Rice as Northwest division president. With the company for nine years, he was most recently regional vice president for the South Atlantic region. <br>
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A Home Depot spokesman said Mercer's retirement doesn't mark any shift in strategy for store operations, noting Mercer had wanted to make the move for quite some time, but the company convinced him several times to delay his retirement. <br>
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Last week, the company said it would open three stand-alone landscaping stores in the Atlanta area, testing a new concept that would complement its core business of home-improvement warehouse stores. The three nurseries, to be called Home Depot Landscape Supply, will open in the next two months.
