Home Depot plans gas-mart format in four-store test

<p>If you change your mind about the load of lumber and potting soil, you can still stop for gasoline and a snack.</p><p>Home Depot Inc. will test convenience stores located in the parking lots of four of its Nashville, Tenn., stores this year and could expand the pilot to other markets.</p><p>The Atlanta-based home-improvement retailer plans to test convenience stores with gasoline stations starting in December, spokeswoman Paula Smith said. The stores will have items typically found in convenience stores, such as milk and soda, and prepackaged items for breakfast, lunch and dinner, she said. Some of the locations will have car washes.</p><p>The gas and convenience stores will be Home Depot brands, Smith said.</p><p>Home Depot's research shows that its customers and consumers in general are "time-starved," and having the convenience stores adjacent to Home Depot stores can help people maximize their time, Smith said. "We're always looking for profitable ways to continue serving customers better and also driving incremental traffic into our stores," she said, adding that the convenience-store industry is a $268 billion market. "This fits perfectly with our growth strategy."</p><p>Home Depot has historically tested several different formats, and testing convenience stores is in keeping with the retailer's strategy of continuing to drive top-line growth outside of its core big-box stores, Deutsche Bank analyst Michael Baker said. The stores can help Home Depot put its parking lots to good use by taking advantage of unproductive space, he said.</p><p>Other retailers have gasoline stations outside their stores and do so successfully, including Costco Wholesale Corp., Baker said.</p><p>Although the convenience stores for the test period will be located in the parking lots of existing Home Depot stores, it is too early to speculate where future convenience stores might be located, Smith said. It is also too soon to say how long the test will last at the four Nashville locations and if convenience stores will be tested in other locations, she said.</p>