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Home Depot: 1,000 stores
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July 10, 2000: 4:41 p.m. ET
President and CEO says good products and service are keys to growth
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Choosing Wall Street as the venue to celebrate Home Depot's 1000-store milestone, which came just three years after the retailer hit the 500-store mark,  Home Depot's president and CEO Arthur Blank said the company's successful growth strategy couldn't get any simpler:
"The basic formula is not really going to change -- very broadest assortments, very lowest prices, and having great unique customer service," Blank told CNNfn's Market Call Monday.
"We've doubled our store count in the last three-and-a-half years from 500 stores to 1000 stores. We're on track to double again in the next three-and-a-half years," said Blank
While the Home Depot's dramatic growth will come mostly from expansion in the United States, Blank said the company is also staying focused on ensuring its place in the global market continues to grow as well. (541K WAV) or (541K AIFF)
Founded in 1978, Atlanta-based Home Depot (HD: Research, Estimates) is the world's largest home improvement specialty retailer, the third largest retailer in the United States, with fiscal 1999 sales of $38.4 billion, and employs more than 226,000 sales associates.
Although the company's main target is the do-it-yourself market and professional builders, the company is trying to entice the entire family into sharing the "Home Depot experience."
"About half of our shoppers in our stores today are females," Blank said. "And they are in there doing the same thing that all of our male shoppers are looking for -- low prices, great assortment of products that they need in terms of repairing and fixing up their homes. Whether it's a male or female shopper, their need and desires and dreams are really the same."
Blank said Home Depot planned to open approximately 200 stores in 2000, keeping with the company's 21 to 22 percent growth rate. 
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Home Depot
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