Home Depot remodels its business

Home Depot was clearly a casualty of the housing collapse, as fewer home purchases and a weak consumer led to a big drop in sales.

But the crisis didn't turn out to be all bad. In the slowdown the nation's leading home-improvement retailer worked to fix its core business by boosting the efficiency of the firm's supply chain and upgrading customer service.

Of course, those efforts may not bear fruit until housing fully heals. And who knows how long that will take?
NEXT: Stock improvements