Frank Blake credited with rescuing Home Depot before its COVID-era acceleration

Home Depot was described as having nearly collapsed in 2006–2007 as the housing crisis approached. The account attributed the deterioration not only to housing-market conditions but also to leadership, culture and a weakened customer value proposition. A GE-style Six Sigma approach that reduced specialized floor staff in favor of general retail employees was said to have contributed to the problem.

Frank Blake, who became CEO in January 2007, was credited with saving the company; Ken Langone was cited as saying Blake “absolutely saved the company.”

Home Depot was also described as having built substantial supply-chain and e-commerce capacity in the three or four years before COVID-19. That preparation, combined with strong demand from people improving their homes while avoiding stores, was presented as a major reason for the company’s unusually strong pandemic performance, although the relative contribution of preparation and demand was not quantified.