My Home Depot

What are the risks and opportunities for Home Depot opening stores in China?

What concerns should Home Depot have opening stores in China? What are the risks for them? What market strategy should they use?

Public Comments

1. One risk is inventory that is poorly stacked, which if it falls over could seriously hurt or kill a Chinese (or other nationality) customer, leading to litigation or financial censure or both. Opportunity includes selling to a nation of over one billion consumers.
2. If you work for Home depot, this is a poor way to find out. Too many pitfalls to name...pilferage, government issues, fake goods (I found fake goods at Walmart in China), unreliable logistics, unclear taxation etc etc Hire a consultant who knows what he is talking about...not the usual McKinsey types who will not tell you the loopholes in the system.....
3. There are many stores or malls in China that sell home decor materials and finishing, but when you purchase the product, installation labor is often included in the negotiated purchase price. In larger cities, there are many workmen from the countryside who earn a very small fraction of what urban white-colar employees earn. So, as a result, there aren't a lot of home owners doing their own projects to save some money -- DIY just isn't catching on very fast.