Home Depot skimps on gifts

[highplainsdem]

http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/homedepot/1005/16bizdepot.html


Home Depot skimps on gifts
Corporate citizen donates, but peers are more generous

By MATT KEMPNER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/16/05


Corporate generosity, Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli told Business Week magazine this year, is "just the right thing to do."

<snip>

And as a recent member of President Bush's Council on Service and Civic Participation, Nardelli went out his way to push other companies to do more.

All of that — along with press releases and advertising that tout the company's generosity — has helped Home Depot build on an image for charity fostered by Nardelli's predecessors and two of Georgia's best-known philanthropists: Home Depot founders Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank.

Yet Home Depot's strong reputation for giving may be misleading when it comes to dollars and cents. Georgia's most profitable public company and the nation's second-largest retailer gives away a much smaller share of its profits than its big business peers, and lags several other major Atlanta companies.

Typical robber-baron Republican approach to charity. Nardelli wouldn't agree to be interviewed for this story (surprise, surprise) and directed questions to a spokesman who pointed out the "sweat equity" of Home Depot having encouraged its employees to volunteer about 2 million hours last year. But unlike other companies, Home Depot doesn't donate extra money to nonprofit groups if employees volunteer for a certain number of hours, or allow employees to volunteer on company time.

On the other hand, the company's always found plenty of money to help GOP candidates:

http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=1600

(That's old info, but it was the first page that turned up when I checked Google, and I'm sure the pattern of donations hasn't changed.)

[BlueJazz]

1. (From a first-Hand view) I could tell you things about H.D. that...

..would make you NEVER want to patronize their stores.
I posted some stuff once and was actually afraid somebody would find out who I am.. This is no Bullshit...

[Angry Girl]

2. Yes, they are a very unethical corporation & huge Bush donor

Some of the dirt on Home Depot:

http://www.davidsirota.com/2004/12/bush-laughs-at-victims.html

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1216-01.htm

http://www.homedepotsucks.com/

[progressivebydesign]

3. My relative works for them and had a Clark Griswold moment.

You know, you think you're getting a certain bonus and instead it's like Jelly of the Month Club. I can't stand Home Depot anyway, no one is there to help you, the paint department is always trashed and too busy to function, and well.. their politics are crap.

[mark11727]

4. I'm running out of places to shop... how's LOWE's, then...?

[demigoddess]

5. i'm running out of places to shop because of all the cut back in quality

and services. I used to shop home depot (pre bush) for their great garden plants. broke down and decided to browse there and they had NOTHING not like they did 4-5 years ago. We just lost one of our long time stores because of wal-mart. One fabric store that was pretty good, bought out the other one and as soon as it was gone, got rid of all their good stock, down now to lousy stuff. Not what they carried before. two or three of our local nurseries have disappeared to housing developments. A local store that sold unique items is gone because of a road improvement. on and on