Home Depot 2011 Annual Report Download - page 10

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$700 million in annual utility costs, which equate to an over six billion kilowatt reduction and an almost five million ton
decrease in greenhouse gas emissions. We also help our customers save water through sales of WaterSense®-labeled bath
faucets, showerheads, aerators and toilets. Through the sales of these products, we have helped consumers save over 30
billion gallons of water and over $200 million in water bills.
Our Eco Options® page on our website offers consumer education on environmental impacts of various products and
identifies easy green D-I-Y projects. This online experience, coupled with our D-I-Y in-store how-to clinics on green projects
and our continual enhancement of our Eco Options® product categories, helps us to meet a growing customer demand for
environmentally responsible and cost-saving products and projects. In 2011, we also partnered with the U.S. Green Building
Council to establish a list of products sold at our stores that meet "LEED for Homes" product specifications. This program
helps our customers easily identify products with potential Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ("LEED") point
values and is designed to simplify the complexities of building green. At the end of fiscal 2011, we had approximately 2,000
LEED for Homes products.
We continue to offer our nationwide, in-store CFL bulb recycling program launched in 2008. This service is offered to
customers free of charge and is available in all U.S. stores. We also maintain an in-store rechargeable battery recycling
program. Launched in 2001 in partnership with the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation, this program is also
available to customers free of charge in all stores throughout the U.S. and Canada. Through these recycling programs, in
fiscal 2011 we helped recycle over 480,000 pounds of CFL bulbs and over 770,000 pounds of rechargeable batteries collected
from our customers. In fiscal 2011, we also recycled over 130,000 lead acid batteries collected from our customers under our
lead acid battery exchange program, as well as approximately 150,000 tons of cardboard through a nationwide cardboard
recycling program across our U.S. stores.
Net Sales of Major Product Groups. The following table shows the percentage of Net Sales of each major product group
(and related services) for each of the last three fiscal years:
Product Group
Plumbing, electrical and kitchen
Hardware and seasonal
Building materials, lumber and millwork
Paint and flooring
Total
Percentage of Net Sales for Fiscal Year Ended
January 29,
2012
30.5%
29.5
21.1
18.9
100.0%
January 30,
2011
30.0%
29.4
21.7
18.9
100.0%
January 31,
2010
29.8%
29.1
21.9
19.2
100.0%
Net Sales outside the U.S. were $8.0 billion, $7.5 billion and $7.0 billion for fiscal 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively. Long-
lived assets outside the U.S. totaled $3.1 billion, $3.2 billion and $3.0 billion as of January 29, 2012, January 30, 2011 and
January 31, 2010, respectively.
Seasonality. Our business is subject to seasonal influences. Generally, our highest volume of sales occurs in our second
fiscal quarter, and the lowest volume occurs during our fourth fiscal quarter.
Competition. Our business is highly competitive, based primarily on customer service, price, store location and assortment
of merchandise. Although we are currently the world’s largest home improvement retailer, in each of the markets we serve
there are a number of other home improvement stores, electrical, plumbing and building materials supply houses and lumber
yards. With respect to some products, we also compete with specialty design stores, showrooms, discount stores, local,
regional and national hardware stores, mail order firms, warehouse clubs, independent building supply stores and, to a lesser
extent, other retailers. In addition, we face growing competition from online and multichannel retailers.
Intellectual Property. Our business has one of the most recognized brands in North America. As a result, we believe that
The Home Depot® trademark has significant value and is an important factor in the marketing of our products, e-commerce,
stores and business. We have registered or applied for registration of trademarks, service marks, copyrights and internet
domain names, both domestically and internationally, for use in our business. We also maintain patent portfolios relating to
some of our products and services and seek to patent or otherwise protect innovations we incorporate into our products or
business operations.