The Home Depot Updates Square Footage Growth Plans

    Company Focuses on Free Cash Flow and Returns

    Removes 50 Future Openings from New Store Pipeline

    Announces Plans to Close 15 U.S. Stores

    Records Approximately $547 Million Pre-Tax Charge in Q1 2008

    ATLANTA, May 1 /CNW/ -- The Home Depot(R), the world's largest home
improvement retailer, today updated its plans for square footage growth.  The
strategic plan outlined today centers on the Company's capital efficiency
model to improve free cash flow, provide stronger returns for the Company and
invest in its existing stores to continue improving the customer experience.

    (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030502/HOMEDEPOTLOGO )

    For the current fiscal year, the Company reiterated its intention to open
55 new stores, including 36 new stores in the U.S.  Starting in the 2009
fiscal year, The Home Depot intends to grow square footage by approximately
1.5 percent per year.
    The Company has determined that it will no longer pursue the opening of
approximately 50 U.S. stores that have been in its new store pipeline, in some
cases for more than 10 years.  Accordingly, the Company will record a charge
of approximately $400 million related to capitalized development costs and
ongoing obligations associated with those future store locations.
    Aggregate new store capital spending will be reduced by approximately $1
billion over the next three years, thereby providing stronger returns and
enhancing the Company's capital efficiency model.
    "This is a continuation of our disciplined approach to capital allocation
that we outlined last year.  We will invest in our core retail business, in
this case our existing stores, which drive our most profitable sales.  Our
capital efficiency model will also provide improved returns for our
shareholders through dividends and share repurchases," said Frank Blake,
chairman and CEO.
    Continued investments in the Company's existing retail stores will
include maintenance, merchandising resets and other initiatives to improve all
elements of the customer's shopping experience.
    The Company reiterated that its total capital spending for the current
fiscal year is projected to be approximately $2.3 billion, down from $3.6
billion last year.

    Store Closings

    The Company also announced that, following a thorough evaluation of its
store portfolio, the Company will close 15 underperforming U.S. stores that do
not meet the Company's targeted returns.  (See attached for specific store
locations.)  The closing stores represent less than 1% of the Company's
existing store portfolio.
    These closings will impact approximately 1,300 associates.  The store
managers and assistant store managers at these locations will be offered other
store management positions within the organization.  The Company will work to
place the rest of the associates in other comparable store positions where
available.
    "Closing a store is always a difficult decision because it affects both
our people and our communities," said Blake.  "But, as with our decision to
slow future store growth, this is the right decision and will bring long-term
benefits to our associates and to our shareholders.  We put our real estate
projects through a tight capital efficiency model.  This model prioritizes
locations that make the most efficient use of capital, reduce cannibalization
and drive higher returns.  By building fewer stores, in the best locations,
and making sure our existing stores are profitable, our company will be in a
much stronger competitive position."
    As a result of the store closings and impairment, the Company will record
a charge of approximately $186 million, including inventory markdowns of $11
million and severance of $8 million.

    2008 Update

    In aggregate, The Home Depot will recognize a charge of approximately
$586 million, of which approximately $547 million will be recognized in the
first quarter of fiscal 2008.  The remaining charge will be recognized
throughout the 2008 fiscal year and into 2009.  Excluding the impact of this
charge, the Company reiterated that its diluted earnings per share from
continuing operations are expected to decline by 19-24 percent for fiscal
2008.
    The Company will hold a conference call on Tuesday, May 20 at 9 a.m. ET
to discuss first quarter earnings.
    The Home Depot(R) is the world's largest home improvement specialty
retailer, with 2,258 retail stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces, Mexico and
China.  In fiscal 2007, The Home Depot had sales of $77.3 billion and earnings
from continuing operations of $4.2 billion.  The Company employs more than
300,000 associates.  The Home Depot's stock is traded on the New York Stock
Exchange (NYSE: HD) and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and
Standard & Poor's 500 index. HDG
    Certain statements contained herein, including any statements related to
the state of the home improvement market, the state of the construction and
housing markets, annual square footage growth plans, internal rate of return
on our store portfolio and our financial outlook for fiscal 2008, constitute
"forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. While these statements are based on currently available
information and current expectations and projections about future events, such
forward-looking statements may prove to be incorrect.  Risks and uncertainties
include but are not limited to:  economic conditions in North America; changes
in our cost structure; conditions affecting customer transactions and average
ticket, including, but not limited to, weather conditions, our ability to
identify attractive store locations and open such locations on schedule,
improving and streamlining operations, and customers' in-store experience.
Undue reliance should not be placed on such forward-looking statements as they
speak only as of the date hereof, and we undertake no obligation to update
these statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances except as may
be required by law. Additional information regarding these and other risks and
uncertainties is contained in our periodic filings with the SEC, including our
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 3, 2008.

              THE HOME DEPOT UPDATES SQUARE FOOTAGE GROWTH PLANS
                                  ATTACHMENT
    The Home Depot will close 15 underperforming U.S. stores that do not meet
the
       Company's targeted returns.  The store locations are as follows:

                      -- #2015 East Fort Wayne, Indiana
                           -- #2032 Marion, Indiana
                         -- #2310 Frankfort, Kentucky
                         -- #379 Opelousas, Louisiana
                      -- #2819 Cottage Grove, Minnesota
                     -- #6901 East Brunswick, New Jersey
                      -- #6904 Saddle Brook, New Jersey
                           -- #6171 Rome, New York
                       -- #3702 Bismarck, North Dakota
                            -- #3874 Findlay, Ohio
                             -- #3865 Lima, Ohio
                        -- #4552 Brattleboro, Vermont
                        -- #4932 Beaver Dam, Wisconsin
                       -- #4933 Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
                       -- #4913 NW Milwaukee, Wisconsin

For further information: Financial Community: Diane Dayhoff, Sr. VP - 
Investor Relations, +1-770-384-2666, diane_dayhoff@homedepot.com; or News 
Media: Ron DeFeo, Director - Corporate Communications, +1-770-384-3179, 
ron_defeo@homedepot.com, both of The Home Depot Web Site:
http://www.homedepot.com