Home Depot

Home Depot Inc. announced Monday that it was closing its 34 upscale Expo and other home specialty centers and laying off 7,000 people as a result of the crumbling U.S. housing market and worldwide economic downturn. The company said it would close its 34 sprawling Expo Design Center stores by April, including eight in Southern California, and 14 smaller stores. Some employees were stunned. "Shock. It was shock.

Cordell Cato scored in the 76th minute to help San Jose erase a second-half deficit as the Earthquakes and Chivas USA played to a 2-2 tie Saturday night at the Home Depot Center. The result kept both clubs winless in April. San Jose (3-3-4) last won March 23, and Chivas (3-4-2) hasn't won since March 30. San Jose opened the scoring in the 40th minute. Then Chivas took the lead with a pair of quick goals. San Jose tied it in the 76th minute.

When former Los Angeles City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel led the successful charge to prevent Home Depot from opening a new store in her district, she talked about the potential environmental and traffic drawbacks and accused the chain store of flouting local development rules. One thing she did not mention during the heated debate in the summer of 2007 was that weeks earlier, she had inherited a 50% interest in a competing business - her family's building supply store about nine miles from the proposed Home Depot in Sunland.

All eyes were on the fluorescent green shoes of Landon Donovan, and the Galaxy star made the most of his initial start at Home Depot Center this season, scoring the second goal and assisting on the first in Saturday night's 2-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City. Even before the opening kickoff the near-capacity crowd of 25,908 broke into a chant and Donovan, the third-highest scorer in Major League Soccer history, gave the fans plenty to cheer after seeming a step slow against FC Dallas one week earlier in his first MLS start.

Home Depot says spending on home projects and storm-related repairs helped boost its third-quarter net income 12 percent. Home-improvement retailers are facing cautious consumer spending and a weak housing market. Atlanta-based Home Depot Inc.'s smaller rival Lowe's Cos. reported Monday its third-quarter net income fell 44 percent on restructuring costs. But Home Depot fared better. Its results beat expectations and the company raised its 2011 earnings outlook. The No. 1 U.S. home-improvement retailer says net income rose 12 percent to $934 million, or 60 cents per share.

If you're a Black Keys fan and you've ever been enticed to order a Meat Lovers' Supreme at Pizza Hut or invest in a storage shed from Home Depot, there might have been a subliminal reason. Each company used songs in commercials that sounded an awful lot like tracks from the Black Keys' smash album "El Camino," namely "Lonely Boy" and "Gold on the Ceiling. " The Black Keys noticed this too, and have reportedly settled the resulting lawsuits around copyright infringement of the band's music.

The thousands of temporary workers who lost their jobs after the holidays dampened the weekly unemployment report. New jobless claims climbed to 399,000 in the week ending Jan. 7. That was 24,000 more than the previous week and the highest number in six weeks, the Labor Department said Thursday . Economists say claims need to drop to no more than 375,000 for a sustained period to make a dent in the unemployment rate, which fell to...

Home Depot Inc. said Tuesday a tight lid on expenses helped the largest U.S. home-improvement retailer's third-quarter net income rise 21 percent, despite a lackluster 1 percent revenue increase as home owners continue to hold back on bigger renovation projects. The company trimmed its revenue guidance for the year but raised its expectations for earnings. Net income rose to $834 million, or 51 cents per share, from $689 million, or 41 cents per share. That is better than the 48 cents per share analysts expected, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters.

Question: I am a customer and shareholder in Home Depot Inc. Despite the economy, are there good prospects ahead? Answer: The results of the world's largest home-improvement retailer are tied to consumers' willingness to buy for their homes and to the company's operating efficiency. The question for stock investors is whether both factors will be strong enough to provide robust returns. Despite a sales drop in its fiscal first quarter, which ended May 1, net income rose 12% to $812 million as costs fell, profit margins went up and the company bought back its shares.

Flipping through door after door on display at her neighborhood Home Depot as if they were pages in a magazine, Debbie Megliorino envisioned her next home improvement project: a bedroom upgrade for her 1950s-era home in Burbank. But for the 53-year-old postal clerk, the shopping excursion was a bit of a surprise. Instead of a frustrating amount of time finding "the guy in the orange vest" to help her, she said she got attention right away. "A lot of times it's been hard to get someone to help me," Megliorino said.

Workers at a West Covina Home Depot were offered grief counseling Friday after a man tried to cut off his arms with a saw Wednesday. Surgeons managed to save the arms of the man, whom West Covina police described as being in his 50s. He was in critical condition Thursday at a hospital, said Cpl. Rudy Lopez. West Covina police say the man calmly and quietly walked into the Home Depot shortly before 1 p.m. Wednesday and headed to the hardware section where the saws were. “He walked into the saw area and began cutting both of his arms,” Lopez said earlier.

A man who walked into a West Covina Home Depot and tried to saw off his arms is recovering from surgery Friday after surgeons managed to save his limbs. The man, who West Covina police described as being in his 50s, lost a lot of blood and, by Thursday, had not recovered enough to talk, West Covina police Cpl. Rudy Lopez said. West Covina police say the man calmly and quietly walked into Home Depot before 1 p.m. Wednesday and headed to the hardware section where the saws were.

A  man who walked into a West Covina Home Depot and sawed his arms to the bone remained in critical condition Thursday afternoon. West Covina police have spoken with the man's family but have not talked to him because he lost a lot of blood and has not recovered enough to talk, said Cpl. Rudy Lopez. Surgeons managed to save the arms of the man. No further details were available about his condition. West Covina police say the man calmly and quietly walked into Home Depot before 1 p.m. Wednesday and headed to the hardware section where the saws were.

A man who tried to saw his arms off in a West Covina Home Depot bled all over the store and was on the brink of death before he was rescued, a first-responder said. Art Hurtado, an off-duty Pasadena paramedic who was at the store, was the first medic on scene to help police. “Found him face down, blood all over the store, multiple aisles,” Hurtado told NBC4. “Barely had a pulse and he was just barely breathing.” West Covina police say the man calmly, quietly walked into Home Depot before 1 p.m. Wednesday and headed to the hardware section where the saws are. “He walked into the saw area and began cutting both of his arms,” said Cpl. Rudy Lopez.

Police officials have notified the California Department of Fish and Wildlife of a “fairly-large” mountain lion that is wandering inside the yard of a La Crescenta home. The lion, which was spotted just before 2 p.m., doesn't appear to be disturbing anything at the home in the 4500 block of New York Avenue , said Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz. That's not far from Clark Magnet High School. While no one was inside the home, Lorenz said, police are trying to maintain a calm environment for the lion so it does not become agitated.

Surgeons managed to save the arms of a man who walked into a West Covina Home Depot and sawed them to the bone, police said. The man, who West Covina police described as being in his 50s, was in critical condition Thursday at a hospital, said Cpl. Rudy Lopez. Detectives have spoken with the man's family but have not talked to him themselves because he lost a lot of blood and has not recovered enough to talk, Lopez said. West Covina police say the man calmly and quietly walked into Home Depot before 1 p.m. Wednesday and headed to the hardware section where the saws were.

Police said they were planning to continue their investigation Thursday of a grisly incident in which a man sawed his arms at a busy Home Depot in West Covina. The name of the man was not immediately known because he had no identification and was passed out by the time officers had stopped massive bleeding from both of his arms, which were cut to the bone, the West Covina Police Department said. "He just began sawing away," Cpl. Rudy Lopez told The Times, saying that the man had calmly grabbed the handsaws.

Home improvement chain Home Depot Inc. is looking to fill 2,000 temporary jobs in the Los Angeles area and 70,000 positions nationwide in advance of spring, its busiest season. "Just as the Christmas rush and holiday hiring ends for many retailers, we begin recruiting for spring seasonal associates," Tim Crow, the company's executive vice president for human resources, said in a statement. Crow said a seasonal job at the Georgia-based chain can lead to a regular position. Last year, about half of the seasonal hires snagged permanent jobs as cashiers, sales associates and garden associates, among other positions.

Police said they were planning to continue their investigation Thursday of a grisly incident in which a man sawed his arms at a busy Home Depot in West Covina. The name of the man was not immediately known because he had no identification and was passed out by the time officers had stopped massive bleeding from both of his arms, which were cut to the bone, the West Covina Police Department said. "He just began sawing away," Cpl. Rudy Lopez told The Times, saying that the man had calmly grabbed the handsaws.

Pasadena Fire Department Capt. Art Hurtado was shopping at a West Covina Home Depot when he came upon the horrific scene: a man who just tried to saw off his arms. Hurtado said the man was unconscious in a pool of his own blood. “As I walked in he was face down. I thought it was a crime scene with a fatality,” Hurtado said at a news conference Thursday. “At that time I knew we had to slow the bleeding down or this patient may or may not make it,” Hurtado added, according to KTLA News The man remained in critical condition Thursday afternoon.