Home Depot CEO: No Job Cuts, Core Store Closings

Atlanta, Home Depot Inc. will not be making any job cuts or close any of its core retail stores despite the housing decline, the company’s CEO told the Associated Press in an interview.

"We're making investments, notwithstanding the downturn," CEO Frank Blake said. "I think that's absolutely the right thing to do for the business. It's going to lead to long-term success."

Home Depot had announced earlier this week that it was closing its 11 Landscape Supply stores (and previously shut down a number of its Expo design centers), but Blake said there are no plans to close any of the company's more than 2,000 main retail stores.

“We're not going to shut stores to save costs," Blake said. "We don't need to."

Despite the stock performance, Blake insisted that Home Depot's strategy to focus more attention on its core business is the right strategy for the world's largest home-improvement store chain.

On other issues, Blake said Home Depot will look at opportunities in the future for more expansion overseas, though it doesn't have any current plans. He indicated Home Depot wasn't looking at Europe for expansion.