Martha Stewart Carpet Replaces Stainmaster in Home Depot's U.S. Stores
Home Depot Inc., the largest U.S. home-improvement retailer, is adding Martha Stewart Living carpet to its almost 2,000 U.S. stores after Stainmaster dropped the chain.
Home Depot will no longer offer the Stainmaster brand starting today and will finish installing Martha Stewart displays in stores during the first week of July, executives said in interviews. Home Depot already sells paint, patio furniture and closet organizers through an agreement with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc.
“We have a big plan for our brand at Home Depot,” said Robin Marino, Martha Stewart Living’s president and chief executive officer in charge of merchandising. “Our goal is to provide the consumer with everything that they need to decorate their home.”
Martha Stewart Living is expanding at Home Depot after ending a partnership with Kmart that accounted for 10 percent of last year’s sales. The New York-based company, which is unprofitable, will also start selling cabinets and countertops at Home Depot’s U.S. stores in September, followed by gardening supplies and holiday decorations, according to Marino.
Home Depot, Lowe’s
For Home Depot and Lowe’s Cos., carpet sales are at the center of intensifying competition as customers pinched by unemployment and sinking home values cut back on more-expensive tile and wood flooring. Invista, a fiber maker owned by closely held Koch Industries Inc., said in February that Lowe’s would be the only major home-improvement retailer for carpets treated with the Stainmaster stain-blocking chemicals.
“We wished they had chosen us, but they chose Lowe’s,” said Gordon Erickson, Home Depot’s senior vice president of décor. “We were a bit surprised. It gave us the chance to refresh our whole carpet program.”
The Atlanta-based retailer plans national advertising for the Martha Stewart Living brand before Labor Day on Sept. 6.
Martha Stewart Living declined 20 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $4.72 at 4:02 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have slumped 4.5 percent this year. Home Depot slipped 15 cents to $27.92.
Marino declined to discuss Home Depot sales or projections. The retailer has the potential to be Martha Stewart Living’s largest source of merchandising sales, she said in September when the companies announced their alliance.
To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Burritt in Greensboro, North Carolina, at cburritt@bloomberg.net.
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