Home Depot in New York City

Home Depot in New York City

Comparison between Downtown and suburban locations

There are notable differences in trading area size and characteristics between a downtown and a suburban location for a Home Depot as depicted in the case study;

The Home Depots located in the suburban are smaller in size and deprived f any space for expansion as compared to those located in town. This is noticeable from the Home Depot located in Manhattan which is a downtown area has no space for modifications of the stores exterior since it is location is a landmark preservation area that can not be tampered with.

In these downtown stores, there are also some departments lacking such as the lumber department due to the limited trading area in this downtown region, though such departments are evidently present in Home Depot located in suburban areas.

There are some products in the downtown Manhattan Home Depot that are only available on order, reason being the limited trading area in this downtown stores that restricts the on site storage of these goods in terms of quantity and size of goods they can stock therein, as compared to those in suburban areas. Most of the suburban stores do avail within the store all the products that the Home Depot deals in and clients do not have to wait for the transfer of the product from one store to the suburban branch.

Home Depots in downtown area are characterized by a large number of clients as compared to the suburban branches. This necessitates the availing of a doorman who assists the customers in short and quick errands as an after sales incentive like loading their luggage and also getting them taxis. It is also noted that these downtown stores have several concierges on the floor that direct customers to the correct aisles hence making the customer shopping a lot simpler and more enjoyable, yet this is not available in suburban areas.

Because of the culturally diverse clientele the Home Depots in downtown experience each day, these stores have signs posted in different languages that are predominant within the stores. This is different in the case of a suburban Home Depot where the only signs available are in languages of the dominant culture or language within the region.

Location and site selection of the Home Depot

While choosing a site to establish a Home Depot, there are fundamental issues that have to be looked into and these vary between the urban and the suburban setting. Within the town, the rents can be quite high hence one fundamental factor to consider in the town setting is the rent payable for the location. Rents in suburban areas are lower as compared to those in downtown areas.

Bearing the large number of clientele base in the towns, the availability of parking space is yet another consideration to put into account when selecting a venue for locating a Home Depot in town. This is in contrast to the suburban setting where the clientele will not require large parking lots and even if they required, it is usually readily available.

The frequency of the clients and the population within a given region in town is yet another factor to put into account while selecting a site in the town setting. The store should be located at a point where there is a large number of likely clients and the walk-in clientele is promising. This will mean the selection of the site must be towards a region where people walk through or drive through a lot while going or coming from their work places or other daily commitments. This is not necessarily a pressing issue in the suburban regions since the populace there is definite as they are confined to that particular home town.

Manhattan stores and the community

The Home Depot stores in Manhattan should be made in such a way that they are easily accepted by the community. One of the central issue in ensuring the store is acceptable to the people of Manhattan is through involving itself in community social responsibility (CSR) programs. This will endear them to the community in Manhattan who will have a feeling of belonging as the store will be taking care of their needs in a way.