Home Depot Inc. has set up a major customer service center at its Western division headquarters in Orange.
It’s the first service center for the company’s upscale Expo Design Centers outside of Home Depot’s headquarters in Atlanta.
The call center was opened in June, just a month after Home Depot said it planned to close 15 of its 54 Expo Design Centers, possibly cutting 2,000 jobs nationwide.
Home Depot also said it planned to convert five Expo Design Centers to Home Depots.
The home improvement retailer originally had envisioned a chain of more than 200 Expo Design Centers catering to buyers of high-end home furnishings.
But Home Depot has found that many customers have chosen to continue shopping at the chain’s traditional stores for their remodeling projects.
Tony Zarvou, director of at-home services for Home Depot in Atlanta, estimated that roughly 200 employees have been hired at the Orange customer service center since June.
“At a strategic level, we know (the customer service center) is the right thing to do,” said Zarvou, in a phone interview. “We’ve not mapped out our plans for another center but clearly the company is excited about this impact on customer satisfaction.”
The customer service center in Orange supports 17, or half, of Home Depot’s remaining Expo Design Centers. The 34 existing stores are profitable, Zarvou said. Three are in OC,in Anaheim, Huntington Beach and Laguna Niguel,employing about 600 workers.
The chain leases all eight floors at the 157,231-square-foot office tower at 3800 W. Chapman Ave. in Orange. A Home Depot spokeswoman estimated that there are at least another 100 workers at the Western division headquarters.
Key Unit in OC
The Orange-based Western division is a critical link in Home Depot’s structure.
The retail chain is divided into three divisions: Western, Northern and Southern. The Western division office oversees operations for 14 states and 413 Home Depot stores, said Kathryn Gallagher, the Western division spokeswoman in Orange.
Bruce Merino, Western division president who’s based in Atlanta, recently assumed the title of president of the Expo Design unit from Annette Verschuren, who now is president of Home Depot Canada.
Verschuren had run the Expo Design division since 2003, but now will focus on overseeing 123 stores in Canada.
The customer service center in Orange will support Expo Design Centers in California, Arizona and possibly Denver and Dallas by the end of the month, Zarvou said.
A smaller center launched in early 2004 in Atlanta also supports Expo Design Centers. Home Depot is considering adding a third customer service center in the U.S., he said.
According to a study out of its Atlanta operation, the customer support center cut about 25% off the time between a customer purchase and installation completion, Zarvou said.
“(The call centers) drive customer satisfaction when it comes to special orders and installations,” he said.
The customer service center in Orange employs supervisors, managers and sales staff. About 20% of the workers were lured from Home Depot stores.
The operation is the key contact for customers, installers and other service providers. Operations include confirming purchase orders with vendors, updating orders, keeping customers informed and fielding any customer questions or complaints.
Big Footprint
Home Depot, which posted more than $77 billion in revenue during the past 12 months, is North America’s largest home improvement retailer with 1,972 stores in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. It has more than a dozen stores in OC, in addition to the Expo Design Centers.
Expo Design Centers sell products for kitchens, baths, appliances, flooring, lighting, decorating and storage projects. The stores also provide project management and installation services.
