Home Depot is preparing to hire more than 250 people to work in massive new distribution center the
company is building in Troy Township.
Those interested are being asked to apply online in advance of a day to be jam-packed with interviews
being planned for late April or early May.
The do-it-yourself retail giant will need 250 new general warehouse associates and also has openings for
about 30 salary supervisor positions.
Roughly 300 people will be employed by Home Depot’s direct fulfillment center, the biggest of three such
facilities nationwide, which is set to be up and running by the fall. It has a footprint of more than
1.6 million square feet and is designed to package and ship online orders.
While they won’t be interacting face to face with people who place orders, it’s still important to Home
Depot that those they hire care about the experience of their customers, said Christa Gerdemann, who is
the human resources manager for the Troy Township distribution center.
"They won’t be speaking directly to customers, but think about when you order something online – we
need to make sure that the product we’re picking and shipping is packaged correctly and we’re got the
right products in place.
"Really the biggest thing we’re looking for is making sure we have someone that is culturally a good
fit and passionate about serving our customers," Gerdemann said. "They don’t have a store
where they can communicate with someone, so we just want to make sure that what is being ordered by the
customer is being shipped to them."
The need for the direct fulfillment center stems from a growth in Home Depot’s Internet-based business.
It’s not just getting into online orders, but they grew 36 percent in 2013 – more than $1 billion – and
now make up 4.5 percent of the company’s total sales of more than $83 billion, according to Stephen
Holmes, director of corporate communications.
"While it’s still a small percentage of our overall sales, it’s an extremely important part of the
company’s overall strategy," Holmes said.
The Troy Township facility will expand the products people can order from Home Depot. Its stores
typically contain somewhere around 35,000 items, but online orders can access more than 100,000 products
that would be shipped from Northwest Ohio – things like spa tubs that aren’t stocked in the brick and
mortar shops.
Gerdemann said the company hopes to conduct as many as 450 interviews during its hiring event this
spring, but it’s not a walk-in event. Those interested in applying are asked to do so in advance at
careers.homedepot.com