Which home-improvement retailer opened its first two stores in metro Atlanta in 1979?

The Home Depot opened its first two stores in metro Atlanta in 1979.

The company was co-founded in 1978 by Bernard Marcus, Arthur Blank, Ron Brill, Pat Farrah, and Ken Langone. Its founders aimed to create unusually large home-improvement superstores, offering a broad range of building materials, tools, hardware, and supplies in one place.

On June 22, 1979, the first stores opened in Doraville and on Memorial Drive in Decatur, Georgia. Both occupied former Treasure Island locations leased from J. C. Penney and were situated near Interstate 285. The stores helped establish the warehouse-style format that became central to the retailer’s identity.

A common mix-up is confusing the company’s founding date with its store-opening date: The Home Depot was established in 1978, but its first two stores opened the following year. It expanded beyond Georgia into Florida in 1981 and went public on NASDAQ later that year.