Pleasing customers has always been something of a moving target for retailers.
Our tastes change. Trends come and go. And we’re a social species, which means we’re constantly swapping stories about how to find a deal, access some sought after brand, or even identify a loophole in a policy.
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From our perspective, making customers happy seems like a simple formula.
Keep your most popular items in stock at all times, deliver packages quickly and correctly, maintain low prices, and treat your customers better than your competition.
These details, of course, are where most retailers get tripped up.
Most of the most customer-friendly policies are actually quite expensive or wasteful.
Providing quick shipping, for example, is a Herculean effort on the backend.
Every logistical detail must be accounted for from beginning to end, or you risk severely disappointing customers.
This is partly why the National Retail Federation (NRF) wrote a strongly worded letter to President Trump in 2020, urging him to deem distribution centers as essential businesses.
“Retail is the nation’s largest private-sector employer, supporting one in four U.S. jobs — 52 million working Americans,” the letter reads, urging that states and companies don’t overlook the “important role distribution centers and transportation logistic companies play in the retail industry. Retailers, grocers and restaurants cannot resupply without access to their distribution centers.”
Home Depot is shutting down a distribution center.
Image source: Shutterstock-Manuela Durson
Logistics are crucial to online businesses
Even the most robust businesses need to make changes to their online practices from time to time.
In October 2025, Home Depot will close one of its distribution centers in Mexico, Missouri.
61 employees will be “permanently separated” from the company following the closure.
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“Products will be stocked at other Home Depot distribution centers based on regional inventory needs,” Home Depot spokesperson Sara Gorman said of the closure.
The center was used primarily as a hub to sort and ship products needed for home improvement projects. Home Depot occupied the space for nearly two decades, first opening in 2006.
As for the affected employees, Dana Keller, executive director of the Mexico Area Chamber of Commerce, said she’s optimistic.
“We’re sad to see them go, but I’m positive that we can absorb those 60-plus people into other great jobs. They’re absolutely qualified employees who come with good attitudes, I’m certain,” she said.
Home Depot changes business practices
Home Depot rapidly scaled up its online capabilities and fulfillments in 2020.
At the onset of Covid, many folks had more time on their hands and spent more time around the house.
This naturally led to many of us focusing on long-procrastinated home improvement projects, like paint jobs, kitchen renovations, outdoor patio or deck transformations, and additions.
So Home Depot expanded its network to handle surges in demand.
Now that demand has ebbed and market conditions are steadying, Home Depot has been looking to cut costs across the U.S. in an effort to shore up profit.
This doesn’t mean that Home Depot is making drastic cuts to its logistical or fulfillment capabilities, though.
It maintains “a network of more than 325 distribution centers across North America, which are located to best support fulfillment to Home Depot stores and directly to our customers,” Gorman added.