Home Depot closing its Cottage Grove store

Staff and wire reports

Last update: May 1, 2008 - 8:17 PM

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The Home Depot Inc. will close its store in Cottage Grove along with 14 other underperforming stores nationwide as the chain copes with a deepening slump in the housing market.

The Atlanta-based home-improvement chain also said Thursday that it's canceling plans for 50 new stores, joining retailers Wal-Mart and Kohl's in cutting back on growth in a stagnant economy. Home Depot still plans to open 55 stores this year.

The Cottage Grove store employs 108 people, Home Depot spokesman Stephen Holmes said. Some employees will be moved to other stores, but others could lose their jobs.

"We'll be making every effort possible to place them in this market," he said.

Nationwide, the closings will affect 1,300 employees, the company said.

Besides the Cottage Grove store, at 7210 E. Point Douglas Road, the closings include three in Wisconsin -- Beaver Dam, Fond du Lac and Milwaukee -- and one in Bismarck, N.D.

The Cottage Grove store, one of 34 in Minnesota, will be closed today to prepare for the liquidation of the store's inventory, Holmes said. It will reopen Saturday, and the clearance sale is expected to take seven or eight weeks.

CASEY COMMON

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